I am (was) a nurse & am a chronically pain-stricken individual seeking help on your great website. And, I feel I need to intervene, here. Correct me if I am wrong but by unequivocally answering "no" you may panic people off their meds...people who won't read all the way to page 3, like I did. The Transformed Migraine article warns them against just that! The TM article says it is important to not panic & suffer your pain without taking your opioids but rather to try to decrease your need for opioids, under doctor supervision. The article does not elaborate what to do if you cannot get relief without opioids...or what if those "chemical changes" are permanent. 

And, so what if there are people who will need to be managed for life on opoids who just have headaches. Not that too many folks on here who would say "so what", however since the "so what" factor would only come from someone who has never experienced a headache that was severe &/or often enough to ruin their life. I just wish opioids were considered with the same respect as other lifesaving meds people become dependent upon. People with real, chronic pain only have about a 1% chance of addiction. Doctors & nurses need to need to start educating themselves (& patients) as to the difference, while dispelling myths & fears. There must be more concern over pain as actually being a 5th vital sign with pain relief as really being part of the patients Bill of Rights, within a rational framework And, with legal protections/tort reform so they can stop being forced to practice defensive medicine & not just stuff steroids or other meds that are way worse than opioids down peoples throats. Better that than the continued agony I hear (& experience, firsthand) unrelieved over & over again by people seeking help on forums & websites (oh, & in MD offices!) with answers that sound good until you try them, if you can even afford them.

I am a disabled nurse who has tried just about everything for a 3 year headache. (I also have several  autoimmune conditions). I have also tried stopping everything except Phenergan & just suffering on my couch for weeks after reading your info on rebound awhile back...but I think rebound can take months to resolve, if that is all I even have...which already I know I do not. It is only  a complication I must manage. I will NEVER try withdrawl on my own, again but do plan to try in an inpatient setting, with ...if I can even afford it. I am not even on much medication since I am so very sensitive & can only take low dose Lortab without getting worse. And, so I am in even worse shape due to rebound from recent surgery due to taking extra Lortab & NSAIDS which has forced me back onto 125 total Dopamax, which isn't even helping much. You are trying to help but be careful trying to cut off a whole treatment option that is the only reason I am still alive right now. I'll take low dose opioids over a bullet, thank you very much.

Oh, the only time in 3 years I have been headache-pain-free was after waking with a full blown ocular migraine after a total hysterectomy 7/30/09  for stage 4 endometriosis with bowel involvement that even required gallbladder removal. The anesthesiologist gave me Dilaudid...so despite major surgery pain I felt better than I had in 3 years for a whole 24 hours & that is how I stumbled upon this post....searching Dilaudid & migraine.

Thank you. 

Lynne Lee C.