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Good Buzz When I'm Broke
Codeine, Butalbital, Aspirin & Caffeine (Fiorinal)
Citation:   The Günter Unit. "Good Buzz When I'm Broke: An Experience with Codeine, Butalbital, Aspirin & Caffeine (Fiorinal) (exp31552)". Erowid.org. Jan 11, 2007. erowid.org/exp/31552

 
DOSE:
T+ 0:00
90 mg oral Codeine (extract)
  T+ 2:00 60 mg oral Codeine (extract)
  T+ 2:00 3 shots oral Alcohol - Hard (liquid)
BODY WEIGHT: 145 lb
Well, I ran into a bottle of Fiorinal/Codeine capsules today, and since there wasn't much information about this specific combination I decided it was only just to write up a quick report. The FAQ in the Codeine vault has an excellent and simple procedure to extract codeine from the numerous other chemicals put in pills to prevent their 'abuse'(things are so backwards these days aren't they? we'd rather have people overdose from unknown chemicals than get high), and that is what I based my experiment off of.

The specific codeine pills I found are marketed by the Novartis company. A little research showed that unlike your average codeine pills they contained more than the usual codeine-phosphate / caffeine / tylenol or aspirin combination. This was cause of some concern to me. Here is what the capsules contain: butalbital(50mg), aspirin(325mg), caffeine(40mg), and codeine-phosphate(30mg). For ease of identification, they are blue and yellow with 'sandoz' written on them.

Now, none of the aforementioned substances were of much concern to me, though it's important to note that aspirin isn't the most liver-friendly chemical. This is not a problem as the extraction methods in the FAQ are designed to eliminate a majority of it. However, I was apprehensive about the butalbital. Butalbital is a barbituate, which a) I have no experience with and b) know from research that barbituates are a thrill-seekers nightmare. They reputedly have high addiction potential, and higher over-dose potential as they are heavy CNS depressents. Tylenol/aspirin are not very water soluble, whereas codeine-phosphate and caffeine are. No matter how hard I looked though, I couldn't find any information on the butalbital.

At any rate, I continued with the suggested extraction, starting with only 3 pills(90mg of codeine) to play it safe, mixed it with some cherry coke, and chugged it. Not too bad tasting, the same synthetic chemical taste you get from a bad drip when snorting vicodin and the like.

(note: this was done on an empty stomache)

T +00:15 - Not much going on, stomache is churning slightly, feel the definate introduction of chemicals into my system

T +00:30 - Feeling pretty good, the beginnings of a small buzz similar to that of a few shots/beers, though more relaxed and mellow.

T +1:00 - Definate distinct feeling of an opiate beginning. Much more enjoyable than sniffing codeine containing pills without extraction. On a side note, as the caffeine could not be extracted from the pills, I also am aware of a rise in pulse, a little jittery feeling.

T +1:30 - Jitters are completely gone and pulse is back to normal (counteracted by codeine perhaps?). A very nice and even body buzz. Walking makes me feel slightly inebriated in an enjoyable way. I've never experienced barbituates but the buzz I'm getting right now is all familiar, and I doubt any of the barbs. were remaining in the solution I drank. It's always good to know what's going into your bloodstream. Focusing on television or anything else requiring more intense concentration than music is pleasantly difficult. Not at the point I couldn't function normaly yet.

T +1:45 - Loving the buzz, but feeling that it is a little inadequate. I wish I had some nugs, I feel that the combination of some dank and this codeine would be fucking great. Decide to extract two more pills (60mg total of 150mg codeine) for the sake of it. Also, although I'm aware that mixing two CNS depressors such as opiates and alcohol is sometimes a bad idea, I don't feel that a shot or two would hurt at this low level an experience.

T +2:00 - Completed drinking second concoction of codeine/cherry coke and took 3 shots of Captain Morgan to increase my buzz. I'm feeling pretty good. I don't expect the second dose to intensify the experience too much since I took the second dose later into the experiment, but I'm hoping to prolong the buzz at the very least.

T +2:30(second dose +00:30) - The caffeine has brought my pulse back up momentarily as I expected, but I don't think this will last long. Buzz is slowly growing.

T +3:00(second dose +1:00) - Feeling pretty fucking good if I do say so myself. Pulse back to normal and jitters gone once again. Considering how broke I am right now and how little I expected to catch a buzz today, pretty good. In retrospect I would definately take all 150mg in one dose if I were to repeat this exact experiment. You can never be too cautious though, so I'm not disappointed. I don't feel like dosing more since there's only 5 more pills left and I intend to do them all at once in a day or two.

I'm not completely baseline yet. My feelings on codeine have always been mixed. It's not the kind of thing I like doing by itself, I feel it augments drinking and smoking nicely. In this case I was just bored, so it worked out. Not the longest lived experience, but a very enjoyable, steady buzz. The typical opiate warmth and some minor apathy, with a hint of numbness as your dose increases. Personally I had no adverse affects and none of the intense drowsiness associated with barbituates; so, I'm presuming with the suggested extraction, it's as safe as drugs can be. As always, have fun, but keep your head on straight.

Exp Year: 2004ExpID: 31552
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Jan 11, 2007Views: 159,895
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Barbiturates (210), Codeine (14) : Alone (16), Preparation / Recipes (30), General (1)

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