Heading for a pain-free existence

HEALTH

A study by the Journal of the American Medical Association recently concluded that combining prescription drug sumatriptan and over-the-counter pain reliever naproxen have higher efficacy in relieving an acute migraine than using them alone.

However, though the study requires more research, an emergent problem among migraineurs is what is known as medicine overuse headache (MOH) and involves the excessive use of drugs to counter migraines and chronic headaches.

According to the International Headache Society, a headache can be termed as a migraine if it lasts between four and 17 hours, occurs in one or both sides of the head and is characterised by a throbbing pain that is acerbated by sound, light, movement and nausea. Often precipitated by lack of sleep, hunger and long travels, migraine is usually relieved by sleep and OTC medicines like Crocin.

However, migraines can transform into a chronic illness with its severity varying from rare bouts of pain to daily, life-threatening headaches. Another migraine characteristic is that it often requires a trigger and migraineurs gradually come to recognise these triggers, which are not the same for any two patients.

It is often relieved by the use of acute medication in the case of chronic migraine or when the patient is suffering as well as the use of preventive medication to avoid the occurrence of the migraine.

Migraineurs tend to keep popping pills and painkillers to relieve their pain, especially those who suffer daily. If two pills don't help, they pop one more and so on. This overuse of painkillers and medicines aggravates the migraine further, prompting the patient to take even more medicines without realising the problem.

Suggests Dr Raja Shekar Reddi, consultant neurologist, Max Hospital, "The best way to overcome MOH is by stopping the medication completely. This may initially result in increased headache but gradually it will subside."

Also, in cases where the patient suffers from severe migraine, acute medication should be restricted to no more than 10 days a month for the migraine.

The headache should be countered instead with preventive medication and non-pharmacological strategies such as proper diet, regular sleep and avoidance of caffeine. It's all in the mind, literally. Sometimes it's matter over mind that helps in the case of migraines.