xburtonchic
Bluelighter
- Joined
- May 17, 2011
- Messages
- 1,004
I got a concussion and fractured skull last night, and the doctor at the ER prescribed me Fioricet. I asked him if it was an opiate; he said "No, but be careful with it anyways." Concussion or not, I understand the underlying message of "if you take too much of this drug, you will get high." So I researched it this morning, like I do with all new drugs, on Erowid.
The experience vaults basically all described it as a euphoric, opiate-mixed-with-benzo-like high. Opiates are my drug of choice, and when I choose to indulge in a few more Xanax than my daily dose, I enjoy the buzz; I figured the caffeine would balance out the sedative effects and leave nothing but euphoria, so to me, it seemed like the perfect drug. I'm not supposed to drive anywhere for the next 24 hours... but honestly, my head was absolutely ruining me (Ibuprofen wasn't helping and my discharge instructions said to avoid aspirin), I was bored as shit being stuck at home all weekend because of this stupid fucking concussion, the pharmacy is literally a block away, and my dizziness and blurred eyesight wasn't so bad at that point in time. I figured it would be okay to rush to the pharmacy real quick and pick up my script. (It WAS in fact fine, by the way... but after I got home the concussion symptoms were escalated due to the bright lights and noise in the store, walking around so much, and having to concentrate on driving. But I didn't crash and that's all that matters!)
The Erowid experience vaults mostly said that one will suffice if you don't have a tolerance, but since I actually needed it for the excruciating pain in my face, I decided to take 1 and a half instead, just in case. My script says to take two at a time, so it's not like I was taking more than I should have. I was totally expecting an opiate/benzo type high; I also expected the caffeine included in the drug to counteract any sedative affects... but that is not what happened. Not even close.
So. Let the trip report begin.
Dosage: 75 mg butalbital, 488 mg of APAP, and 60 mg of caffeine (Fioricet).
Other info: 100 lbs, 5'2, female. Earlier that day - I'd say about four hours prior to this, perhaps a little bit less - I had taken 4 mg of buprenorphine and naloxone (Suboxone), and 1 mg of alprazolam (Xanax). I am on Suboxone as maintenance, daily, and I take Xanax daily as well for GAD, so I have a good tolerance to both of those drugs. I have NO tolerance to barbituates. The closest I've come to it are benzos and alcohol.
T + 0:00: Broke one of the halves into quarters for faster absorption - took those and one full pill - and washed it down with orange juice. Went outside to sit outside in the sun, Facebooked it for a while, and drank some orange juice while I waited for it to kick in.
T + 0:20: Started to feel a pronounced light-headedness/dizziness, even while sitting down. Ignored this, because I wasn't sure if it was due to the drug or the concussion.
T + 0:45: Fighting my ass off to stay awake at this point. Fell asleep in the chair I was sitting in several times, only to wake up and discover I had been in the middle of a text message or Facebook comment that I hadn't finished. This went on for the next hour and a half or so, I'd say.
T + 2h: Finally able to keep my eyes open, but still with some difficulty. I was tired, but there was no comedown or crazy hangover to speak of.
T + 2h:30: Finally felt alert and was back to baseline.
There was no comedown or annoying side effects aside from the extreme drowsiness. I was not expecting to become tired though - I was expecting to enjoy a nice, euphoric, opiate-benzo-like high - productive and alert, like the Erowid experience vaults said, due to the caffeine. Overall, it wasn't horrible but it wasn't enjoyable either. The only good thing about it is that I "woke up" from the "high" feeling very refreshed, more so than I ever do waking up in the mornings... and it DID ease the pain and symptoms of my concussion a bit.
I would compare it very closely to Clonodine as far as the drowsiness goes. That's exactly what it felt like, except without the general "I feel like absolute fucking shit" feeling upon the drug wearing off. There was a little bit of irritability to speak of, but only slightly.All in all, it seems like a good drug - gets the job done very well for it's intended purpose. Personally though, I don't see any recreational use in it. HOWEVER... I am not counting out the fact that I was taking them because I actually needed them, or the fact that I took one other depressant and one other sedative earlier that day, or the fact that I'm just... not tolerant to barbituates in any way... so it's possible I just took more than I needed to in order to feel a high... much like if you take too much Suboxone or Xanax, you crash out instead of getting the euphoric effects.
I'm going to try again tomorrow, and take only one full pill (without breaking it in half), before I take my daily dose of Suboxone or Xanax. Maybe that will make a difference. I'll update this if it does. If not, then I guess now we know those three drug interactions do nothing but make you pass out cold... even if the pharmacist says otherwise
The experience vaults basically all described it as a euphoric, opiate-mixed-with-benzo-like high. Opiates are my drug of choice, and when I choose to indulge in a few more Xanax than my daily dose, I enjoy the buzz; I figured the caffeine would balance out the sedative effects and leave nothing but euphoria, so to me, it seemed like the perfect drug. I'm not supposed to drive anywhere for the next 24 hours... but honestly, my head was absolutely ruining me (Ibuprofen wasn't helping and my discharge instructions said to avoid aspirin), I was bored as shit being stuck at home all weekend because of this stupid fucking concussion, the pharmacy is literally a block away, and my dizziness and blurred eyesight wasn't so bad at that point in time. I figured it would be okay to rush to the pharmacy real quick and pick up my script. (It WAS in fact fine, by the way... but after I got home the concussion symptoms were escalated due to the bright lights and noise in the store, walking around so much, and having to concentrate on driving. But I didn't crash and that's all that matters!)
The Erowid experience vaults mostly said that one will suffice if you don't have a tolerance, but since I actually needed it for the excruciating pain in my face, I decided to take 1 and a half instead, just in case. My script says to take two at a time, so it's not like I was taking more than I should have. I was totally expecting an opiate/benzo type high; I also expected the caffeine included in the drug to counteract any sedative affects... but that is not what happened. Not even close.
So. Let the trip report begin.
Dosage: 75 mg butalbital, 488 mg of APAP, and 60 mg of caffeine (Fioricet).
Other info: 100 lbs, 5'2, female. Earlier that day - I'd say about four hours prior to this, perhaps a little bit less - I had taken 4 mg of buprenorphine and naloxone (Suboxone), and 1 mg of alprazolam (Xanax). I am on Suboxone as maintenance, daily, and I take Xanax daily as well for GAD, so I have a good tolerance to both of those drugs. I have NO tolerance to barbituates. The closest I've come to it are benzos and alcohol.
T + 0:00: Broke one of the halves into quarters for faster absorption - took those and one full pill - and washed it down with orange juice. Went outside to sit outside in the sun, Facebooked it for a while, and drank some orange juice while I waited for it to kick in.
T + 0:20: Started to feel a pronounced light-headedness/dizziness, even while sitting down. Ignored this, because I wasn't sure if it was due to the drug or the concussion.
T + 0:45: Fighting my ass off to stay awake at this point. Fell asleep in the chair I was sitting in several times, only to wake up and discover I had been in the middle of a text message or Facebook comment that I hadn't finished. This went on for the next hour and a half or so, I'd say.
T + 2h: Finally able to keep my eyes open, but still with some difficulty. I was tired, but there was no comedown or crazy hangover to speak of.
T + 2h:30: Finally felt alert and was back to baseline.
There was no comedown or annoying side effects aside from the extreme drowsiness. I was not expecting to become tired though - I was expecting to enjoy a nice, euphoric, opiate-benzo-like high - productive and alert, like the Erowid experience vaults said, due to the caffeine. Overall, it wasn't horrible but it wasn't enjoyable either. The only good thing about it is that I "woke up" from the "high" feeling very refreshed, more so than I ever do waking up in the mornings... and it DID ease the pain and symptoms of my concussion a bit.
I would compare it very closely to Clonodine as far as the drowsiness goes. That's exactly what it felt like, except without the general "I feel like absolute fucking shit" feeling upon the drug wearing off. There was a little bit of irritability to speak of, but only slightly.All in all, it seems like a good drug - gets the job done very well for it's intended purpose. Personally though, I don't see any recreational use in it. HOWEVER... I am not counting out the fact that I was taking them because I actually needed them, or the fact that I took one other depressant and one other sedative earlier that day, or the fact that I'm just... not tolerant to barbituates in any way... so it's possible I just took more than I needed to in order to feel a high... much like if you take too much Suboxone or Xanax, you crash out instead of getting the euphoric effects.
I'm going to try again tomorrow, and take only one full pill (without breaking it in half), before I take my daily dose of Suboxone or Xanax. Maybe that will make a difference. I'll update this if it does. If not, then I guess now we know those three drug interactions do nothing but make you pass out cold... even if the pharmacist says otherwise
