What can I expect when I stop taking my pain medications?
I suffer from chronic daily migraines, a lot of which my neurologist thinks are related to overuse of both Imitrex and Aleve. So, he told me to pick a day and quit taking them both. I've been taking Topamax for a year and he said that this should help me through my withdrawal, and he's also prescribed an Opticcal nerve block, for which I have an appointment on Wednesday. With all that said, I am seriously concerned about this excellent "adventure". My common migraine symptoms, in addition to the lovely pounding headache and neck ache, are nausea, plus sound and light sensitivity. How will I ever survive?
hi haley113,
Medication Overuse Headache may occur if certain OTC and prescription medications are taken more than two to three days a week. Your doctor is correct. The only way to stop MOH is to stop the offending medication cold turkey. Withdrawal symptoms such as withdrawal headache, vomiting, sleep disturbances, restlessness, anxiety, nervousness can occur and last usually two to 10 days. For more information, click HERE.
Having said that, there is a difference between Chronic daily headaches and Medication Overuse Headache. CDH occurs when you have 15 or more headaches a month. Our Chronic Daily Headache information can be found HERE.
Seeing a Migraine specialist is important so we can get the right diagnosis and treatment from the expert in this area. Migraine and Headache Specialists - What's So Special? and Patient Recommended Migraine and Headache Specialists are two wonderful resources.
Good luck
Nancy
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