If you’re suffering from intense migraine pain the logical solution is to take some painkillers. Right? Then if they don’t work, take a couple more and then that’ll be sure to get rid of the pain. This sounds like a fail-safe plan. The only problem is that it really really isn’t. If you take pain medication on such a regular, long-term basis you’re likely to be on the slippery downhill slide into rebound headaches.
Also known as medication overuse headaches (MOH) – a condition recognised by the International Headache Society, rebound headaches are particularly horrible because while the pain medication relieves the pain at the time, it then causes more pain when the effects of the medication begin to wear off. This of course means that many people take more medication to alleviate these effects, which makes the problem worse. So what to do to break the cycle?
In the case of some medications, gradually reducing the dose you take is a way to slowly break the cycle. If you suddenly stop taking the medication altogether you are likely to suffer from horribly increased headache severity for several days. Gradual reduction is less of a shock to the system, though not pain free. Headaches may increase during this time as your body detoxifies. It’s also important to talk to your doctor first before altering your medication patterns. This is because if you’ve become trapped in a rebound cycle with some medications such as narcotics or sedatives, you might need to be monitored in a hospital setting while you come off them.
Breaking the cycle might not be the most pleasant thing you’ve ever done, but it is something that needs doing.
DISCLAIMER – When using any medication, always read the label and make sure you keep all medicines out of reach of children. The information supplied within this online resource is brought to you by Imigran Recovery Tablets (contains sumatriptan) for migraine relief, from a variety of author sources including health care professionals, lifestyle experts and the general public. None of the published authors endorse any brands.
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