Hi miles,

I'm going to add to my answer here if I may: Fioricet is one drug many doctors do not recommend we take the generic of because it doesn't work as well.

The generic drugs have the same active ingredients as the brand name drugs. Generic drugs dissolve at the same rate, in equal amounts just like the brand name drugs do. The only difference in the two are the inactive and binding ingredients, color, shape and packaging. Having said that, some people do have problems with the binding ingredients and need to take the brand name drug. 

If you're taking Migraine  any kind of pain med more than two days a week, you may  be headed for medication overuse headache (MOH), aka rebound. See Medication Overuse Headache - When the Remedy Backfires for more information on this. If you're in an MOH situation, nothing you take is going work, neither prescription nor "natural" medications nor over-the-counter. If that's the case, you need to work with your doctor to stop the medications causing the problem  because sudden withdrawal of opioids could lead to seizures.   ANY use of opioids or barbiturates and frequent use of triptans and NSIADs are associated with increased risk of transformed Migraine. See Transformed Migraine - Risk Increased by Some Medications for more information on this.

Anyone who has three or more Migraines a month needs to be talking with their doctor about prevention. There's growing evidence that Migraine is a progressive brain disease. A recent study showed that Migraines can cause brain damage, and that people with three or more Migraines a month are more susceptible to this damage. For more information see Is Migraine a Progressive Brain Disease? and Yes, Migraines Can Cause Brain Damage.

Don't lose hope, there are so many medications that can be used for Migraine and headache prevention that it's literally impossible. You can find a list of potential Migraine and headache preventives in Migraine preventive medications - too many options to give up!

Good luck

Nancy