Headache Meds more Harm than Good?
Do you take pain medication more than twice a week for headaches? When you take medication, does it seem to wear off quickly, leaving you desperately needing more? How many pills do you take a day for headaches – do you take more than the recommended dose that is labeled on the bottle? If you said yes to any of these questions, you could be experiencing “rebound headaches.” Take control of your life and stop the endless headache battle…
What are rebound headaches?
Some physicians believe that if a person experiences reoccurring headaches or headaches that occur every day they might be having rebound headaches. These annoying, painful headaches keep people popping pills just to get rid of them. Even if they take more than the recommended dosage. Remember, the label is there for a reason. Some sufferers take a pill when the first hint of a headache is coming on. Doing this is putting you at risk for rebound headaches - a relentless problem that has people begging for relief.
The evil culprits
Rebound headaches are not only painful, but they can be dangerous. "Over-the-counter medications with caffeine are among the biggest culprits," says Dr. R. Michael Gallagher, DO, founding director of the University Headache Center in Moorestown, N.J in an interview with WebMD on medicinenet.com. However, acetaminophen, aspirin and ibuprofen are sharing the blame as well. Not only are they causing people to have headaches when abused, but the risks to abusing them are significant, such as stomach bleeding, ulcers and liver damage. More times than not, a combination of over-the-counter and prescription drugs are the worst abused drugs.
Why is the pain getting worse?
Those who suffer from headaches are taking staggering numbers of pills to prevent or rid themselves of the pain. So much so that it’s affecting the serotonin in the brain. When serotonin is decreased, the level of pain tolerance is affected. Therefore, the headaches keep coming back and sufferers are growing less tolerant.
How do I break the cycle?
Often times, taking medicine is a habit. To break away from this vicious cycle, you may need hospitalization or other drugs. Some physicians have the person wean off the drug. This is especially important for prescription drugs that may cause seizures if stopped suddenly. An anti-inflammatory drug and/or muscle relaxant for sleep problems may be prescribed. Often times steroid injections, beta-blockers or antidepressants might be given depending on the severity of the abuse.
The amount of money people are throwing into the pain relief drug industry is amazing. According to Gallagher, "The economic estimates for the cost of headaches range from 5 to 13 billion per year. That’s in time off from work, the inability to work at full capacity, and the costs of medical care."
Nearly 4% of the U.S. population suffers from daily headaches and most of this percentage may be rebound headache sufferers. Taking that step to getting better is going to be tough, maybe days, weeks or months of agonizing pain and fatigue, but it’s the only way. Don’t let medicine take control of you; you take control of your own life.
Sources:
1. Michael Smith, Medicinenet.com, When Medicine Makes Headaches Worse, retrieved September 19, 2008 from http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=52002
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