What Is Medication Overuse Headache?
Many people reach for a pain reliever at the first sign of a headache, so how often you do it deserves a calm, step-by-step look before an appointment near Bloomfield.
Medicine and headache frequency
Wikipedia's article on chronic migraine says that in some cases, frequent use of pain medications can make migraines worse and lead to medication overuse headache. In other words, the name describes a headache tied to how often pain medicine is taken.
Why your own medicine record matters
Whether the term applies to you, and how many doses count as too many, are questions only a clinician who knows your history can weigh. What helps that discussion is an accurate record of what you take and how often you take it.
Steps to take before your appointment
- For a few weeks, write down every dose of any pain medicine, with the date and the reason.
- Include over-the-counter products, since those are easy to forget.
- Mark the days you had a headache so the two records can be compared.
- Do not change how you take a medicine until you have talked it over with your clinician.
- For wider reading, see the MedlinePlus pain page or the American Academy of Pain Medicine.
Bringing your medicine record along
The record you build is the most practical thing you can bring. It turns a vague worry into something a clinician can read in a minute.