Congratulate Me
Jan 24th, 2008 by lisa
I’ve made it through the day so far without any Excedrin. Yay! It may not sound like much of an accomplishment, but it’s a milestone for me.
Have you ever heard of the ‘rebound headache’?
Rebound headaches, also known as medication overuse headaches, occur when pain medications (analgesics) are taken too frequently to relieve headache…. Rebound headaches frequently occur daily and can be very painful. They are a common cause of chronic daily headache. They typically occur in patients with an underlying headache disorder such as migraine, that “transforms” over time from an episodic condition to chronic daily headache due to more and more frequent analgesic use. ~ Wikipedia
Yeah, that’s me. I’ve suffered from migraines for years. Funny that while the migraines have reduced in frequency, my ‘normal’ headaches have only gotten worse. I guess I was a good candidate for this particular syndrome. Excedrin is the only thing that can stop one of my migraines. You have to act fast to prevent one from starting, so every time I would perceive the beginnings of a headache, I’d take it. Which is exactly how rebound headaches get started.
I’ve had a low-grade headache all day so far. But it hasn’t become any worse. I’m drinking lots of water and some peppermint tea and taking it easy. It’s not so bad. I think the fear of the migraine is what kept me popping the Excedrin in the first place. A wise one once said, Named must your fear be before banish it you can. Anticipation of pain is often worse than the actual pain.
So far so good. I feel bad for Excedrin though. Now who is going to keep them in business?
Good for you! I’m hearing a sense of balance over this issue, and hope you manage to make Excedrin go broke.
I’m sorry to learn that you’re a headache sufferer, no fun. In addition to the rebound headaches, I’ve read that some analgesics can wreak havoc on your kidneys as well. Baby steps, you’ve named it, now you can tame it.
Oh, don’t worry—I buy plenty of Excedrin! (It works on my arthritis better than plain old aspirin. Some days.)
Now that you’ve figured out the problem, you can begin working on it. Good for you!