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Medication overuse (rebound) headache


As strange as it sounds, many medications which seem to relieve headaches can actually cause more headaches later on. Also known as rebound headaches, medication overuse headaches can occur when you treat your headaches too often.


According to the International Headache Society criteria, treating with most headache relieving medications for 10 or more days per month, for three or more months, can cause headaches to become chronic daily headaches. This may be because these medications undermine the brain’s ability to control pain signals.

Medication overuse headaches can be caused by many of the over-the-counter headache remedies as well as prescription pain relievers.


If your headaches are bad enough that you have to treat them that often, you probably need to be taking a headache preventative medication.

 

More information about rebound headaches can be found at:
http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/Headaches/hic_Rebound_Headaches.aspx