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Welcome to the Fioricet Forum

Looks like I’m the only one out there still taking Fioricet! I tried everything available 25 years ago, including preventive meds. Since menopause, my headaches aren’t as severe and the Fioricet usually works, but sometimes I have to take two or three of them in a day.

I was also prescribed Floricet by my doctor who is not a neurologist. I noticed that it helped with lesser, tension-type headaches but not full blown migraines. It’s my belief that it is because it has almost the same ingredients as OTC Exedrin (ie. caffeine and tylenol) with the exception of the
Butalbital. So in other words, I felt loopy and caffeinated at the same time. This med didn’t work for me. Hope my post was helpful.

Fioricet doesn’t work for me but Fiorinal with codeine is the only thing that I can tolerate that does work for me. I’ve tried and tried and tried and tired what feels like a million other meds from abortive to rescue but the Fiorinal #3 is the only one that I can consistently take that works, that I can tolerate and that still allows me to be somewhat functioning.

I take fioricet and find it to work but my doctor says not to take more than like 2 pills in a month or i will get rebound headaches… =/ so i try not to take more than that if i can help it.

I was prescribed fioricet and I never noticed a difference except like one user said, feeling dopey but caffeinated. I have found Inderal to help control my migraines and when I do have a break through migraine percocet 5mg normally help. I hope this is helpful.

Butalbital compounds (Fioricet, Fiorinal, Esgic, for example) have never been shown to help any headache in any scientific studies and cause more problems than they should. They are not recommended by most headache specialists.

And they are still commonly prescribed so no you are not alone.

I was also prescribed Fioricet by my doctor, but not my neurologist. I have been taking them now for a few years,not daily, but 2-3 times a week in the last 4-5 months when my headaches are very bad. My neurologist gave me Lortab but I don’t like how that makes me feel and I don’t want to take it while i’m working during the day. I have found that nothing much works lately. I have been having headaches daily. My doctor didn’t mention rebound headaches, but after reading info on this site, I’m beginning to think that may be what I am having.

I have intercystial cystitis and Recently started having severe migraines again. My neurologist recommended my urologist take me off elmiron because he feels its part of the problem but they said its not a medication I can stop. That being said I went in to my medical doctor this morning and she prescribed Fioricet. When my neuro doctor finally called me back this afternoon and I told him what she prescribed he told me NOT to take it and if I choose to he will no longer treat me. So now I’m back to square ! and feel like i basically have a choice live with the migraines or stop the elmiron and live with the pain of my IC. What do u do?

shaneandnikkiredding – Don’t give up yet! It is likely that a reason your doctor doesn’t want you taking Fioricet is because of the very real chance you could end up with MOH (medication overuse headache). Once you get in MOH you are in a really super tough spot. Patients in MOH are often noncompliant with treatment and continue to get worse and worse with time. The doctor may want to help, but without a compliant patient they are left basically helpless to help you. This is very frustrating for the doctor and they tend to feel like hamsters running on a wheel in a cage.

I know how vitally important the Elmiron is to your IC. I am first of all glad that it is helping. I can’t help but wonder though, has your doctor ever given you bladder infusions to help with the IC and its associated pain? As bad as it sounds, I know a couple women who have had it done routinely with excellent results. Should something like that be effective, you may not have to take the Elmiron anymore.

There are many preventives that your doctor could try with you. Have you been on any in the past?

Have you ever tried a triptan or DHE?

I am on Fioricet (w/out codeine), and have found that while it does not help the pain itself…it does allow me to sleep when I am otherwise unable to do so because of the pain. The pain is masked just enough…I do try to be cautious when using Fioricet, but have found that not only does it help me at night sleep with severe migraine pain, but if I am also having issues with my fibromyalgia and cannot sleep, I am able to find sweet relief in sleep after taking a Fioricet. It is far from being my first line of defense…but when nothing else is working, and I am despirate for sleep…well…

I must be in the minority. I was first prescirbed fioricet 4 yrs ago and it was the only thing I had tried to date that helped with my migraines. I had to quit taking it 2 yrs ago due to insurance no longer covering it but was recently put back on it due the fact that all of the other meds I had tried in that time either didnt help at all or had very little effect on my full blown migraines. I am also on Amerge which I find does help if I take it early enough. The problem there is I get 9 pills per month. You have to take the Amerge early on in the migraine and it is sometimes hard to tell what is the start of a migraine or just a really bad headache. If I dont take the Amerge ealry enough it is nice to know that I have something to use as a backup if I need it. I dont find that fioricet makes me sleepy or unable to function. And as the mother of 4 that is a HUGE thing with me.

Carladul,

One way some of us can tell the difference between a Migraine and a headache is to hold on to something and bend over. If bending over makes it worse, it’s most likely a Migraine. They’re exacerbated by physical activity.

Sometimes, insurance companies will approve more doses of your triptan is your doctor sends them a litter and gets the prescription preapproved. Have you checked into that?

Teri

Actually, it seems that though people may have migraine and tension type, the tension type is probably part of the migraine spectrum and it may be hard to tell what the difference is. I tell my migraine patients to use migraine meds like Amerge even for a mild headache. But of course with good preventatives, etc one shouldn’t be worried about 9 per month limit. Again, I think butalbital compounds like Fioricet should be pulled from the market.