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Migraines: Could painkillers be making your headaches worse?
Sometimes a treatment is worse than the disease. But nearly as bad: Sometimes a treatment actually contributes to the health issue it's supposed to address.
This is the case with a common ailment, treated with a common over-the-counter medication, often prompting a return of the ailment, which is treated again, setting up a vicious cycle that many people get caught up in without ever knowing it.
Epidemic proportions
Writing in a 1990 issue of the journal Headache, Dr John Edmeads, called headaches induced by analgesic medications an 'unrecognised epidemic.'
That assessment of drug rebound headaches is confirmed with a study published in the journal Headache. Researchers at the Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, South Korea, recruited 145 patients with transformed migraine (TM), which is the most common type of chronic daily headache. All of the subjects reported having at least 15 headaches per month for the six months before the trial period began.
STUDY PROFILE
* The study was designed to assess factors that might improve the patients' status from TM to episodic migraine
* The subjects were asked to refrain from using painkilling drugs for one year, but to continue using preventive medication
* Subjects were also advised to exercise regularly, stop smoking, and to refrain from alcohol and caffeine consumption
* Nine subjects didn't finish the study
* 30 percent of the subjects continued to experience daily headaches
* 70 percent of the subjects stopped having chronic daily headaches
The Korean team found that the avoidance of smoking, alcohol and caffeine had no effect on TM status. Compliance with preventive medication, cessation of painkillers and regular exercise were identified as the successful compliance factors.
Three to the rescue
Those who experience headache pain nearly every day are probably not going to be inclined to stop using painkillers without some reliable preventive agents in their corner.
In three previous e-Alerts I've told you about non-drug treatments that have been shown to help reduce the frequency of migraine headaches:
1. In a Swiss study, 42 migraine patients received either 100 mg of CoQ10 three times each day, or a placebo. After three months of supplementation, researchers found that migraine frequency, total days with migraine, and total days with nausea were all significantly reduced in the CoQ10 group, compared to placebo. Overall, the incidence of migraines was almost cut in half in the CoQ10 group. Researchers believe that CoQ10 helps prevent migraines by promoting proper respiration on the cellular level.
2. Nearly 250 subjects who suffered from frequent migraine headaches were divided into three groups: One group received 75 mg of Petadolex (a butterbur root extract) daily for four months, one group received 50 mg, and one group received a placebo. Nearly 70 percent of those in the 75 mg group reported a 50 percent or greater reduction in their frequency of migraine attacks.
3. Riboflavin (vitamin B-2) supplements may also reduce migraine frequency, according to a study in which 23 subjects took 400 mg of riboflavin daily for six months. Among the entire group, the average frequency of migraines was cut in half.
If you suffer from chronic frequent migraines, talk to you doctor about these preventive treatments before adding them to your daily regimen.
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