The Dangers of Overusing Painkillers
By Tiffany Lowery • Mar 9th, 2009 • Category: Health Articles, Memory problems, Monday Edition Archive, Poor diet
Rebound headaches caused by the overuse of pain medications are a global problem that deserves serious research and treatment strategies, Mayo Clinic researchers said.
Commonly called medication overuse headaches (MOH), these drug-induced headaches occur daily or nearly every day. They typically develop over time when you’ve built up a tolerance to your favorite painkillers.
According to a Mayo Clinic statement, researchers examined a collection of research papers documenting the incidence of MOH in eight nations. They found that patients who developed a tolerance to the pain medications often experienced withdrawal symptoms when they tried to stop using them.
According to the study conclusions, MOH can start out with a severe headache when you awaken. The headache can be accompanied by nausea, anxiety, forgetfulness and irritability. In some cases, overuse of some pain medications may cause daily migraine-like headaches!
“Physicians need to be vigilant about what medications they prescribe for migraine and other kinds of headaches, and what over-the-counter medication patients are taking,” said lead author David W. Dodick, M.D., a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona.
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