Headache caused by headache tablets

Drug overuse possible cause of headache

21/09/2012

The permanent income of pain killers can lead to a significant worsening of headaches. This is one of the key messages of the new guidelines of the British National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) for the treatment of headache patients.

Patients who take painkillers around half the days of the month should, according to the experts, urgently think of possible drug overdosage. This, in turn, may be a trigger for headaches rather than relief, Warwick Medical School reports in a recent press release on the new NICE guidelines. „People who regularly take medications, such as aspirin, acetaminophen and triptans, could give themselves more pain than relief“ The experts at Warwick Medical School write ...

Overdose of the painkillers can aggravate headaches
Headaches are one of the most common health conditions, but a clear differentiation should be made between the different types of headache. A clear diagnosis is particularly important here to enable a successful (drug) treatment. For example, medication for tension-type headaches, migraines or cluster headaches is different.

In any case, sufferers should avoid over-taking medications, as they may aggravate the condition. According to the new NICE guidelines, such overdoses are threatened as soon as the patients take painkillers such as paracetamol for more than 15 days a month or use so-called triptans ten days a month. About one in fifty patients is suffering from severe headaches due to drug overdosage, according to Warwick Medical School. Women are affected five times more frequently than men.

Vicious circle for headache patients
Martin Underwood, a professor at Warwick Medical School, chaired by Guideline Development, said that for most types of headache, effective treatment is available, but painkiller revenues here are more than 10 or 15 days a month could have a counterproductive effect. Such medication overuse often causes considerable headaches.

As a result, those affected are in a vicious circle, which they can hardly break without medical assistance. „Their headaches are getting worse, so they are taking more medicines to make their pain worse“, explained Professor Underwood. This headache is an extremely stressful and also preventable disease. „If you have a headache and stop taking pills for bad medication, your pain will be worse for three to five weeks than before“, explained the expert. Then you will „However, their situation improves and the underlying cause can be treated.“

Improvement of headache diagnosis required
As a victim, cluster headache patient Peter May also helped develop the new guideline. „The pain I experience in an attack takes about 45 minutes to an hour, and is unbearable, as if poked in my eye with a glowing poker“ May describes the cluster headache. The pain is so extreme in this particular form of headache that the sufferers often nurse suicidal thoughts.

Peter May also said he had interim „seriously thinking about it“, to drill with the drill into the temple to relieve the agony. At first, the doctors told him that he suffered from migraines and only after two years, he received a correct diagnosis, so May. For twelve years he now lives with the symptoms and the overdose of drugs have probably worsened his condition, reports the person concerned. In his view, there is „There is a real need to improve the diagnosis because effective treatments are usually available, but they differ according to the type of headache.

Correctly diagnose different types of headaches
„Although headaches are the most common neurological problem among primary care physicians and neurologists, many people do not receive a correct or timely diagnosis“, criticized Gillian Leng from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. It would also often overlook the main features of drug overuse and its symptoms other than primary headache. The new guidelines are intended to remedy this situation. We hope the guidelines „General practitioners and other healthcare workers help diagnose the different types of headaches and better identify patients whose headaches are caused by over-reliance on medication“, so Dr. Ling. Generally, in his view, medics should be alert to drug overuse, especially if headaches worsen in patients while they are under the action of drugs such as triptans, paracetamol, or acetylsalicylic acid. (Fp)

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Image: Jetti Kuhlemann