Hello,

What is the definitive, longest, most conservative "cold turkey" time frame for ruling out MOH?  I have read many articles on the subject, but the vast majority never specify a time frame.  I am a 50 year old professional currently taking daily 2 hydrocodone 5-500 pills, 2,500 mg of acetaminophen, and .625 mg of Zomig, and I have been doing so for 5 years.  I have had a continous headache for at least 30 years that has never gone away, and this regimen makes it somewhat bearable to try to live a normal life. I rarely tell anyone of my friends about it, because they listen and nod their head, but they probably think I am crazy or lying, since it is such an unbelievable statement.  I have been to 6 or 8 different specialists over the last 25 years-neurologists, clinics with big names and price tags to go along with it, and nothing has helped.  It gets much worse if I am understress and will get really bad, but the increase pain usually lasts 3 days, and then I am back to my normal level of pain.  If it was as bad as it was when I get the really bad ones, which is not very often, I would probably commit suicide or something, since I would not want to live life in that condition. I tried going cold turkey a couple years ago for 6 weeks, and the headache was unchanged.  An RN I know said that that was not a long enough period of time to go without to rule out MOH.  What length of time is safe for me to rule out MOH?  Thanks for your time in reading my story!

Jim in the Midwest