Managing medication overuse headache
Medication overuse headache (MOH) is treated by withdrawing the overused medication. Because this needs to be abrupt, symptoms may deteriorate before they start to improve: up to three weeks is not unheard of when stopping a simple analgesic for this reason. Close monitoring and support is therefore essential. There is a high relapse rate for MOH so providing information on the condition, as well as advice on appropriate headache management, is important in terms of preventing this.
Did you know?
People who take painkillers for a reason other than headache, for example because they have arthritis, tend not to get a medication overuse headache.