People with headache problems are often worried because they believe their only choices are having headaches as long as they live or taking medications forever. This is rarely the case.

Most people who are successfully preventing headaches with medications will eventually be able to come off the medications. In our practice, we commonly challenge the medication after a few months of good headache control. Sometimes we can gradually eliminate the medication, and in others we can at least reduce the dosage.

It is a common scenario for us to gradually gain control of the headaches after a few visits and a few medication changes. Sometimes it takes many tries to find a medication that the patient can tolerate in doses that are effective.

In general, it is our strategy to move meds to an effective dose, wait for a few good months of headache control to pass and then gradually taper them down.