Symptoms and ways to combat abusic headache

1 Causes of the disease

The main reason for the occurrence of an abusus headache is a constant intake of painkillers. A specific drug that causes such headaches, no. It all depends on the systematic and dosage, and it is the systemic nature that is of great importance. In other words, taking small doses of medicines every day brings more harm to the body than the "shock" dose taken in a particular case.

Most often, an abusic headache arises from the excessive use of analgesics and their combination with caffeine or codeine. Less often, the negative effect leads to the reception of triptans and ergotamines. In patients suffering from this pathology, malaise is intensified even under the most insignificant loads: both physical and intellectual. That the primary headaches did not develop into a dangerous pathology, it is necessary to take any pain medication with a specialist.

Abusotic headache has a variety of clinical manifestations. Most often, this is a dull pain in the entire head, sometimes acquiring a compressive or compressive character. It occurs already in the morning and lasts throughout the day. Symptoms often resemble migraine attacks. Patients feel fatigue, irritability, suffer from harsh sounds and bright light, sleep disturbances. Over time, the abusus factor increases and the disease becomes chronic.

2 The main directions of therapy

Treatment of this disease requires a lot of effort, and it should be started as soon as possible.

Many experts agree that treatment should be started with a complete refusal to take the drug that caused the appearance of this syndrome. However, sharply stop the use of drugs can not, otherwise headaches can significantly increase. To reduce their severity, you should prescribe an alternative treatment based on drugs that were not previously used. The frequency of their reception should not exceed 2 times a week. Only a specialist should plan and administer treatment.

If the treatment of the disease is divided into several stages, then the most severe and responsible will be the period of withdrawal of the drug, which became the cause of the disease. Along with a sharp abolition of the analgesic, which caused a negative syndrome, in medical practice, a gradual rejection scheme is also used: first, the daily dose of the drug is reduced, and then the number of days it is taken. However, such treatment takes a longer period and is less effective.

If the patient has other symptoms, the treatment will be prescribed according to them. Antiemetic drugs may be recommended, dehydration and detoxification performed.

Prevention is not the last place. This is, first of all, an explanation of the risk of a dangerous pathology with excessive use of pain medication. The patient needs to be explained that a complete withdrawal of the drug is the only way to relieve headaches. Experts consider preventive measures more effective than subsequent treatment.

Persistent treatment, as a rule, leads to a significant therapeutic effect. A great role is played by the patient's desire to overcome the ailment. However, it should be borne in mind that the abusic headache developed due to abuse of medicines when trying to cope with the primary pain, which was provoked by various diseases: migraines, post-traumatic syndromes and other pathologies. They must be treated first, eliminating the use of previously used medications.