Medication overuse headaches are usually treated by withdrawing the offending drug (usually Excedrin, Fioricet or narcotics, such as codeine, Vicodin and Percocet) or dietary caffeine. About half of the people who stop taking these drugs improve, while the other half does not. A recent study by Dr. Andrew Hershey and his colleagues at the University of Cincinnati suggests that by doing genomic analysis of the blood we may be able to predict who is going to improve by withdrawing overused medication and who is not. This does not mean that the latter group is going to be left to suffer. However, this test could save a major effort that is involved in getting someone off medications. Instead these patients can be maintained on their medication while other preventive treatments are tried. These treatments can include biofeedback, magnesium infusions, Botox injections, prophylactic drugs, acupuncture, CoQ10, butterbur, and other treatments.
Read MoreA study conducted by one of the leading headache researchers, Dr. Richard Lipton looked at possible factors that worsen migraine headaches. The study looked at people with frequent migraines (15 or more days with headache a month) and found that these patients were more likely to be female, overweight, depressed, have a lower education level and overused medications. The overused medications included narcotics, barbiturates (Fioricet, Fiorinal and Esgic) but also over-the-c0unter drugs such as Excedrin. The only exception was aspirin – it appeared to be protective, that is people taking aspirin were less likely to develop chronic headaches. Dietary caffeine and stresful life events were also more common prior to development of chronic migraines.
Read More
Recent Comments