The bulk of this information comes from Health By Principle’s consultant scientist Dr. Angela Stanton who has done groundbreaking research on migraine.
Patients who overuse analgesics, triptans or other acute headache medications and suffer from chronic daily headaches are thought to suffer from medication-overuse headaches or MOH.
A recent study suggests that medication overuse is the cause of migraines transitioning from periodic to chronic. However, the major question remains: Why are only two-thirds of patients with chronic migraine-like headaches who overuse pain medications improving after detoxification and the remaining one-third continuing to have chronic headaches?
The research, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, used a longitudinal MRI study with voxel-based morphometry, a type of brain scan, to research how gray matter changes in relation to medication withdrawal in humans with MOH.
Researchers found that patients who showed a significant improvement in their symptoms after detoxification had a decrease in gray matter in a part of the brain called the midbrain, which is involved in pain regulation.
Patients who did not show improvement did not have this decrease in gray matter. Additionally, patients who did not respond to treatment had less gray matter in a different part of the brain called the orbitofrontal cortex.
The researchers suggest that these changes in the brain may reflect how the brain adapts to chronic pain and pain medication, and that decreased gray matter in the orbitofrontal cortex may be a predictor of poor response to treatment.
Currently being sold as a miracle cure for migraines, our research scientist discusses Aimovig side effects and how it doesn’t much help with decreasing the severity or frequency of migraines, even in best case scenarios.
As Dr. Stanton explains: It's no magic bullet for migraines, plus it can do permanent damage to your brain.
Just because they're accessible doesn't mean they're safe.
While commonly used to alleviate pain and discomfort, particularly for those who suffer chronic pain like migraines, overuse of OTC pain medication can be dangerous, and even life-threatening.
The range of negative health effects from overusing OTC pain medication include:
Overusing OTC pain medications, particularly for long periods of time as in the case of chronic migraine pain alleviation, can lead to a range of negative health effects. It's essential to use these medications responsibly. Also, overuse of OTC pain medications can increase the frequency of your migraines.