Could Migraine Medicines Actually Cause Migraine?

Millions of Americans suffer from regular, everyday headaches, and the scientists and doctors who help them deal with this reality, often investigate deeply into the causes of the headaches. People can suffer from chronic headaches for a misaligned jaw, stress, or any of a number of genetic reasons. And of recent, they are beginning to train their attention on a new possible cause: excessive experimentation with migraine medicines. When scientists first happened upon this as a possible cause of a migraine, they were taken aback at the sheer number of cases of headache that day could explain with it. A patient typically sets it off by downing pain medication at the first signs of pain - the prescription kind, or over-the-counter. The medicine does have its effect, but when it comes time for it to wear off, the excessive quantities used cause a kind of backfire; a pain killer hangover starts, that sends the patient reaching for the painkiller again. And so it goes on.

People don't realize that headache and migraine medicines come with a certain hangover effect, and for this reason, are locked into a slow, self-perpetuating dance of pain. If you or anyone you know should find that the pain gets worse or more frequent over time, it is usually painkiller abuse that is the cause. Doctors are being counseled now by specialist medical boards to alert them to the dangers of liberal overuse of headache drugs. They're not concerned as much with the quantities of medicines people choose to take, as they are with the frequency of use. If a person reaches for his painkillers more than 15 times a month, you have an overuse problem right there.

So how do you find out if your painkiller habit is what is giving you your headaches and migraine? The only way to know would be to stop taking them to check for a while. It could be a two month while too. It takes that much time for the brain to free itself from the effects of all the overuse it's been treated to. Of all the people who endure self-inflicted headaches this way, people who have migraines are the worst affected by the painkiller backfires. Doctors recommend that people who complain of migraine, should best taper off their painkiller habit, instead of cutting themselves off abruptly. Apart from this though, these are exciting times for people on the lookout for migraine medicines. Topiramate, branded Topamax, has been proven to thin out the attacks of migraine that people get. For up to 14 months, people who take Topamax should suffer from fewer episodes. Botox treatment is a particularly effective one for certain kinds of migraines and headaches too.

There is actually nothing specific to headache or migraine medicines that makes overuse dangerous. Any kind of painkiller, with or without caffeine, is capable of coming back with a rebound. Barbiturates are the worst of the lot. Germany has actually banned these for their tendency to get overused. They are still perfectly available in America though. Doctors say that painkiller overuse is epidemic, and they are learning to look for identifying signs of the specific kinds of trouble associated with it. They learn to spot the trouble, and help people deal with weaning themselves off. They say that 90% of people who try this, report great improvement.