I have been having severe headaches/neck problems and I currently have two perscriptions for pain. I am wondering which of the following is stronger so I can know which to take when I need it more. The first is Fioricet (butalbital/acetaminophen/caffeine/) I do not know the milligrams. The other is Hydrocodone 7.5 mgs. Thanks for your help.

One is not stronger than the other. They are different drugs. The first is an analgesic medication, which is a pain killer and the second, as the name suggests, is a steroid or Hydrocortisone. 7.5mg is the right dose for hydrocortisone too.

The analgesic should be taken at times of pain. However, steroids are given to reduce inflammation and do not have an analgesic effect. Caution should also be taken with steroids, as they have many side effects with long term use.

Hydrocodone is stronger by far and is not a steroid as Sarah said. Hydrocodone is a codiene based pain med that contains codiene as well as Tylenol aka acetominophen. The fiorocet contains the equivalent of 1 Tylenol tablet, 1 aspirin tablet, some caffiene and a barbituate. Since codiene is stronger that aspirin or Tylenol this makes it the stronger pain medication.

Also just a word of caution for any who reads the responses and or responds to a post.............be sure to correctly read the name of the drug being mentioned because as you saw it is easy for people to misread things as Sarah did when she mistook hyrocodone for Hydrocortisone. This is often how med errors occur so always check what you are reading as well making sure your bottle of medication is the same as what the doctor told you he was prescribing for you.