Fioricet Uses, Dosage, Side Effects & Warnings in USA

One of the few barbiturates still prescribed in the U.S  fioricetprescription

 is usually prescribed for muscle tension headaches, but it’s a poor medication for this. It often causes rebound headaches if used more than a few times per month.

Why is it addicting?

Barbiturates cause sedation through their effects on GABA receptors of the brain, just as benzodiazepines do. However, barbiturates cause overdoses much easier than benzodiazepines, and for that reason, doctors don’t use barbiturates much these days.

 Is Fioricet a Controlled Substance?

I assume this is because there’s such a small amount of butalbital in each pill that the person taking enough pills to get high would also be taking too much caffeine and Tylenol. But just like with Lortab (a combination of hydrocodone and Tylenol), addicts often take more medication than they should, even knowing it may damage their livers
If codeine is added to the pill, then it’s a Schedule III Controlled Substance.

Drug interactions

I’ve seen many patients become addicted to this drug, and for some reason, most of them have been women. I suspect that’s because women are more likely to go to the doctor if they have a problem with headaches. They take these pills, and a small percent become addicted.

How should Fioricet addiction be treated?

Barbiturates cause a dangerous physical withdrawal syndrome, so a person who has been using them nearly daily should go to an inpatient detoxification unit, unless the physician decides the withdrawal can be handled as an outpatient with close follow up. Barbiturate withdrawal is treated like alcohol withdrawal, which makes sense, since both attach to the same brain receptors and cause similar effects. Usually a long-acting sedative is started, Fioricet stopped, and the long-acting sedative is slowly tapered over a period of months.