Is Butalbital a good way to treat Migraine?
As the song goes, “everybody hurts sometimes”. All of us have suffered from an occasional headache or a migraine. Often, sleeping it off, hydrating or taking a simple Tylenol, Aspirin or a ibuprofen is enough to take care of the problem – at least for a time. But what if you find yourself needing pain relief more and more frequently? If this is the case, you might be suffering from what doctors call a “Chronic Tension Headache”, which is classified as any painful sensation in the head and neck area that is caused by the constricting of the blood vessels and muscles in the region, and which occurs more often than twice per week for a prolonged period of time. If you fit this description, you need to know that the problem, however serious it might seem, is far from uncommon. But just knowing that you are not alone is not enough. The fact is that chronic migraines and other types of tension headaches can negatively affect your family and work life to a major degree. A recent study, published by the National Headache Society of the United States suggests that over seventy percent of people affected by the chronic tension headache symptom have reported significant diminishing in their productivity and overall life satisfaction – all caused by the chronic pain. Often, the pain is even not the worst of the problem – people who suffer from migraines are exposed to additional symptoms, like the sensitivity to light, noise and smell, which can even further diminish their ability to function normally. After all, it’s tough to raise a family, develop a career or take care of your home if you have to spend days in a quiet, darkened room, since any exposure to sunlight or normal noise levels can leave you in an unbearable pain.
Fortunately, there’s a new option that seems to be very effective in treating migraines and tension headaches, especially for people who find over the counter painkillers less than effective. Fioricet, a combination drug based primarily on Butalbital is one of the latest painkillers that have been specifically developed as an way to treat these types of painful conditions. As the research and empirical evidence has clearly shown, Butalbital, originally developed as a sedative can be a very effective way to treat tension headaches, especially when combined with certain other well known substances – namely Caffeine and Acetaminophen. This exact combination of Butalbital, Acetaminophen and Caffeine has been recently developed in a brand new drug for the treatment of pain caused by migraine and other tension based causes – Fioricet. You can think of Fioricet as a “three in one” solution – each of the specific drugs that are continued in every Fioricet pill attacks the problem from a different angle, and treats a different aspect of the headache. Butalbital, being a sedative, can help you relax and relieve some of the tension in your constricted blood vessels and muscles. Caffeine helps with the blood flow, further de-constricts the blood vessels and increases the effectiveness of Butalbital, while Acetaminophen lowers a possible fever and takes care of inflammation that often contributes to the pain.