An Overview of Medicine Overuse Headache
Medication Overuse Headache (MOH) is a natural bodily reaction that takes place on account of overuse or abuse of medication for tension or migraine headaches.  This type of headache also known as medication headache is common in migraine patients. It is often misunderstood or misdiagnosed as a migraine headache and further dose of medication for migraine just aggravates the problem.

A typical scenario is when a patient who is prone to migraines takes migraine medication on the very onset of the symptoms of a migraine. The body becomes used to migraine medication and as a result exhibits withdrawal symptoms if the medicine is not repeated within a certain period of time. This is a rebound effect that takes place because the body has become accustomed to a certain medication for migraines.

The problem takes place not just in migraine patients but also is possible in people who are accustomed to popping pills in case of tension headaches.

A migraine can be a very debilitating experience. Migraine patients are very susceptible to MOH as they take migraine medication at the slightest hint of a headache in order to prevent the onset of a migraine. Their headaches may be the result of medication and not migraine and failing to understand that, they take their recommended dosage of medicine, worsening the situation.

The only way to reduce the incidence of MOH is to stop indiscriminately using headache medication at the slightest hint of a headache. Reducing the usage of drugs such as paracetamol, codeine, aspirin or ibuprofen is a first step towards reducing the tendency of developing MOH. Needless to say, headache medication cannot be stopped altogether especially if a person is prone to headaches.

A migraine patient should wait for the severest symptoms of a migraine to set in, before taking medication. There are a number of other ways to reduce the severity of migraines such as deep breathing, yoga and exercise.

Following a healthy lifestyle by eating right, quitting smoking and sleeping on time is of immense benefit in reducing the incidence of headaches.

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