When used too often, over-the-counter medications can cause you to fall into a very unpleasant cycle called the rebound headache cycle. As the name indicates, rebound headaches are recurrences of a headache usually after 12 hours, a day or two days. More often than not, the person suffering from rebound headaches may experience them on a daily basis not knowing their cause. By my reasoning, in order to prevent rebound headaches, companies manufacturing these drugs should place a big red label to the package indicating that the overuse of the drug can result in severe rebound headaches.
When defining the term overuse in relation to these medications, taking Excedrin Migraine or Tylenol Sinus three times a week may result in the recurrence of headache. The overuse of B.C. powder and Goodies powder can likewise result in rebound headaches.
A lot of doctors find it very difficult to diagnose rebound headaches. Headaches can also be triggered by food. A person suffering from occasional headaches may be unaware that a food he is eating is causing the headache. The pain may arise a day after the consumption of the food. To relieve the pain, he then takes a Goodies powder (which he has already taken twice this week). After 30 minutes, the pain decreases. But the next day, he experiences a new headache and takes a couple more of Goodies powder to resolve the pain since now a single drug is not anymore strong enough to relieve the pain. After three or four days, the headache returns which forces him to take a couple more of the drug.
At this point, the person starts to wonder where his headaches come from unaware that the first headache was triggered by a certain food he ate. Once he is in a rebound headache cycle, the degree of the pain just gets worse and he may be at a loss as to the cause of his problem.
When the pain frequently occurs and/or gets worse, he decides to go to a doctor who tells him a couple of things:
First, the doctor tells the patient to immediately take a headache drug as soon as the headache starts. Second, the patient should keep a diary in order to find out the cause of the headaches.
Following the doctor’s advice, the patient takes the drug at the onset of the headache. Of course, we now know that the drug relieves the pain but at the same time causes the headache to come back. So in the end, the drug is taken far too often making the pain come back time and time again.
Rebound headaches are huge problems since it impacts your life in many ways. Your quality of life suffers, your work suffers, they make it difficult for you to fall asleep and they cause problems in your health, social life, and family life. Because of this, we can justifiably say that headache drugs available in the market today are the biggest (if not the sole cause) causes of rebound headaches.
It may take months or even years for sufferers of rebound headaches to figure the cause of their problem. Some may do a little online research and figure out their problem right there and then. Other sufferers fear that their recurring headaches may lead to migraines and they would do anything to avoid it and so take more headache drugs that perpetuate their suffering.
One of the worst things that people with rebound headaches can experience is that they may develop an addiction to these medications. People may experience multiple headaches every day due to regular use of these drugs. Others may mercifully entirely give up on these medications and seek other forms of relief. Herbal remedies are used in place of these drugs. They can then begin to see a vast improvement in their condition. This is usually the first step for a lot of these sufferers; turning to safer and more natural forms of treatment to relieve their illnesses and ailments. They usually never go back in taking any pharmaceutical painkillers ever again.
Two things are very important to stop the cycle of rebound headaches. First, a person needs to determine the origin of their headaches. When you take three or more of the aforementioned over the counter medications (and other drugs of their kind) each week, you need to make a connection between the frequencies of your intake of these drugs to the recurrence of your headaches. You may need to stay away from these drugs for some time. It may require a little toughness and grit on your part but oftentimes this method may help you discover the real cause of your rebound headaches.
One other thing to do is to write down the foods you eat and the headache that may come after eating those foods. This will help pinpoint the food that triggers the headache. You can then avoid eating it. A lot of people develop a headache after eating monosodium glutamate, chocolate and sugar or drinking alcohol (red wine included), or coffee or other caffeinated beverages.
After you stop taking headache drugs, you may be able to identify your other headache triggers. This is almost impossible to do if you’re currently experiencing rebound headaches.