Aa
Excedrin
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?
I am by no means, no expert, but it sounds to me like if he really is addicted to it, then just maybe his body has relied on the excedrine for so long to keep headaches away, that when he doesnt take it, it throws his body automatically into a headache cause his body doesnt know what to do without it. The only cure for that is just time. he will have to quite taking the excedrine, and after awhile, the headaches will go away, cause the headaches are only from his body trying to rebel against not having the excedrine. Hope that this is some help!:)
How many Excedrin pills does he take each day?
If he is taking the extra strength that's 500mg - 250 acetominophene, 250 aspirin and 50 caffeine in every table. A lot of those are no good for your stomach, liver and/or kidneys. The diarrhea may be suggestive of the long term affects of these.
He should see a doctor to discuss the symptons and find out other options for migraine relief.
In addition maybe your husband should have a couple of tests to rule out anthying serious that can be causing the headaches.
Best of luck.
If he is taking the extra strength that's 500mg - 250 acetominophene, 250 aspirin and 50 caffeine in every table. A lot of those are no good for your stomach, liver and/or kidneys. The diarrhea may be suggestive of the long term affects of these.
He should see a doctor to discuss the symptons and find out other options for migraine relief.
In addition maybe your husband should have a couple of tests to rule out anthying serious that can be causing the headaches.
Best of luck.
I had to wean off of excedrin when I found out I was pregnant, that is also when I found out that excedrin is addictive. After suffering for a few days with killer headaches, pain that made me vomit, my MD said I could take motrin- but I am not sure your hubbys stomach could handle motrin. I was able to wean off completly with motrin and coffee, then off the motrin and coffee. I had never taken a sick day from any job until that episode. I took two days off plus a weekend and feared for my childs safty. He should talk to his doc about the rebound headaches, take a few days off and sleep, can he take OTC sleeping pills to help the withdraw happen while he sleeps all day, is that okay to do? Caffiene is a pain to stop taking in high quantities and along with the tylenol/aspirin/ but not impossible.
Anyway I am sure you would all feel better if he told his MD what was happening, you can go to. The diarrhea symptoms are scarry b/c of the bad side effects of tylenol/aspirin or it could be to much caffeine.
Anyway I am sure you would all feel better if he told his MD what was happening, you can go to. The diarrhea symptoms are scarry b/c of the bad side effects of tylenol/aspirin or it could be to much caffeine.
I suffer from Migraines and I wake up with them. Just to get through the day I take one Excedrine Migraine pill, because of my height and weight. Two of them will send me into a jittery state and trigger a manic episode that can last for a week or so.
I noticed today, that I didn't take an Excedrine pill and the headache started creeping up on me. Then I noticed severe stomache cramps, then I noticed I couldn't get up and do anything. I broke down and took a pill. Now I have no headache and I feel even.
This is addiction. I am taking the damn pills just to feel normal. The cramps went away in about 20 min and no more headache.
I have watched my husband kick heroin addiciton and he went through something similar, but much worse.
I noticed today, that I didn't take an Excedrine pill and the headache started creeping up on me. Then I noticed severe stomache cramps, then I noticed I couldn't get up and do anything. I broke down and took a pill. Now I have no headache and I feel even.
This is addiction. I am taking the damn pills just to feel normal. The cramps went away in about 20 min and no more headache.
I have watched my husband kick heroin addiciton and he went through something similar, but much worse.
I just had to post this to you. Get your husband to a Dr. right away! get a full blood chemistry and a PTH test (parathyroid hormone). i could have written your post. My husband had same thing and headaches got progressively worse and frequent and lasted longer when he would have real bad ones. but, always had some type of headche and said the same thing your husband did about having to haave the excedrin pm.
this went on for years. he went to the er one night at my insistence and his calcium was 10.7. We were never told and were refwerred to nerologist. he was put on amytryptilye to wean off the daily excedrin and the excedrin PM.
i hope you are still reading because this is serious. the doctors missed it and eventually my husband ended up critical in the hospital with renal failure.
he had a parathyroid adenoma which caused the increased calcium that caused the renal failure. he is lucky he lived.
i regret that we were not on top of this. it was the calcium which were causing the headaches. he suffered needlessly for years and almost died.
another thing, ALWAYS get copies of dthe blood and other tests and look at them yourself. if we had done this, we would have seen that his calcium had been rising over the years. Calcium does not go up or down for no reason!!!!!! his creatinine was also going up slightly over the years. this was also not noticed by Drs. unfortunately we have learned that Drs. do not pay attention to trends in bloodwork. they only pay attention to when things are "out of range". unfortunately, a diagnosis may be delayed for years while the person's quality of life and ultimate health is being affected.
this all takes a lot of work and finding the right Dr.
i'm not saying this is necessarily his problem. but he needs to keep on this. after my husband had dthe adenoma removed he was able to get off the excedrin and excedrin pm. it was hard, but doable. he was definitely addicted to it, but without the underlying medical condition, he was able to do it.
find a doctor who is willing to do the work to find the problem!!!!!!! use the internet to find the best of the best. we have found that there is a wide variation in approches between endocrinologists. don't let anyone blow you off! trust your gut. see how you feel after you leave the Dr.. and, even if you think you have good ?Dr. get a total of THREE opinions. this will also heelp to judge between the ddoctors. its hard to know a good thing unless you have an average of bad thing to compare it to.
furthermore, if he doesn't stop taking so much excedrin, that, in and of itself will damage his kidneys and/or liver and who knows what else. something is definitely going on.
aalso, when my husband was going through this, since his calcium was up, it affected his judgement. (as well as other personality, memory, cognition function), so he was not in the best position to guage hiss need for medical care and i should not have deferred to his desire to ignore this. aso, he did not have the persevence he needed to pursue it. he just struggled to get through each day.
does your husband have frequent urination, lack of appetite/nasaueous a lot, bouts of direaheea or constipation, changes in personality, mental function (desn't seem as quick and sharp as he used to?). theese symptoms can missed as they come on so gradually that it seems normal for them (happens over years). this whole situation muust also be affecting your marriage.
my husband and i are both professional and , in retrospect, cannot believe we handled the situation so poorly. don't make the same mistakes we did. he may be addicted, but that's probably not his real problem!
Good luck!!!!!!
this went on for years. he went to the er one night at my insistence and his calcium was 10.7. We were never told and were refwerred to nerologist. he was put on amytryptilye to wean off the daily excedrin and the excedrin PM.
i hope you are still reading because this is serious. the doctors missed it and eventually my husband ended up critical in the hospital with renal failure.
he had a parathyroid adenoma which caused the increased calcium that caused the renal failure. he is lucky he lived.
i regret that we were not on top of this. it was the calcium which were causing the headaches. he suffered needlessly for years and almost died.
another thing, ALWAYS get copies of dthe blood and other tests and look at them yourself. if we had done this, we would have seen that his calcium had been rising over the years. Calcium does not go up or down for no reason!!!!!! his creatinine was also going up slightly over the years. this was also not noticed by Drs. unfortunately we have learned that Drs. do not pay attention to trends in bloodwork. they only pay attention to when things are "out of range". unfortunately, a diagnosis may be delayed for years while the person's quality of life and ultimate health is being affected.
this all takes a lot of work and finding the right Dr.
i'm not saying this is necessarily his problem. but he needs to keep on this. after my husband had dthe adenoma removed he was able to get off the excedrin and excedrin pm. it was hard, but doable. he was definitely addicted to it, but without the underlying medical condition, he was able to do it.
find a doctor who is willing to do the work to find the problem!!!!!!! use the internet to find the best of the best. we have found that there is a wide variation in approches between endocrinologists. don't let anyone blow you off! trust your gut. see how you feel after you leave the Dr.. and, even if you think you have good ?Dr. get a total of THREE opinions. this will also heelp to judge between the ddoctors. its hard to know a good thing unless you have an average of bad thing to compare it to.
furthermore, if he doesn't stop taking so much excedrin, that, in and of itself will damage his kidneys and/or liver and who knows what else. something is definitely going on.
aalso, when my husband was going through this, since his calcium was up, it affected his judgement. (as well as other personality, memory, cognition function), so he was not in the best position to guage hiss need for medical care and i should not have deferred to his desire to ignore this. aso, he did not have the persevence he needed to pursue it. he just struggled to get through each day.
does your husband have frequent urination, lack of appetite/nasaueous a lot, bouts of direaheea or constipation, changes in personality, mental function (desn't seem as quick and sharp as he used to?). theese symptoms can missed as they come on so gradually that it seems normal for them (happens over years). this whole situation muust also be affecting your marriage.
my husband and i are both professional and , in retrospect, cannot believe we handled the situation so poorly. don't make the same mistakes we did. he may be addicted, but that's probably not his real problem!
Good luck!!!!!!
I know this thread is a year old but I do not often come across topics dealing with Excederin addiction. I do not look for topics that often either but this one was a great read.
I too am struggling with this addiction and cannot find a way out.
I take two pills every morning, often around 1 pm and around 5 pm. If I take just one dose a day I consider that a good day.
I drink several cups of coffee a day, and often cold beverages like coke or ice tea.
So I know the caffeine is a significant part of this equation of addiction. However there is more. If I take something else, like just asprin or Tylenol I dont get the mental or physical 'boost' that I seem to expect.
I am 43 years old and wonder how much longer my body can take this. I take other medicine too so that cannot be good. I take Celexa each morning. I try not to pop both meds at the same time, at least I have some common sense there.
I take Prilosec each morning because the Celexa and the aspirin is at work causing heart burn. I have a mild disease called essential tremors, which is sort of like Parkinsons, but not as bad. It affects mostly my hand area, but it has not caused any disabillity. The caffeine makes it worse. I grind my teeth at night, and it probably has resulted in my TMJ symptoms. So you would think there are so good reasons to toss the Excederin and quit caffeine, but I keep rolling along.
Back when I had health insurance (ah another reason to quit this **** eh?) I called my health insurance company to get a referral for an addiction therapist and the representative chuckled when I told him I was addicted to caffeine. I tried out a therapist and she did not take my case seriously. She even drank a coke during one session, and had her teenager in the next room who surely could hear the session.
I hate to go see a regular doctor (no insurance) and put this addiction on file. You see my two main choices for seeing a doctor will mean putting this on record in a database which I really do not want to have happen. I fear my personal information will be readable by prying eyes in my profession if I ever work for one of the two institutions again. There are two extremely large systems in my area that have gobbled up all the clinics and they are all networked. I worked for one of them once and saw how the workers randomly look up each other to see what luggage they carry.
I have tried going off slowly but I loose motivation. I tried cold turkey and felt like I was vomitting my insides out, and would die of something the withdrawl pain was so bad.
So here I am. Addicted with no idea how I will kick this weird addiction. I wonder what I can try to whack this. There is no support groups I have found for this.
I too am struggling with this addiction and cannot find a way out.
I take two pills every morning, often around 1 pm and around 5 pm. If I take just one dose a day I consider that a good day.
I drink several cups of coffee a day, and often cold beverages like coke or ice tea.
So I know the caffeine is a significant part of this equation of addiction. However there is more. If I take something else, like just asprin or Tylenol I dont get the mental or physical 'boost' that I seem to expect.
I am 43 years old and wonder how much longer my body can take this. I take other medicine too so that cannot be good. I take Celexa each morning. I try not to pop both meds at the same time, at least I have some common sense there.
I take Prilosec each morning because the Celexa and the aspirin is at work causing heart burn. I have a mild disease called essential tremors, which is sort of like Parkinsons, but not as bad. It affects mostly my hand area, but it has not caused any disabillity. The caffeine makes it worse. I grind my teeth at night, and it probably has resulted in my TMJ symptoms. So you would think there are so good reasons to toss the Excederin and quit caffeine, but I keep rolling along.
Back when I had health insurance (ah another reason to quit this **** eh?) I called my health insurance company to get a referral for an addiction therapist and the representative chuckled when I told him I was addicted to caffeine. I tried out a therapist and she did not take my case seriously. She even drank a coke during one session, and had her teenager in the next room who surely could hear the session.
I hate to go see a regular doctor (no insurance) and put this addiction on file. You see my two main choices for seeing a doctor will mean putting this on record in a database which I really do not want to have happen. I fear my personal information will be readable by prying eyes in my profession if I ever work for one of the two institutions again. There are two extremely large systems in my area that have gobbled up all the clinics and they are all networked. I worked for one of them once and saw how the workers randomly look up each other to see what luggage they carry.
I have tried going off slowly but I loose motivation. I tried cold turkey and felt like I was vomitting my insides out, and would die of something the withdrawl pain was so bad.
So here I am. Addicted with no idea how I will kick this weird addiction. I wonder what I can try to whack this. There is no support groups I have found for this.
I am 33 years old, and have been taking Excedrin consistantly for about 6 years now. I take at least two every morning, and like you, if I only take 2 in the morning, I consider it a "good" day.
Several years ago, I was diagnosed with an ulcer. The pain was unbelievable. I was put on Prevacid, and the ulcer eventually healed. It was obvious that the ulcer was a result of Excedrin (and wine), and instead of stopping then, I continued to take Excedrin along with the Prevacid.
I take between 2-4 per day. I can't tell you a day when I didn't take any.
I have done the cold turkey quitting, and you almost have to do it over a weekend when you have no plans, because it will knock you on your a$$.
I would suggest trying this:
Take one for the next few days. I think for me, the addiction is not only physical, but psychological. Drink a soda, or some coffee or tea when you feel a headache coming on.
After this, just rely on the soda, tea, or coffee. Eventually, the caffeine withdrawal will subside. I am convinced that is the problem with us.
If you want to email me directly, my email address is ***@****. Maybe we can try doing this together.
Several years ago, I was diagnosed with an ulcer. The pain was unbelievable. I was put on Prevacid, and the ulcer eventually healed. It was obvious that the ulcer was a result of Excedrin (and wine), and instead of stopping then, I continued to take Excedrin along with the Prevacid.
I take between 2-4 per day. I can't tell you a day when I didn't take any.
I have done the cold turkey quitting, and you almost have to do it over a weekend when you have no plans, because it will knock you on your a$$.
I would suggest trying this:
Take one for the next few days. I think for me, the addiction is not only physical, but psychological. Drink a soda, or some coffee or tea when you feel a headache coming on.
After this, just rely on the soda, tea, or coffee. Eventually, the caffeine withdrawal will subside. I am convinced that is the problem with us.
If you want to email me directly, my email address is ***@****. Maybe we can try doing this together.
I've been with my girlfriend for 6 months.
She's been taking Excedrin for a year.
When she showed me the bottle near when we first met my thoughts were 'this looks addictive'
Something about the combination of drugs in Excedrin was just wrong to me.
I've taken one or two but no where near a constant basis cause I don't get headaches that much.
I didn't know she was taking 2 in the morning at work, and then every other day she would have a headache and take some more.
It got to be a daily thing recently, and where she would just constantly have a headache. Thankfully she wasn't ramping up the Excedrin too much. I feel bad for not making her quit earlier.
Were both very young, just past 20, she has no health insurance so I'm hoping that after the Excedrin storm we can deal with anything else medical.
I keep looking at the bottle hating Excedrin. I guess its my way of dealing with this. I just hate to see her in so much pain.
Nowhere on the bottle does it say it can be addictive, which I find wrong. I thought we were suppose to be told of this.
The only thing Excedrin has on there site is something about Rebound Headaches under the types of headaches. It says if you take the maximum dosage without relief talk to your Dr.
I also think its funny that Excedrin has all these different products. Its all the same medicine, the same dosage of the same stuff. What is it placebo?
I'd like to produce a medicine that was actually sugar pills, say its aspirin or some new drug with a long name that cures headaches within 15 minutes and see how much it works...
I've used a placebo Vitamin C and some basic hypnosis to cure head pains, chest pains and put someone to sleep. They woke up next morning feeling great. I wish it was that simple with this.
I think I'd rather go through the withdrawal symptoms then see my love do it. I never knew how painful this side of the argument can be.
Good health to all and to all a good holiday season,
Roarke
She's been taking Excedrin for a year.
When she showed me the bottle near when we first met my thoughts were 'this looks addictive'
Something about the combination of drugs in Excedrin was just wrong to me.
I've taken one or two but no where near a constant basis cause I don't get headaches that much.
I didn't know she was taking 2 in the morning at work, and then every other day she would have a headache and take some more.
It got to be a daily thing recently, and where she would just constantly have a headache. Thankfully she wasn't ramping up the Excedrin too much. I feel bad for not making her quit earlier.
Were both very young, just past 20, she has no health insurance so I'm hoping that after the Excedrin storm we can deal with anything else medical.
I keep looking at the bottle hating Excedrin. I guess its my way of dealing with this. I just hate to see her in so much pain.
Nowhere on the bottle does it say it can be addictive, which I find wrong. I thought we were suppose to be told of this.
The only thing Excedrin has on there site is something about Rebound Headaches under the types of headaches. It says if you take the maximum dosage without relief talk to your Dr.
I also think its funny that Excedrin has all these different products. Its all the same medicine, the same dosage of the same stuff. What is it placebo?
I'd like to produce a medicine that was actually sugar pills, say its aspirin or some new drug with a long name that cures headaches within 15 minutes and see how much it works...
I've used a placebo Vitamin C and some basic hypnosis to cure head pains, chest pains and put someone to sleep. They woke up next morning feeling great. I wish it was that simple with this.
I think I'd rather go through the withdrawal symptoms then see my love do it. I never knew how painful this side of the argument can be.
Good health to all and to all a good holiday season,
Roarke
i know this post is old...but i'm going to comment anyway. some people dismiss excedrin addiction entirely. i know it's real...but it's certainly not the same as other addictions. i take 2 ever morning. i used to take much more. the 2 i take every morning are actually taken just to prevent the headache i know will come if i don't take them. there is mild psychological addiction in that i get rather grumpy when i don't take them and i do have a strong desire to take them. i suppose this can be attributed to the caffeine...but the question is that if it's the caffeine alone, then why does large ammounts of coffee not replace the urge? and why do you still get a severe migraine if you do replace it with, say, coffee and some extra strength tylenol. by the ingredients on the back of the excedrine bottle...this should be all that's needed. for some reason it doesn't work, though.
anyway...i don't compare this psychologically to other addictions i've had. it certainly is a mystery, though, as to the physical withdrawal excedrine can produce and why it's effects are so different than what you would get from taking 500mg of tyenol with a couple cups of coffee.
there are certain medications that have vasoconstricters in them...such as midrin...that can be used in place of excedrin to help with withdrawal. the problem is that it causes sleepiness so using it in the morning kind of bites...and in rare cases it can be addicting. but it really is frustrating when people don't take this habbit seriously. there really is something about the formulation that causes psychical and psychological withdrawal symptoms when taken for extended periods of time.
anyway...i don't compare this psychologically to other addictions i've had. it certainly is a mystery, though, as to the physical withdrawal excedrine can produce and why it's effects are so different than what you would get from taking 500mg of tyenol with a couple cups of coffee.
there are certain medications that have vasoconstricters in them...such as midrin...that can be used in place of excedrin to help with withdrawal. the problem is that it causes sleepiness so using it in the morning kind of bites...and in rare cases it can be addicting. but it really is frustrating when people don't take this habbit seriously. there really is something about the formulation that causes psychical and psychological withdrawal symptoms when taken for extended periods of time.
Hey.. saw this post and wondering if taking 2 Excedrin PM @ NIGHT is bad???
I am a recovering addict x's 75 days off of a 8-10 Norco habit a day x's 3 years for 2 back surgeries and was told that I could take the Excedrin PM in order to help relieve my sciatic pain and back pain at night so that I could get some sleep...
Am I setting myself up for ANOTHER withdrawl here by taking the Excedrin PM at night??
I am a recovering addict x's 75 days off of a 8-10 Norco habit a day x's 3 years for 2 back surgeries and was told that I could take the Excedrin PM in order to help relieve my sciatic pain and back pain at night so that I could get some sleep...
Am I setting myself up for ANOTHER withdrawl here by taking the Excedrin PM at night??
That's kind of a tough one to answer Queen. Anything can be somewhat addicting. Have you tried to go without the excedrin pm at night? That would be one way to find out. Also, do you take them every night or only when you need them. I too have had surgery for a herniated disc and still deal with the sciatic problem due to scar tissue hitting the nerve. I know how painful that can me. It's like someone is stabbing me in the hip/butt area with a dagger and moving it around! If you look at the bright side though, you're not taking a opiate. I'm prescribed neurontin for the nerve pain but rarely take it as I've heard it can be addictive also. What out there doesn't have some sort of addictive traits? Coffee, soda, chocolate, etc...the list goes on and on! Some things are just more dangerous than others.
I have been taking Excedrin for over 10 years daily. Two in the morning and if I feel a headache coming on in the afternoon I will take two more. Yes, Excedrin is so addictive. I am 41 years old and I am very worried about the side effects. I am trying to get healthy, losing weight, eating healthy...but when I think about not taking Excedrin it scares me...Crazy I know!! Even scarrier...what it does to our liver! I am shocked at how much information there is on the internet about Excedrin and how many people have the same problem as I do...I am seriously considering taking either this weekend or next and trying to detox and get away from this drug!!!!!! Wish me luck!!!!
i would start with cutting the evening dose to 1...then eventually cutting the morning dose to 1...then eventually cutting the evening dose out...then the morning. the rebound headaches that the caffeine causes will probably prevent you from being successful otherwise. whether excedrin is addicting or not...it's a fact that it causes rebound migraines if taken daily...which is what you'll experience when you go off it all at once.
I have thought that i may addicted to excedrin also. I take 2 or 3 at the most a day everyday. I get these headaches all the time and as soon as I take one, it just goes away, all the pain anywhere. My boyfriend recently told me that I may be addicted to the caffeine in the excedrin. I don't know. Even when I run out, I am always wondering, should I go to the store and get some. If I don't go, I get a headache and wind up going anyway.
I think I've been addicted to Excedrin since I was in 5th grade. I'm now 28. I would always complain when I was younger of having headaches. I went to see doctors when I was younger, had MRIs and other tests for the headaches, but nothing abnormal was found. What I have now come to realize is that all of my headache issues are actually the rebound headaches you get from Excedrin--and NOT from migraines--and have probably been this whole time.
As with all addictions, this have progressed over time to where, at some points, I wasn't even tracking how much I was taking. When I look back, I don't think I even realized it was an addiction at the time. I cannot fathom what I've done to my body, as I don't think there is a way I will escape some sort of long-term damage to my kidneys, liver, and who knows what else.
I started seeing a psychologist for the first time recently and on my first day I told him of this and he just chuckled with that "that's weird/doesn't make sense" look on his face. The look where someone looks surprised and jolts their head back. I don't think he meant to react that way, but this is extremely serious and not a joke at all.
I'm still trying to quit; I've tried to quit about a billion times, but it's the withdrawal that prevents me, rather than my unwillingness. It became addiction for the psychological benefit, but I've been trying to quit since about 18 or 19 when I started to realize I was abusing it for no reason; and now, I find it almost impossible to quit due to the massive headaches it causes (from the withdrawal).
When trying to quit, my lower back starts to hurt, especially on my right side in the back (probably my kidneys). I had my gull bladder removed at 17, which I had attributed to my fast-food diet and relentless soda drinking, although I believe the Excedrin contributed to it as well. I am a male. I also had constipation, which I am able to improve with fiber cereal and lost of vegetable soup.
I am responsible in just about any other area of my life, and I cannot believe I've let myself use excuses to destroy my body like this. To any parents out there, get this drug out of your home, and never give it to your children.
As with all addictions, this have progressed over time to where, at some points, I wasn't even tracking how much I was taking. When I look back, I don't think I even realized it was an addiction at the time. I cannot fathom what I've done to my body, as I don't think there is a way I will escape some sort of long-term damage to my kidneys, liver, and who knows what else.
I started seeing a psychologist for the first time recently and on my first day I told him of this and he just chuckled with that "that's weird/doesn't make sense" look on his face. The look where someone looks surprised and jolts their head back. I don't think he meant to react that way, but this is extremely serious and not a joke at all.
I'm still trying to quit; I've tried to quit about a billion times, but it's the withdrawal that prevents me, rather than my unwillingness. It became addiction for the psychological benefit, but I've been trying to quit since about 18 or 19 when I started to realize I was abusing it for no reason; and now, I find it almost impossible to quit due to the massive headaches it causes (from the withdrawal).
When trying to quit, my lower back starts to hurt, especially on my right side in the back (probably my kidneys). I had my gull bladder removed at 17, which I had attributed to my fast-food diet and relentless soda drinking, although I believe the Excedrin contributed to it as well. I am a male. I also had constipation, which I am able to improve with fiber cereal and lost of vegetable soup.
I am responsible in just about any other area of my life, and I cannot believe I've let myself use excuses to destroy my body like this. To any parents out there, get this drug out of your home, and never give it to your children.
I am going through the withdrawals right now. I am 2 days into quitting. It came to head again for me as well.
I am experiencing this whole thing and have been addicted since probably 5th grade as well. My dad was an addict although he has really never completely copped to it, but very vaguely after a massive bleeding ulcer that was the result of overuse of Excedrin. I became aware of his addiction only after I did with mine, while starting Alcoholics Anonymous. One day, I could not stop the bleeding of a blemish on my face for like a 45 minutes duration. It completely freaked me out and after speaking to a fellow member of A.A. who was a doctor, we figured out what it was -- taking of many Excedrin every day. It was a wakeup call for me and I hate to say that I have had many over the years. Novelk, I am 44, so do the math. 2 days ago I came clean with my Fiance' and now it is time for action. I have made a Doctors appointment and I am going to request Labs and Bloodwork and the PTH test (parathyroid hormone) that cgcg suggested. I do have support and I am sharing this with many friends so they know what is going on with me, this will help me be responsible and take ownership for this addiction.
I am craving pretty bad right now and yes I have a headache but I am going to watch carefully to see if it goes Migraine on me. If I think it will I am going to take Maxalt which works very well for my Migraines. THe only reason I am not in excruciating pain is that I am allowing myself a cup of coffee in the morning first thing and then some maintenance Black Tea thru the day.
For you addicts that are floundering out there, I have been through the Detox before, and it's very important to have a plan with help from a doctor. If you can't, obviously it will be harder as it is that medicine can assist the withdrawals. I am with a Kaiser health plan so I am lucky. I was given a medicine before to help with the Migraines but for the life of me I can't think of it. They also gave me Nortriptyline for bedtime to help sleep. I also took a little bit of Trazadone to help with sleep. It was extremely helpful and I am hopeful that it will be again.
The headaches ARE rebound headaches from too much aspirin and if you can get off it all for a little while they will subside. I know, obviously easier said than done. I stayed tuned to this site.
I am experiencing this whole thing and have been addicted since probably 5th grade as well. My dad was an addict although he has really never completely copped to it, but very vaguely after a massive bleeding ulcer that was the result of overuse of Excedrin. I became aware of his addiction only after I did with mine, while starting Alcoholics Anonymous. One day, I could not stop the bleeding of a blemish on my face for like a 45 minutes duration. It completely freaked me out and after speaking to a fellow member of A.A. who was a doctor, we figured out what it was -- taking of many Excedrin every day. It was a wakeup call for me and I hate to say that I have had many over the years. Novelk, I am 44, so do the math. 2 days ago I came clean with my Fiance' and now it is time for action. I have made a Doctors appointment and I am going to request Labs and Bloodwork and the PTH test (parathyroid hormone) that cgcg suggested. I do have support and I am sharing this with many friends so they know what is going on with me, this will help me be responsible and take ownership for this addiction.
I am craving pretty bad right now and yes I have a headache but I am going to watch carefully to see if it goes Migraine on me. If I think it will I am going to take Maxalt which works very well for my Migraines. THe only reason I am not in excruciating pain is that I am allowing myself a cup of coffee in the morning first thing and then some maintenance Black Tea thru the day.
For you addicts that are floundering out there, I have been through the Detox before, and it's very important to have a plan with help from a doctor. If you can't, obviously it will be harder as it is that medicine can assist the withdrawals. I am with a Kaiser health plan so I am lucky. I was given a medicine before to help with the Migraines but for the life of me I can't think of it. They also gave me Nortriptyline for bedtime to help sleep. I also took a little bit of Trazadone to help with sleep. It was extremely helpful and I am hopeful that it will be again.
The headaches ARE rebound headaches from too much aspirin and if you can get off it all for a little while they will subside. I know, obviously easier said than done. I stayed tuned to this site.
I'm a 57 year old female that has been taking Excedrine for about 25 years. I have stopped a time or two, only to go back because I was so weary of the headaches. Sometimes I find myself taking it just as a precaution, as some of you have stated. I have weened myself down to 1 at a time, but sometimes 3 times a day. I have convinced myself that is probably not harmful, since the recommend you take aspirin to keep blood thin.
This is DAY 3 of not taking one and by FAR the worst day. I took a Celebrex, which I have on hand for severe neck pain. It hasn't phased the headache AT ALL.
My question is: Do you think its the caffeine that is causing the headache, as I don't want to drink a cola just to keep the cycle going. I
Does taking Tylenol really help the headache or should I just try to tough it out...I'm on the brink right now. I have an ice pack on my head trying to numb the pain. I don't want to take something else that is also going to cause the same type of rebound when I have already suffered for two days.
Like many of you, I worry about what it is doing to my stomach and kidneys. Its disturbing to think I have done this to myself. Trying to get healthy, finally.
Good Luck to us all trying to fight this.
This is DAY 3 of not taking one and by FAR the worst day. I took a Celebrex, which I have on hand for severe neck pain. It hasn't phased the headache AT ALL.
My question is: Do you think its the caffeine that is causing the headache, as I don't want to drink a cola just to keep the cycle going. I
Does taking Tylenol really help the headache or should I just try to tough it out...I'm on the brink right now. I have an ice pack on my head trying to numb the pain. I don't want to take something else that is also going to cause the same type of rebound when I have already suffered for two days.
Like many of you, I worry about what it is doing to my stomach and kidneys. Its disturbing to think I have done this to myself. Trying to get healthy, finally.
Good Luck to us all trying to fight this.
Don't know how I stumbled on this thread, but it's making me wonder about myself. I'm 33 years old and have been taking Excedrin for at least 20 years. I get migraines from time to time, and Excedrin's the only thing that works for me.
Unlike many of you, I don't take Excedrin daily. What's going to make you wince is that I take 4 at a time. That makes my pain go away every time. I know that's a lot of Excedrin, but keep in mind that I'm 6'4'' and about 280lbs.
I've never felt any side effect from taking Excedrin. Much to the contrary, it has allowed me to control my headaches. But my wife and my mom recoil at the thought of such a high dosage of Excedrin.
I average about one four-pill dosage per week. In other words, I don't take it everyday--not even close. I often go weeks without it. Some weeks, perhaps, I'll have two dosages; but the average is one four-pill dosage a week.
Should I be concerned about myself?
Unlike many of you, I don't take Excedrin daily. What's going to make you wince is that I take 4 at a time. That makes my pain go away every time. I know that's a lot of Excedrin, but keep in mind that I'm 6'4'' and about 280lbs.
I've never felt any side effect from taking Excedrin. Much to the contrary, it has allowed me to control my headaches. But my wife and my mom recoil at the thought of such a high dosage of Excedrin.
I average about one four-pill dosage per week. In other words, I don't take it everyday--not even close. I often go weeks without it. Some weeks, perhaps, I'll have two dosages; but the average is one four-pill dosage a week.
Should I be concerned about myself?
Its a sad day when people are addicted to excedrin
Has anyone died from this horrible addiction/
Have you spent every dime of your money
Have you lied ,cheated,stolen or winded up in Intensive care
,Have you lost every friend and family member you ever had
Addicted to EXCEDERIN, GET THE F*#K outta here
Has anyone died from this horrible addiction/
Have you spent every dime of your money
Have you lied ,cheated,stolen or winded up in Intensive care
,Have you lost every friend and family member you ever had
Addicted to EXCEDERIN, GET THE F*#K outta here
Maybe I jumped the gun/after actually reading some of the post/I now realize that it could defenitely damage your organs
I'm Sorry /
Drug companies and companies in general constantly make deadly products just to make a profit/Many times the side effects or long term effects are worse the the benefits
I'm Sorry /
Drug companies and companies in general constantly make deadly products just to make a profit/Many times the side effects or long term effects are worse the the benefits
I am 27 years old and suffer from horrible migraines. I have been taking Excedrin for 2-3 years now......it seems to be the only thing that helps. The scary part is I take four every morning and four every night before bed daily. I'm so afraid of getting another migraine that I try to prevent them before they happen. I'm not even sure why I do this since even though I take the Excedrin daily, I still get severe migraines at least once a month. Sometimes the Excedrin does not even phase the headaches and I just have to suffer them out for 2-3 days with intense nausea and often vomiting. I am so scared because I know this is not good at all for my liver, kidneys and god knows what else. I can only imagine the damage that has already been done. I never in a million years thought I would get addicted to a painkiller like this. I really want to stop before I do more damage to my body than has already been done. I know it's going to be hell trying to break this bad habit. Small price to pay though when it comes to your health. I am trying to schedule an appointment with a Neurologist since I finally have health insurance. I'm hoping I can get a prescription for something that will be a bit more effective and not as addicting. The hard part will be telling the Dr. about my awful habit. I just really want to end this horrible addiction. Any tips would be most helpful? I'm going to need all the help I can get to kick this bad habit!
May be somebody has already mentioned this. I didn't get to read all the posts.
Generally, the side effects of stopping any drug can be minimized by weaning it off slowly. As slow as needed. From 2 pills to 1 3/4 to 1 1/2 etc. over many days or weeks. Or even slower. This will give the body ample time to readjust to the chemical changes arising out of stopping the drug.
I have had to ramp up and wean off from several drugs in the past while I was suffering from anxiety/depression . Taking it slow really helped.
Hope this helps.
Arun
Generally, the side effects of stopping any drug can be minimized by weaning it off slowly. As slow as needed. From 2 pills to 1 3/4 to 1 1/2 etc. over many days or weeks. Or even slower. This will give the body ample time to readjust to the chemical changes arising out of stopping the drug.
I have had to ramp up and wean off from several drugs in the past while I was suffering from anxiety/depression . Taking it slow really helped.
Hope this helps.
Arun
If you are taking the excedrin to PREVENT migraines something that might help you is to talk to your doctor to get on a prescription migraine preventative. Topamax, Depakote, and propranolol are a few that work well for me. I will go over the ups and downs of a two of these medications and why I ended up on the medication I am on. I started with topamax and it was amazing as I had an average of 3 migraines per week. The problem with topamax was appetite suppression. I lost just over 70 pounds on it and even forcing myself to eat wasn't enough to prevent further weight loss. I then tried depakote and it was just the opposite for me. I gained weight extremely fast and was alway hungry which led me to propranolol LA. I haven't had any side effects while taking it and can manage my weight easily. All of these meds worked very well to prevent migraines. I actually have less than one per month now. When I do have a migraine I use imitrex nasal which works very quickly (the fastest working form of the drug I have used and I have tried them all including the injection units).
This would be a healthier way to PREVENT migraines than pounding your liver daily with aspirin and acetamenophin. Since you are getting these headaches from rebound you may only need the preventative medications above for a short period of time to break your cycle so you shouldn't have any trouble stopping these medications once your problems subside (with the exception of topomax which should be tapered up and back down). If you do stop these medications and find you start having migraines again it will likely be safer to continue the preventative medications above as you may also have migraines that are not a cause of the rebound but only you can decide if you need full time management that you get with a migraine preventative. If you are only having one migraine per month or less it may be more benificial to your body to put less medication in and take just a migraine treatment medication such as maxalt or imitrex. I will say that if I recall correctly maxalt is about half the cost of imitrex tablets or nasal and much less than the injection imitrex units.
To help with the withdrawal from caffeine you can use coffee with the meds above but be sure you are lowering your caffeine intake a small amount each week. This may actually be easier using caffeine tablets. If you can find 50 mg tablets you can trim them down 25% for a couple weeks or so and leave your otherwise caffeine intake unchanged. So if you drink 3 pepsi colas per day do not cut them out as of yet. After you feel no ill effects from dropping 25% off the caffeine tablets for a good week try cutting it in half and continuing the process until you are no longer using the tablets. One caveat of using the tablets is be sure there is nothing other than caffeine in them. Look at the product ingredients and stay away from anything that contains things like taurine found in red bell and guarana (spelling) fould in bawls energy drink. You also want to watch for anything that reads proprietary blend as lord only knows what is in this. More than likely it is mostly fillers with small amounts of additives like taurine etc. In herbal medications this is called pixie dusting and is usually just a useless selling point so they can say their product will do miracles but since the FDA does not regulate this they can get away with it. The point is, if you need to know you are reducing your caffeine you were getting with the excedring you need to know how much you are putting into your body and with tablets it will tell you very close to exactly how much caffeine is in there but you do want to be sure what you are taking is only caffeine in the tablet. You do want to be sure that the caffeine tablets you buy are not time release (I am not sure they make these but want to mention this in case they are out there) skip them as cutting them will eliminate the time release function of the tablet more than likely and you may end up getting way more caffeine than you bargained for.
I am by no means a doctor, nor do I have a problem with excedrin but this in my opinion may be a viable option to discuss with your doctor for treatment of getting off the excedrin rebound cycle. With any non migraine headaches you may have an over the counter NSAID (motrin, advil, ibuprofen, aleve, etc) should help with those headaches.
I will also mention that believe it or not my local chiropractor could get rid of a migraine instantly for me with a neck adjustment. It may not make sense but when I was young he told my mother whenever I had one to bring me in and within minutes of the adjustment I either had virtually full relief or it would go away for just a couple minutes and come back worse at which time he would adjust me again and it was then gone for good. A chiropractor trip is not cheap but our local chiro was nice enough that he did not even charge for this since my brother was there every couple weeks for back and neck adjustments. You may not be so lucky but if you have no anti migraine meds and your chiropractor is willing to try to adjust you to treat a migraine it could be worth a shot. I don't think I have ever seen a chiropractor advertise for treatment of migraine but it worked for me and my migraine headaches were confirmed as migraines by a CT scan or MRI I don't remember which.
This would be a healthier way to PREVENT migraines than pounding your liver daily with aspirin and acetamenophin. Since you are getting these headaches from rebound you may only need the preventative medications above for a short period of time to break your cycle so you shouldn't have any trouble stopping these medications once your problems subside (with the exception of topomax which should be tapered up and back down). If you do stop these medications and find you start having migraines again it will likely be safer to continue the preventative medications above as you may also have migraines that are not a cause of the rebound but only you can decide if you need full time management that you get with a migraine preventative. If you are only having one migraine per month or less it may be more benificial to your body to put less medication in and take just a migraine treatment medication such as maxalt or imitrex. I will say that if I recall correctly maxalt is about half the cost of imitrex tablets or nasal and much less than the injection imitrex units.
To help with the withdrawal from caffeine you can use coffee with the meds above but be sure you are lowering your caffeine intake a small amount each week. This may actually be easier using caffeine tablets. If you can find 50 mg tablets you can trim them down 25% for a couple weeks or so and leave your otherwise caffeine intake unchanged. So if you drink 3 pepsi colas per day do not cut them out as of yet. After you feel no ill effects from dropping 25% off the caffeine tablets for a good week try cutting it in half and continuing the process until you are no longer using the tablets. One caveat of using the tablets is be sure there is nothing other than caffeine in them. Look at the product ingredients and stay away from anything that contains things like taurine found in red bell and guarana (spelling) fould in bawls energy drink. You also want to watch for anything that reads proprietary blend as lord only knows what is in this. More than likely it is mostly fillers with small amounts of additives like taurine etc. In herbal medications this is called pixie dusting and is usually just a useless selling point so they can say their product will do miracles but since the FDA does not regulate this they can get away with it. The point is, if you need to know you are reducing your caffeine you were getting with the excedring you need to know how much you are putting into your body and with tablets it will tell you very close to exactly how much caffeine is in there but you do want to be sure what you are taking is only caffeine in the tablet. You do want to be sure that the caffeine tablets you buy are not time release (I am not sure they make these but want to mention this in case they are out there) skip them as cutting them will eliminate the time release function of the tablet more than likely and you may end up getting way more caffeine than you bargained for.
I am by no means a doctor, nor do I have a problem with excedrin but this in my opinion may be a viable option to discuss with your doctor for treatment of getting off the excedrin rebound cycle. With any non migraine headaches you may have an over the counter NSAID (motrin, advil, ibuprofen, aleve, etc) should help with those headaches.
I will also mention that believe it or not my local chiropractor could get rid of a migraine instantly for me with a neck adjustment. It may not make sense but when I was young he told my mother whenever I had one to bring me in and within minutes of the adjustment I either had virtually full relief or it would go away for just a couple minutes and come back worse at which time he would adjust me again and it was then gone for good. A chiropractor trip is not cheap but our local chiro was nice enough that he did not even charge for this since my brother was there every couple weeks for back and neck adjustments. You may not be so lucky but if you have no anti migraine meds and your chiropractor is willing to try to adjust you to treat a migraine it could be worth a shot. I don't think I have ever seen a chiropractor advertise for treatment of migraine but it worked for me and my migraine headaches were confirmed as migraines by a CT scan or MRI I don't remember which.
Okay, so I'm the one who posted a couple months ago who was taking four Excedrin Mirgaine twice daily. Yes, eight pills a day! That really freaked me out as to what it was doing to my body and my headaches were not getting any better. So I ended up going to the doc and he prescribed me Sumatriptan/Imitrex. Before I started taking the Sumatriptan, I slowly started weaning myself off of the Excedrin Migraine. For 3-3 weeks I went from eight pills daily to only four. But this past Saturday I got a really bad migraine and was forced to try out the Sumatriptan. It worked like magic, but after a few hours the headache came back ten times worst and there was just a lot of pain and pressure in my head. Sunday I took another Sumatriptan and again it worked like a charm, but the headache came back even worst a few hours later. I am afraid to even take another Sumatriptan if the headache is only going to come back. I'm not sure if the medicine is causing it or what? I should mention that since Saturday, I have gone cold turkey on the Excedrin Migraine. I am about to enter day four of being Excedrin Migrain free....but I have a headache from hell! I refuse to take anymore Excedrin because I am determined to quit it for good! 2-3 years of being addicted to it is enough for me! But how do I deal with this pain? When will it go away? I already had to suffer through the weekend and miss work yesterday. How much longer will it take? Are these headaches most likely withdrawal symptoms from the Excedrin? The headaches feel a bit different from my usual migraines, but still a lot of pain and nausea!
I apologize for this long jumble of words, but I'm just in a lot of pain and don't know what else to do? Nothing seems to help. I'm about to try some Alieve or something, but I doubt it will do any good.
Help please!!???
I apologize for this long jumble of words, but I'm just in a lot of pain and don't know what else to do? Nothing seems to help. I'm about to try some Alieve or something, but I doubt it will do any good.
Help please!!???
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