Addiction to Excedrin

kevinstory · 06-20-2004, 10:56 PM

Hello, I'm not sure if I'm posting this to the right section or not, but I'm looking to see if it's possible to become dependant on Excedrin. My wife has had back problems now for about 5 or 6 years. We've gone to just about every type of doctor there is and haven't found anything so far that can help her. But, I'm starting to think she may be addicted to Excedrin. What makes me feel this way is that she's taken just about every type of pain medicine there is, from vicodin to motrin, nothing helps her like Excedrin, which she ends up taking at least 20 a day for the past 4+ years. (I know this is bad, I've heard it a million times before). Can anyone offer any advice or stories of over the counter (Excedrin) addictions?

GettingWellAgain · 06-20-2004, 11:33 PM

Hi there,

I wish I could offer you more advice/help, but I only know of one girl I met a couple of years back who said she was addicted to Excedrin and I thought she was full of it. I thought that Excedrin was just an NSAID (or at least the aspirin in it is), but it DOES contain caffeine, which IS actually physically addictive. Other than that, I don't think aspirin and acetominophen have addictive properties. I have heard of some people being pretty addicted to caffeine, but I don't believe it would be to the point where your wife is at, having to dose that many times per day. If it were that addictive, they wouldn't sell it to the general public and the general public wouldn't consume as much as they do regularly. Nevermind, I take that back, CIGARETTES are that addictive and they sell those. I don't know, Kevinstory. Maybe some others with have some input on the situation. I wish you and your wife the best of health.
~Katalina

doggreensector · 06-21-2004, 12:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Solstice1221

Hi there,

I wish I could offer you more advice/help, but I only know of one girl I met a couple of years back who said she was addicted to Excedrin and I thought she was full of it. I thought that Excedrin was just an NSAID (or at least the aspirin in it is), but it DOES contain caffeine, which IS actually physically addictive. Other than that, I don't think aspirin and acetominophen have addictive properties. I have heard of some people being pretty addicted to caffeine, but I don't believe it would be to the point where your wife is at, having to dose that many times per day. If it were that addictive, they wouldn't sell it to the general public and the general public wouldn't consume as much as they do regularly. Nevermind, I take that back, CIGARETTES are that addictive and they sell those. I don't know, Kevinstory. Maybe some others with have some input on the situation. I wish you and your wife the best of health.
~Katalina

Dependent maybe more the appropriate term for your wife. If the Excedrin is the only thing relieveing the pain then this could be a real dependency. That is a little different then a physical addiction. This sounds like this maybe more of a mental dependency. But I don't know for sure.

Keith

feelbad · 06-21-2004, 08:43 AM

I have some really huge concerns with regard to the amount that your wife is taking just from a medical standpoint.Aspirin is also a good anticoagulant.This is why they recommend taking two aspirin if you think you are having a heart attack as it will help dissolve blood clots.If your wife is taking 20 excedrin per day,and has been doing it for four years?i would have her see her doc and run some blood tests to see where her clotting factors are.At that high of a dose,she could end up with alot of medical issues if she should end up with a good bleed from some type of injury.she would not have enough clotting factors to stop the bleeding and could very easily bleed to death from a relatively small type injury.she also needs to find another form of pain control here.i seriously think that she is probably dependant on the caffiene and not the actual med itself.if she feels tired and run down when she is not taking the excedrin ,there are other ways of getting the caffiene if this is a big issue for her.this is just not a good situation to be in.she really,really needs to get off the high doses of aspirin.keep us posted will you? marcia

melabee · 06-21-2004, 10:42 AM

Hey.
I am kevinstory's wife.
I have been looking for a treatment for my back for quite some time now. I just recently had surgery and it didn't help. It just seems to get worse. In getting treatment, I have been prescribed almost every narcotic and it either works for 2 days or makes me sick to my stomach. I eventually always turn to the one that works since that is the only way I can have any type of mobility. I have never been tested for clotting factors, the only thing doctors have ever seemed concerned with was my stomach lining, and thank God, it has been okay. I will ask about the clotting factors though. Thanks for all your help.