Painkillers may be causing you more headaches

A few days ago, I did an online consult with 33-year old British ex-pat Jemima.
Tension headaches were an integral part of her day-to-day life (more so since the lockdown). So, since Jemima was a busy woman, she’d pop a painkiller every morning to pre-empt the headache.
She’d been doing that for the last few years and didn’t give the painkillers a second thought, until her GP back in London told her that it was likely that the medication was causing the almost-daily headaches.
Jemima had come to me with two questions: how was that even possible and what could she take now that she’d stopped the painkillers?
Yes, it’s true that painkillers are designed to offer quick relief for headaches. However, what most people don’t realise is that all painkillers can cause headaches if taken regularly over a long period of time.
It’s a situation that most people don’t even realise until they miss a day and their head starts to hurt again, sometimes more intensely than before.
These are known as analgesic rebound headaches, and it was the situation that Jemima now found herself in – the headache would continue long after the underlying cause of the tension headache had disappeared.
WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS
Anyone who takes codeine or triptan-based drug for more than 10 days a month or over-the-counter remedies - such as paracetamol or ibuprofen - for 15 days a month is at risk.
The only way to stop rebound headaches is to stop taking the painkillers. In most cases, the headache will get worse initially, and then start to improve anywhere between a week and a month later.
In the meantime, you also may experience withdrawal symptoms such as restlessness, nausea, insomnia, diarrhoea or constipation. Thankfully, it doesn't last forever. Most people completely break the rebound headache cycle within two months.
So, what do you do in the meantime? Taking good care of yourself can help prevent most types of headaches.
For example, getting enough sleep (ideally going to bed and waking up at the same time every day) and not skipping meals (starting with a healthy breakfast) can make quite a difference.
Physical activity should also be on your to-do list; it causes your body to release chemicals that block pain signals to your brain.
But for those of you looking for a pill to do the trick, there’s one nutritional supplement that may help: magnesium.
It works by relaxing the blood vessels, which can help to reduce the spasms and constrictions that can cause headaches. Take 150-300 mg a day.



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