New kid on the block with a question . . .

I've been taking Fioricet off and on for many years for migraines and tension headaches, but it wasn't until a recent extended run of bad headaches that I found myself fighting off an addiction. I had taken 3-4 pills a day for several weeks straight, and when I tried to stop, I got the shock of my life. I had the physical symptoms of withdrawal, mainly the shakes. A really, BIG TIME case of the shakes.

Since I hadn't been hooked for that long, I tried to taper off. I guess I've been really fortunate in that it's working, and I've been able to taper off to where I'm now only needing one pill a day. The darned thing is, I'm barely getting the shakes anymore - it's rebound headaches. Every morning by 10AM I have a BAD headache that only the fioricet will fix, and then, only sometimes. Sometimes I take one, and the headache continues and eventually worsens into a migraine. But I won't, WON'T take more fioricet and start that cycle up again. I have Imitrex that I can take for the migraines, but I have a hard time dealing with the side effects of that drug (chest pains and so forth), so I hate to take that unless it's absolutely necessary. I sure can't be taking it every day.

I've tried OTC meds, like Tylenol and Advil, but nothing seems to help, not even a little. Is there any formula, maybe a combination of OTC meds that might help? Or should I try a really gradual taper from that last fioricet, like cutting the pills and going down to 3/4, then 1/2? My doc says rebound headaches can last two weeks or more. UGH! Guess I should be counting my blessings though. As bad as they are, the rebound headaches are a million times better than the shakes.

I suppose I could just stay with one Fioricet a day, as my doc will prescribe that, but after going through that period of withdrawal, I now realize what an addictive substance it is, and think it's probably best for my body to get off of it, and get back my original "as needed" dose.

Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks for listening. :)

Hello Poozy

Nice to meet you. Smiles.

I am not familiar with Fiorecet... is it opiate based? I also am not familair with Imitrex although I have heard these drug names; i uust don't kow what they are.

I tapered slooooowly from Oxycodone, an opiate and then from Xanax, a benzo.... both tapers were really slow. And both tapers came with the headaches. The headaches were present during the tapers and lasted into 6 weeks or so after I finished the two tapers entirely. Wish I had better news to share, but this was my experience.

I also experienced higher pain levels in my leg (which is why I was taking painkillers) and in my back, which had no remarkable pain until I started tapering. These elevated levels are a part of the whole process of withdrawaing. many times they fool us into thinking we have more pain than we really do and lead us right back to the pain pills. Now that I am completely off all those meds for 3 months now, I can tell yopu that yes, I have pain still, but not at the elevated levels of tapering or even BEFORE tapering. I am not at all unque in this rather odd seeming phenomena.... many others have experienced the exact same thing. Opiates by make-up cause us to experience more pain after prolonged use to try an dget us to up dosages after tolerance is reached. It happens over and over... like I started at only four tabs of percocet daily and as time went by it went to 6 to 8 to ten until oxycodone was prescribed instead ( to cut down on the amount of Tylenol being ingested each day with them). Then the oxycodone tabs started slowly going up per day as time went by again. then I ended up in a total breakdown with the oxycodone and Xanax being major contributirs and so began my journe off narcotics.

As I neared the end of each taper, I made the cuts super small. By quarter tabs close to the end and then by eighths of a tab for the last stretch. AS long as we keep progressing.. that is a key to tapering. Speed should NOT be a key.

Wishing you well.. stay in touch and let us know how you are doing.

reach

Thanks for the reply, Reach. Fioricet is a pain medication (brand name butalbital) . . . pretty sure it's considered a controlled substance but is not an opiate. Imitrex is a non-narcotic migraine drug. It works by somehow altering blood vessels in the brain, and also on seratonin. Most people I've talked to have experienced the same lousy side effects that I have. It DOES help with migraine pain, but I get chest pain, muscle pain, dizziness, you name it. It's an awful drug.

I also have Vicodin for my migraines, but I'm SO careful about using that as I've heard opiate withdrawal can be a lot worse than fioricet withdrawal. The shakes from the fioricet were bad enough.

I actually got up the nerve to place a call to my doctor for advice on the rebound headaches. She won't be too thrilled to hear that I took enough to reach that point, but I'm okay with fessing up to rebound headaches. I did NOT want to have to fess up to addiction, so thank goodness it looks like I may have beaten that one on my own. Hopefully she'll have some advice, though I'm not optimistic. I have a feeling that I'm in for a few weeks of killer headaches, no matter what.

I guess I have to look at the bright side, that I've probably beaten the worst of it, and there IS a light at the end of the tunnel.

Thanks so much for the words of advice, especially on the slow taper. It helps SO much just to find a place like this where I can talk to other people in similar situations. I'm really happy to have found these boards.