The Headache Cycle

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The Headache Cycle

Wednesday, 03 March 2010 09:50

Medical Weight Loss Newsletter | Daily Dose Continuing from this week, there are three stages of a typical migraine headache. The initiation phase is usually brought on when multiple events or stressors accumulate over time. In this economy, there is little wonder why there is such an increase in migraines. In fact, the emergencies rooms are loaded, unfortunately, with migraine sufferers. Another leading reason for headaches is sleep deprivation. Many physicians that I know of do suffer from migraines. This leads to a lot of frustration because there is a lot of times that they cannot only help themselves but they cannot always help their patients. Fortunately, for me I have only had the one that was so severe. I do have great empathy for those patients that suffer with migraine headaches.

After the initiation or the precipitating event, there is typically a Prodrome and Aura. Once the tipping point is reached, there is a negative effect on the way our brain metabolizes serotonin. Once there is a critical mass of abnormal serotonin levels and stressors, the actual onset of the headache begins. The headache will last for a few hours to a few days as mentioned in yesterday's Daily Dose. Speaking of yesterday's Daily Dose, many of you wrote in to tell me about my typo. I had written that 18% of women and 6% women had migraines. I want to clarify that it is 6% of men that actually suffer from migraines.

That leads us to another type of headache that is called a Rebound Headache. This is the syndrome or the headache that is a direct result of the medications used to treat the initial headache. This is commonly caused by overuse or continuous use of medications to treat the initial migraine headaches. If you miss a day, there can be a blistering rebound headache that can be worse than the initial insult. This actually can lead into a vicious cycle that starts with one headache that is treated. Once the headache is resolved, the medications stop and a more severe headache rebounds.

Some of the most common medications that can be associated with the initiation of a rebound migraine are:

Over the Counter (OTC) Pain Medications
Combination pain medications, OTC or prescription
Prescription medications
Narcotics
Caffeine,
Sleep Aids
Energy Drinks

There is an interesting study that was done which showed that those people that took more than 30 doses of OTC pain medications per month were doubling their risk of migraine headaches. In other words, by trying to treat their headaches or other body aches with OTC pain medications, patients experience twice the number of headaches. Consideration must also be given to the other medications that may cause other symptoms. Once the medication is withdrawn, there can be a headache, associated with nausea, diarrhea, abdominal pain or cramping, insomnia, anxiety and depression.

More severe type symptoms result when trying to withdraw from narcotic pain medications. If you have been on narcotic medication and want to stop them, please seek help from your physician. In some cases the withdrawal symptoms are so severe that you do not want to do this without medical assistance.

Tomorrow, we will discuss Cluster Headaches and Tension Headaches.

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To your Health,

Dr. Michelle Haendiges

Comments

0 #2 2010-03-03 20:16

To the Leanne Walls, per her comment. I had the same issues. I was on birth control pills. As soon as I got off of them (after an intense 2 week headache), my headaches went away and I rarely get them anymore. Are you on birth control?

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0 #1 2010-03-03 12:16

Dear Dr. Haendiges
I've been a huge headache sufferer for about 8 years now. I have chronic headaches that never go away. It all started when i was pregnant with my daughter and never has left.I deal with this every day. Some days are good and some days are bad. I do have an anxiety disorder and they do believe they are stress related. I've been on Paxil CR years ago for my anxiety and yes it helped with the anxiety but not my actual headaches.I've had many test done and they still are not sure why i get them constantly. I hope that someday God will take this pain away, but until then i just learned to deal with it and occasionally use ibuprofen when i get them really really bad. Some people think i should see an obgyn to see if its a hormonal thing. What should i do? These are things i've had done. Thyroid checked, MRI,CAT scans,neck x-rays,nose x-rays. All of these have came out normal. Thank you for the information!

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