MIGRAINE PAIN CAN BE SO DEBILITATING – FOR SOME, JUST WAITING FOR IT TO GO AWAY IS NOT AN OPTION
At least 30 million people in the U.S. alone suffer from migraine headaches. For those who have chronic migraines (pain 15 days a month or more), the pain can be so debilitating that just waiting for it to go away, is not an option. So those sufferers resort to either over the counter pain medications like Excedrin Migraine or prescription medications like Imitrex, or Zomig (called Triptans).
MEDICATION OVERUSE – WHY DOES IT HAPPEN?
Of course, the question needs to be asked, “Why would a person who originally starts out using them, once a week, get to a point where he or she is actually using them several times a week?
The answers to this question, though not obvious when you are desperate and in pain, are very simple. Either the migraines are occurring more frequently, the migraines are more painful, or the drug isn’t working as well as it originally did.
Either way, whichever answer fits your particular situation, the prognosis is not good. You now need these drugs even more because your problem is now worse, NOT better.
REBOUND HEADACHES – A VICIOUS CYCLE
“Here’s how experts think a rebound headache starts. Normally, when you take a pain reliever for an occasional headache, the medicine turns off pain receptors in the brain. But in a person prone to headaches — especially migraine headaches — pain relievers taken more than two to three days a week on a regular basis can make the pain receptors more sensitive than usual.
Consequently, as soon as the medicine wears off, these hyper-sensitive receptors turn on to produce a new headache. That leads the headache sufferer to take more medicine, which, in turn, leads to more headaches — a truly vicious cycle. Before long, most rebound patients are taking headache medicine every single day.
THE CAFFEINE CONNECTION
It is infuriating to think that products like Excedrin Migraine contain caffeine. It is well known that caffeine is addictive. People trying to wean off caffeine go through major symptoms of drug withdrawal, including more headaches. Dr. Alex Mauskop director of the New York Headache Clinic stated that “Getting off caffeine is one of the best things that migraine sufferers can do to reduce the frequency of their headaches.”
Yet this is much easier said than done and the makers of these products know it!
If any of the following signs apply to you, you are probably experiencing Rebound/Medication Overuse Headaches and have probably realized by now, that spending the rest of your life taking pain medications is NOT the answer.
- You suffer from headaches daily or every other day.
- Your pain intensifies about three hours after your last dose of medication.
- Your pain medications don’t work as well as they used to.
- You take more medication, but your headaches are worse.
- You rely on more pills, and you take them more often.
- You take medication even for mild headaches, and you often try to ward off a headache by using a medication.
- You take pain relievers three to four days a week, and you average more than three tablets per day. (This depends on the kind of medication you’re taking, so you’ll need your doctor’s advice.)
- Your pain runs the gamut from mild to moderate to horrible. Usually, the pain is a dull ache that you feel on both sides of your forehead and, sometimes, on the top or back of your head.
- Your headaches occur much more frequently.
To get your life back, it may be time to stop the insanity, take yourself off auto-pilot, break the cycle of misery, and opt for prevention. It is clearly the most logical and safest approach. When I created the natural migraine preventive supplement, MigreLief, it was my firm belief that preventing migraines before they start, is preferable to spending a lifetime treating the symptoms and risking undesirable or even dangerous side-effects.
TIME TO DETOX!
WITHDRAWING FROM MEDICATIONS TO BREAK THE CYCLE OF RECURRING MIGRAINES
Research has shown that withdrawing (detoxing) from these drugs can in many cases reduce the total number of headaches you experience as well as the intensity of those headaches. Withdrawal is not easy and the symptoms of withdrawal can be challenging, but the results are definitely worth it for most sufferers. Be sure to check with your doctor if you have any concerns.
For triptans, the detox period during which there may be withdrawal symptoms, like continuing headaches, nausea, vomiting, and disrupted sleep will last about 4-5 days on average.
The symptoms may last up to 8-10 days for withdrawing from opiates, ergots, or OTC drugs.
The literature and research state that it is important to start a preventive routine prior to or at the same time you start the detox program.
We recommend starting MigreLief one week before withdrawing from the drug that is being over-used.
MigreLief DOES NOT CONTAIN, aspirin, acetaminophen, ibuprofen or caffeine.
There seems to be little difference in the ultimate results and success of whether people withdraw “cold turkey” or gradually.
Keep a rescue pain medication available that is different from the medication that has been over-used, for emergency situations, only!
So if you are withdrawing from triptans or opiates, keep ibuprofen or Excedrin Migraine available, BUT JUST FOR EMERGENCIES WHERE THE PAIN CAN NO LONGER BE TOLERATED. USE THE RESCUE MEDICATION VERY SPARINGLY; YOU DON’T WANT TO SWITCH FROM OVER-USING ONE DRUG FOR A NEW ONE. (THAT WILL GET YOU NOWHERE!).
If withdrawing from OTC medications, keep a triptan or opiate drug available for an emergency rescue situation only.
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO STAY VERY WELL HYDRATED.
DRINK AS MUCH WATER AS POSSIBLE.
At the end of 5-10 days, depending upon what medication you are withdrawing from, you should find that your rebound headaches have significantly diminished or disappeared.
Your use of the offending medication should be either eliminated or substantially reduced.
45% of sufferers who go through this program may relapse. It is important to continue the use of a preventive product and to keep the use of rescue medications prone to trigger rebound headaches to an absolute minimum to avoid a relapse.
CONSIDER TAKING A MIGRELIEF DAILY SUPPLEMENT TO SUPPORT AND MAINTAIN NORMAL CEREBROVASCULAR TONE AND FUNCTION, PLUS… MIGRELIEF-NOW “AS-NEEDED” FOR FAST ACTING NEUROLOGICAL COMFORT.
MigreLief Migraine Supplements are available in 3 daily maintenance formulas (Original, Children’s and Menstrual Migraines) and 1 rescue formula (MigreLief-NOW) to be taken as needed.
