How to Tell If You Have Rebound (Medication Overuse) Headaches

While we all know that there are many medications, both over-the-counter and prescription, available to treat the common ailment of headache and migraine, many people do not know that these medications can in fact be the cause of this pain. If you have frequent headaches, including migraines, tension headaches, and cluster headaches, you may be experiencing the phenomenon known as rebound, or medication overuse, headaches. While you may ultimately need to discuss this possibility with your health care provider, there are several methods for determining whether you might be suffering from rebound headaches.

Things You'll Need

• Calendar
• Notebook
• Writing utensil
• Your memory
• A health care provider with headache/migraine experience

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Instructions

• 1

  Keep track of how many headaches you have each week. If you have more than 3 per week, you may have rebound headaches.

• 2

  Note how often you take headache relief medication, and how much you take for each headache. Taking this type of medication every day or nearly everyday is a strong indication of rebound headaches. Also note how much medication you take; if you need more than the recommended dosage or find that you have to take several doses throughout the day you most likely have rebound headaches.

• 3

  Notice what time of day you experience headaches. Do you wake up with the headache? Does it seem to set in at the same time each day? These are signs of rebound headaches.

• 4

  Monitor your caffeine intake. Do you find yourself using caffeine or medications that contain caffeine, such as Excedrin or Midol (especially for menstrual headaches) to treat your headaches? It's possible that these medications can relieve a headache, then cause more headache as it wears off and the caffeine withdrawal starts.

• 5

  Think about your headache medication history. Did you stop using certain medications because they stopped working after a while? If you had to switch to a different medication to relieve your head pain, it is almost certain that you are experiencing rebound headaches.

• 6

  Don't assume that because you use prescription migraine/headache medication that you won't or don't experience rebound headaches. Because the body can also adapt to them just as with over-the-counter drugs, prescription drugs are just as likely to be culprits in rebound headaches.

• 7

  Don't dismiss the possibility of rebound headaches based on the type of head pain you experience; rebound headaches can range from a dull ache to throbbing pain.

• 8

  Also don't dismiss the rebound headache possibility if you believe you have a migraine disorder or other headache disorder. It is still possible that you are having rebound headaches, and it is also possible that your disorder transformed into its current state from inadvertently using too much headache medication.