Common Headache and Migraine Drugs

Are Painkillers Giving You A Headache?

What is the first thing you do when you sense an impending headache? Probably rush to your medicines cabinet and pop a painkiller without a second thought. Sometimes you may even be taking a pain relief product in advance or even daily, perhaps, in order to fend off recurrent headaches or because you are anticipating a stressful situation ahead.

Whatever the case, pause for a moment and analyze the pattern of your headaches. Do they seem to have become more frequent and more intense with time, requiring medication more often than before? If yes, then most lokely you are suffering from what are called rebound headaches, which are nothing but medication overuse headaches.

What happens is that when you start taking pain relief products indiscriminately, much more often than what the doctor prescribed or the label recommends, your body kind of adapts to the medication with the result that each successive time you need a higher dose to combat headaches. And if you don’t do that, the frequency and intensity of your headaches increases, so much so that headaches become a daily phenomenon. You may even wake up with a dull headache that continues throughout the day.

The effect is similar to what happens when at the slightest hint of a headache, you reach for your cup of coffee because coffee seems to cure your headache. You then become a more frequent coffee drinker, till one day, the situation reaches a point where, if you don’t get your coffee in time, you start getting a headache. With time, the frequency of the headaches increases and so does your requirement for coffee. And the whole vicious cycle continues. It is the caffeine in your coffee that is the culprit here.

Rebound headaches are usually accompanied by restlessness and irritability. Although any pain relief product can trigger rebound headaches, some are more likely to fuel them than others. Common over-the-counter medications that contribute to rebound headaches are aspirin, ibuprofen, acetaminophen, more so if they come in combination with caffeine. Prescription drugs containing the sedative butalbital, such as Fiorinal, Fioricet and Esgic, migraine medicines and opium-derived medications are also the culprits.

Most people don’t realize that over-the-counter pain relief products are meant to give quick relief from occasional headaches. They must not to be taken indiscriminately on a regular basis for recurrent headaches because medication overdosing can set off a vicious cycle of rebound headaches. And the only way to break this cycle is to withdraw the medication that is fuelling it. Period. But that is a task easier said than done and requires professional help.

Consult your doctor for further rebound headaches information and do seek medical help if you are having a headache more than thrice a week, are regularly on pain relief products and your headaches seem to be getting worse despite medication and rest. The doctor will recommend whether to stop the medication right away or to withdraw it gradually. Your headaches may become worse before they get better because of medication withdrawal symptoms, but if you cooperate with your doctor, you can successfully break the rebound cycle within a month or two.

Most importantly, preventing any kind of headache from occurring too often is the best solution. This requires a conscious effort on your part and can be achieved by identifying and avoiding things that trigger headaches for you. Alternative therapies like yoga and meditation teach you to relax and develop a positive attitude towards life. Also, making small lifestyle changes like getting sufficient sleep, eating meals in time, exercising regularly and quitting smoking can go a long way in preventing nagging headaches.

Prescription

Over the Counter

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