Excedrin

[krause1515]

My husband is addicted to Excedrin.  He now gets diarrhea a few nights a week and when he doesn't take it he says he gets an unbearable headache/migraine.  He says he can't quit because the headache is too unbearable.  So instead he just pops immodium to help the diarrhea.  How can he quit this?

[villemom]

I am also addicted to Excedrin  - 58 yrs old, taking one a day for about 12 years.  Did you ever kick the addiction?  If so, I'd love to know how. I thought it may help for me to wean myself by taking 3/4 tablet for several days, then 1/2, then 1/4 etc.  Would love to know if you had success in going totally off of Excedrin.  I think they should have to put on the bottle that it is very addicting.  There are no warnings that I know of.

[pupbud]

I went cold turkey and got off it. It wasn't fun, but it was worth it.

[Happyiam]

I have been a reader of mercola.com for years.  I would suggest you all try eft.  It is a simple way to correct the emotional reason for addiction.  It is nothing short of amazing.  It seems weird at first, but once you do it and get results, you will also find it amazing.  You can learn it for free so this is not someone out to make a buck although there are many practitioners out there to help.  You can go on youtube and find many tap alongs as well.  Just search "eft addiction"  Here is a link from mercola.com - http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2006/04/15/a-new-way-to-conquer-addictions.aspx
I also find Robert Smith from faster eft to be a very good resource.  Search for him on youtube as well.  Many of his earlier videos are very helpful.  The cdc says up to something like 80% if physical problems have an emotional basis, this will help remove the emotional issue.  Hope you find this useful, it will change your life.

[weebles2]

Another Excedrin Migraine addict of many years here, and a coffee drinker to boot.  This is my second day off EM but I was hurting so much at the grocery store, I picked up some Tylenol Arthritis which helped, along with a nap.  I know the evils of Tylenol but it doesn't seem as scary or addictive as EM.  Hoping to get off OTC pain meds altogether, but can't do it without a small amount of relief.  Coffee helps some but should taper off on that, too.  I'm also on omeprazole for reflux--but it's getting better already without the acid of EM.    

Rebound headaches have been awful; plus my heart would pound and I felt fuzzy-headed with low energy.

[elizabeth640]

I am on the raw foods diet.  On the diet I still have some chronic headache pain but no migraines.  I now am feeling pretty good and have started to wean off the 3 generic Excedrins a day.  I have taken Excedrin for 39 years.  For a long time I took 12 a day.  I weaned down to 3 because I thought I had a bleeding ulcer.  Now I see red marks on my arms which my husband said are due to bleeding under the skin due to the blood thinning effect of aspirin.  The red spots then turn to brown spots.  I'm much too vain to put up with this!  I am so glad nothing worse has happened to me!  I now have 1 Excedrin and two cups of coffee a day and plan to go to just coffee soon and then wean off that.  (then maybe I can go off the prescribed sleeping medication I take due to caffeine making me so hyper!)  What a mess!  This has been so convoluted all beginning with simple coffee causing chronic headaches and migraines which were "relieved" by Excedrin!  And 39 years later!  And really...without the raw foods diet I still would not consider giving up the generic Excedrin.  I thank you all for your posts and the hope you give me. I will probably read your posts over and over for awhile.

[DSILVA34]

Hi well I think EXCEDERIN IS ADDICTIVE IM 34 STRUGGLING WITH THYROID DISORDER AND LEFT WITH HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE I HADN'T TAKEN EXCEDRIN FOR A WEEK I'M SUFFERING MIGRAINES AND MY BODY IS ASKING FOR IT BUT I GAVE UP COLD TURKEY YES IT IS VERY ADDICTIVE STOP NOW THAT YOU CAN I WISH I WOULD HAVE NEVER TOUCHED THEM DUMB A@@ PILLS

[cuthbert9700]

I see the comments and it relates strongly to me.For years, I was a heavy, everyday user of Excedrin PM. Not for physical pain, but for wanting to sleep. I hated being awake because it was so depressing (still do), so as soon as I would wake up, I would take a bunch of PM (various brands, but always as strong as I could find). By the time I stopped a year ago, I was taking 20 at a time, 4 times a day. Apparently from reading here, that is a lot (and no those aren't typos or lying for effect).

By the time it was coming to an end, My weight was down below 100lbs (I'm 5ft 5), due to a lot of throwing up. One time, suddenly all of my hearing stopped in one ear. I mean everything, and that lasted a full week. My left ear still rings non-stop a bit, but I've learned to ignore it. My teeth starting weakening and falling out and I now look like a meth addict (making me pretty much unemployable). I was so weak, I would sit and shake for hours; my handwriting resembled a 3 year old drawing. My memory was shot: For example, I could be talking to someone and I would start to reply. But then halfway through I would forget what I was saying. And then I would flat out forget what I was even responding to at all. As if the other person said nothing. My eyesight started to go. First slowly, but then in recent weeks/months, it has gotten a lot worse really fast, within 2 months my left eye has gone completely useless. I coincidentally have a dr appt today about it, but my last one, they couldn't even do a reguar eye test on it. They did something called a CFF test, and I measured a CFF2, meaning I Could read fingers 2 feet in front of me (but to be honest, it was still guesswork based on shadows).

Then a year ago, I figured I had to admit that the PM were causing the problems, so I just stopped. Felt like garbage for a few days, but it was never really a challenge to stop. I just did. Now, can I say that these symptoms are all from the PM? Not at all, especially since all the teeth falling out happened after I stopped. But, there was nothing else going on in my life, and I was taking upwards of 100 pills a day on some days. In the year since then, I've seen almost no real information that doesn't sound like just generic butt-covering that too much PM could lead to these problems, so maybe it is just a coincidence. I don't know. I do still wish every day I could find something that allowed me to fall asleep as soon as I wake up.

And they really didn't help me sleep, either.