Other Glyconutient Articles of Interest:

Glyconutritionals / Phytochemicals (Phytonutrients)
Healthy Sweets / Supplements / Immune System
Do You Need Glyconutrients? / Child Health

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Are Your Painkillers Giving You A Migraine?

When you sense the first niggling indications of a headache beginning, what is the first thing you do? Probably rush to your medicine chest and take a pill without a second thought. Sometimes you may even be taking a pain killer in advance frequently or even daily, in order to stave off chronic headaches or because you are anticipating a stressful situation ahead.

Did any of those situations strike a cord? Then stop for a minute and think about your headaches. Is there a pattern? Do they seem to have become more frequent and more intense with time, requiring medication more often than before? If you answered yes, then you may be getting rebound headaches, also known as medication overuse headaches or MOHs.

Coffee drinkers experience something similar. That first shot of coffee heads off the niggling beginnings of a headache. You then become a more frequent coffee drinker, till one day, the situation reaches a point where, if you donnot get your coffee in time, you start getting a headache. Over time, your coffee requirement increases and so does the resulting viciousness of the headache, when deprived of caffeine. So you drink more coffee. And the whole vicious cycle continues. It is the caffeine in your coffee cup that is the culprit here.

What happens is this. When you start taking pain pills more often than what the doctor prescribed or the label recommends, your body kind of adapts to the medication. The result is that each successive time you need a higher dose to combat headaches. As you up the dosage each time, your headaches get worse and happen more often until they are a daily routine. You may even wake up with a dull headache that continues throughout the day.

If you are like the majority of Americans, you may not know that over the counter pain relief products are intended for use on occasional headaches only. They must not to be taken indiscriminately on a regular basis for recurrent headaches because medication overdosing can set off a vicious cycle of rebound headaches. Once the rebound headache cycle has been triggered, the only way to stop it, is to stop taking the drug that triggered it. Period. It sounds simple enough, but is not always easy. Especially in the case of opium drugs, withdrawal must be closely medically supervised, because it is potentially dangerous.

You can get additional rebound headache information here or by consulting your health care professional. Seek medical help if you:

• have a headache more than 3 times a week
• are regularly on pain relievers
• your headaches seem to be getting worse despite medication and rest

In addition to the usually headache symptoms, rebound headache symptoms also include irritability and restlessness. Although any pain relief product can trigger rebound headaches, some are more likely to fuel them than others. Of the popular over the counter (OTC) drugs, which can cause rebound headaches, the most likely ones are acetaminophen, aspirin, and ibuprofen, especially when caffeine is included in the ingredients list. Rx drugs containing the sedative butalbital, such as Fiorinal, Fioricet and Esgic, migraine medicines and opium-derived medications are also the culprits. Get the details on your pain relief product here.

Most importantly, preventing any kind of headache from occurring often is the best solution, so it is worth while to try out most natural headache therapies since prevention is their focus. With a bit of attention, you can identify and avoid your headache triggers. Yoga, meditation, and other alternative therapies can improve your mental state and help control your stress. Even small lifestyle changes, can make big differences in stopping headaches before they start. So do little things like eat meals on time, exercise, get enough sleep and even stop smoking to prevent headaches.