migraines would hydrocodone be an effective treatment
A doctor has given my daughter hydrocodone for migraines. My pain clinic says this is not good for migraines. If this is true why would the doctor give here this. I have also read that pain meds can cause migrainess to get worse. She has real migraines. She was tested for migraines these are real migraines.
Hello,
How old is your daughter? If she's an adolescent or older, triptan medications such as Imitrex, Maxalt, Zomig, etc., are generally considered better "first-line" medications than pain relievers or other opioids such as hydrocodone. The reason is that the triptans are Migraine abortive medications that actually work in the brain to stop the Migranous process, thus ending the Migraine attack and its symptoms. Pain meds, on the other hand, cannot stop the Migraine; they only mask the pain for a few hours.
Sadly, many doctors know very little about Migraine, which is a genetic neurological disease. Your daughter's doctor may not really know the best treatments.
Yes, pain meds can make matters worse if taken more than two or thee days a week. For that matter, so can Migraine abortive medications such as the triptans. When any meds are taken for Migraine attacks more than two or three days a week, they can make matters worse by causing medication overuse headache, aka rebound. See Medication Overuse Headache - When the Remedy Backfires for more information.
I'm interested in what you said about "She was tested for migraines." There are no diagnostic tests that can confirm Migraine.
You may also want to check our sister site, MyMigraineConnection, for more information about Migraines.
I hope this information helps,
Teri Robert
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