Requesting some feedback on medicine doctor gave me (BUTLBTL/APAP/CAFF 50/325/40 TB)

Your local pharmacist should be able to help you with your questions about this medication, just let them (he/she) know it's the first time you've ever had this medication. If that yeilds no results you could look it up online with a Google search. Good luck to you and soft Hugz to you too.......I hope the medication can help you!

call the pharmacy where your rx was filled. did they give you an info sheet? if they did it should have the brand name on it. the info on the bottle is the generic ingredients in the medicine. if they didn't or you can't find it, don't worry, just call the pharmacy. most pharmacists are very helpful with any questions you have about meds. mine even helped me with some homework a couple of times.

i was rx'd the same meds for my migraines, being told i would get better relief from my migraines with it than i was getting from excedrine though i wasn't there for new meds but for another issue entirely. anyway, all it did for me was make me feel horrible. i was better off with the migraine and excedrine. but i am also almost twice your age and i have severe reactions to most medicines. docs have tried imatrex which had worse results, and they tried elavil twice. first time i was a little younger than you and the second time was last year. i had different reactions each time. different people react differently to medications. even the same person can react differently to the same medication at different times as was teh case with elavil with me.
call the pharmacist about the questions about your medication, and the next trip to the doc, ask about other preventatives as there are more than topamax, if you want a preventative.

Yes, that's the generic for Fioricet. There are a couple of threads on this med in recent weeks (although one involves a version which includes codeine, which your prescription apparently doesn't). I've found Fioricet very effective in stopping pain once a headache has started -- I've been taking it for nearly 20 years, so the abbreviations were very familiar to me!

If you're averaging 12 headaches a month, you may want to talk further with your doctor about preventatives, which include things like Topamax (lots of doctors swear by it but it has numerous side effects), Elavil, and dozens of other possibilities. If the doctor thinks Topomax is too much for someone your age, another preventative might be more appropriate.

Be careful about taking the Fioricet and/or Excedrin too often. More than 2 or 3 days a week of ANY painkiller, prescription or over the counter, puts you at real risk for rebound headache, a vicious cycle you don't want to get into.

Good luck!

Hey Voozi,

You are exactly where I was 24 years ago. You are taking Fioricet. It is a combination of Butalbital, Tylenol, and caffeine. It is a fairly mild pain medication, but stronger than Over-The-Counter pain meds. It is a good medication, but if the dosage you are currently prescribed is not taking care of the migraine, do not take more. Also, don't augment it with any other medication. Explain your problem to your doctor and ask if he can change the prescription to Fioricet w/ codeine. This adds a small amount of narcotic pain medication, which should help. However, because codeine can be addictive, you MUST absolutely follow the prescribed dosage schedule.

The next step is critical. Stop taking the Excedrin immediately! It is fine for the occasional tension headache, but can throw you into a cycle of REBOUND HEADACHES, if you take it more than one or two days a week. From your original post, having 4 headaches in a week screams REBOUND. The ONLY way to break the rebound cycle is to stop taking all pain medications, prescribed and OTC. Going cold turkey is hell, but you will have to suffer through it to get all the mediations out of your system. Pain medication of any kind should be taken not more than one or two days a week.

Please check with your doctor as soon as possible about changing your meds. If your doctor wants to put you on a preventative, please don't let him start you on Topamax. There are so many others to try, and Topamax has horrible side effects for many people.

Please see your doctor and let us know how you are doing.

Leigh Ann

Hey Voozi,

Your last post just made my blood turn cold. Find a new doctor immediately. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Seriously, any doctor that would not put you on a preventative because of a possible side effect you might get, should have his license take away. There are so many different kinds of preventatives, surely there is an appropriate number of preventatives that wouldn't affect your kidneys. Your age should not preclude you from being prescribed a preventative. However, I do agree that avoiding Topamax is a very good recommendation.

What you need to be doing is continuing to keep your migraine log, but you need to write down every thing that preceded the attack, in addition to date and time. That includes things like what you were doing, what mood you were in, what the weather/temperature was like, what you had to eat or drink in the past several hours, where you are in your monthly cycle, any bright lights or loud noises, eye strain...virtually anything you can think of that might be relavent. Over time, you should see some sort of pattern show up. These patterns you see repeating are your triggers, the things that start your migraine attack. Some of the triggers you can control, like if a food or beverage, a certain activity, etc... Simply avoid them. Others, like hormone changes or changes in the weather, there's not a blasted thing you can do about them, except take an abortive medication immediately to try and cut the attack off at the beginning. If you do not have an abortive medication already prescribed, you need to find a doctor that will start you out on one until you find one that works for you. This may take some time, but it's worth it to know that if you do start to get at migraine, you have something to help out. Pain meds should only be used as a last resort.

As I said in my previous post, the only way to stop the rebound cycle is to quit the pain meds cold turkey. You will be positively miserable until all the meds are out of your system. How long that will takes varies from person to person, but you can count on at least a week or so. For you, I hope it is shorter not longer.

Best wishes and let us know how things are going or if you have any more questions.

Leigh Ann

Yea since it was my first time visiting a neurologist I had no idea about the different kinds of medications, let alone that there were medicines that prevented headaches, so in my mind I just assumed the Topamax was the only option. When he did mention it, and told me a long term side effect can include kidney stones, he did tell me as long as I drink lots of water I should be fine, and I told him that I drink alot of water a day. I mean I know it does seem a little weird and awkward he didn't want to give me it, but I agreed that I don't want to start being on a long term medication at an early age.

As for my headache diary, I've been logging them but It's hard for me to pin point what exactly causes these headaches for me. I know usually when the weather is kind of crappy and muggy out, or when its raining or if its about to rain, I'll get a headache. Stress gives me headaches sometimes. Sometimes when I dont eat much I'll get a headache. Lack of sleep can cause headaches for me as well. And other times I'll just be sitting around the house watching tv or on the computer and then a headache will come out. So to me it's hard to determine what exactly causes them and what patern there is (if any) that's causing them. I havent really been too specific w/ the logs though, but I'll start on that when September rolls around

During a headache, high exposure to light bothers me so when I'm laying down in my room, I'll shut of my light, close my door, and the window shades so try and make my room as dark as possible. Lots of noise bothers me as well. Sometimes I'll feel like anxious (not too often) and/or irritable (like sometimes even the smallest thing will put me in a bad mood). The one I hate the most though, is if its late at night and I'm trying to sleep, sometimes my headaches will give me trouble sleeping and I'll start getting frustrated and stressed about it which of coarse isn't helping the headache situation lol. And then sometimes when I'm laying down and/or trying to sleep, it's hard for me to just like stay in 1 spot on my bed, like for some reason I'm always tossing and turning.

What I've been typing here is what I've told the doctor as well, only thing he really said to me besides prescribing the medication was to try and get out of the house more often and to try and to do stuff (since I told him I really dont go out much). As for the preventatives, I'm going to give these headaches 1-2 more months, and see if when the fall semester starts for college if my headaches start occuring more often, and if that's the case I'll pay him another visit and ask to be put on the preventatives, I'll also be sure to ask him what other types there are out there and then from there try and find out which one is best for me.

Thanks once again for all your help, and sorry if I rambled too much! lol

becareful with the exedrin too, it can really cause rebounds. The general rule for us migrainers, is no pain medications more than twice a week, OTC or prescription. thats a hard one to follow, but helpfull.

Thanks

Sorry to hear you are getting migraines at such a young age. Hopefully your doctor has suggested some preventative meds as well as prescribing that medication. The one you are taking is the generic (not name brand) of Fioricet. It does work well with some types of migraines, just be very careful to follow the dosing instructions. You can get re-bound headaches from withdrawal if you take too much.

I have severe migraine headaches as well. My doctor prescriped BUTLBTL/APAP/CAFF 50/325/40 TB to be taken along with Maxalt 10 MG Tablets. My Dr. told me that the Maxmalt 10 MG tablets takes time to be effective, about 30 minutes to one hour. When I have a severe migraine headache, which I define as a migraine headache that has been coming on for 2 to 3 days & shows not sign of going away I take the Maxalt 10 MG Tablets (Maxalt aslo comes in Melt tablets too).I was told by my physician to take the BUTLBTL along with the Maxalt 10 MG Tablets to control the pain faster. To date, I have never taken the BUTLBTL by itsel for with the Maxalt 10 MG Tablets, but I hold it in reserve as an emergency type of treatment.

I do not know the side effects of BUTLBTL/APAP/CAP 50/325/40 TB other than NO ALCHOL and not to drive a vcehicle. I do not know if it is bad for pregant women or women who are planning to have a baby in the near furture, or what effects it has on your internal organs long term.

I would go back and ask your doctor about long term and short term use, I know I plan to.

Hi. I just joined this forum yesterday. My PCP had me on the same medication. You may try looking up "Fiornal". I believe that is the same thing.

I did not have luck with this medication. It lessened my headache but did not wipe it out. My PCP did give me samples called BUPAP. This med had the butalbital and Acetominophen but not the caffeine. That actually helped me more. My neurologist told me to not take the Butlbtl/APA/CAFF much because it can lead to rebound headaches. That has been my experience. I do hope you get some relief.