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Headache caused by painkillers


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  1. What helps against headaches?
  2. How is medication overuse headache?
  3. The solution: a medication break
  4. Do I suffer from analgesic headaches?

What helps against headaches?

When the head hurts, most sufferers resort to the painkiller. But beware! Not infrequently, the drugs are the cause itself.

The head hurts, the skull is buzzing? What helps now: a tablet. About one percent of Germans take tablets daily for headaches - sometimes up to ten. That's too much - too much. "If this happens regularly over a long period of time, " says Hartmut Göbel, pain expert at the Schmerzklinik Kiel stern.de, "there is a risk that the headache will be exacerbated by the drug abuse, in the worst case, chronic persistent headache."

Experts agree: Anyone who takes painkillers for at least 10 days in one month (regardless of quantity and dosage) risks so-called drug overuse headaches - headaches that are caused by the drugs themselves.

How is medication overuse headache?

Basically any analgesic that is taken too often can cause headaches. It is particularly dangerous in combination with tranquilizers and sleeping pills. The fear of the next pain attack and the biological change of the nervous system lead to the headache mentioned above.

Anyone who suffers from headaches knows how valuable painkillers can be. If we stop this, the pain will automatically set in again. The result: We take a second time to the pain-relieving pills. And also a third and fourth time.

The big problem: Over time, the drugs are getting worse, the pain plagued increase their dose. But even the body gets used to it. A cycle of pain begins.

The solution: a medication break

The solution: a medication break. For more than eight weeks. But beware: Because sufferers can suffer from massive withdrawal symptoms, such as headache, nausea, fever and palpitations, you should perform this drug withdrawal under medical supervision.

Do I suffer from analgesic headaches?

It is difficult to distinguish the pain-related headache from normal headache. The symptoms are similar. It is generally said that pain-related headaches often resemble migraine and tension-type headache - not infrequently in alternating order. Whether you are affected by it? You can only tell that if you stop the medication for a long time. Basically, all painkillers - even if they are light - can trigger drug overuse headaches.

Do not reach for the painkiller! These seven home remedies and this 2-minute trick help against headaches.

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