Taking Frequent Painkillers

Hey folks~
I know I've asked this before, but what do you do about the "dreaded" MOH when you need to take painkillers for other reasons.

Right now I am dealing with a tooth issue and it is pretty painful. It may take a while to get resolved which means switching between ibuprophen and percocet for days in a row. I have had the migraines under pretty good control since month 3 of Topamax - only needing to treat 1-2 times a week, sometimes going 10-12 days without any migraines. This is big difference from 4-5 days a week of migraines that I was dealing with 6 months ago.

I don't want to risk MOH. Sometimes other issues arise which require several days of painkillers too, bad cramps for example.

I really hate that we have to choose between being in pain and not being able to sleep from the pain and the risk of having more migraines. I have fibromyalgia and I take no painkillers at all for it because of MOH. It isn't fair since non-migraineurs take painkillers when needed, as often as needed with no MOH risk.
Okay, thanks for letting me whine!

I do know that MOH is very individual, I would just like to know others' experiences with taking frequent painkillers.
Thanks in advance!

Jane

Hi Jane,

IMHO MOH is over rated. I've taken narcotics for over ten years. Five years ago I started taking them daily. Over a year ago I went on a three month "drug holiday". No preventative, no abortive, no rescue, no OTC. Nothing, nada.

All I got for my efforts was three months of vicious migraine with no pain relief. But, I proved to myself and my Drs that I did not have MOH.

Since I hurt my back I have been on even higher doses of narcotics, including a potent time release. For the first time in several years I'm able to make it through a full work week. My migraines, in fact, have improved.

I do get a headache the day after I take Stadol. But, it is not a migraine, more like a hangover headache.

So, for me, the experts can stick MOH in their ear!

I agree with the above post, fro the most part, after having years of expierence with narcotic pain meds. My Pain manager does not believe in MOH either. From my expierence, however, i find that thebaine derived narcotics (percocet, oxycontin) do tend to give me worse head pain with extended use. I have not had that problem with other narcotics.

I think the stress of MOH is the biggest problem. Dealing with the pain of the migraine is enough. Worrying about the medication is just another headache.

P

I too believe that MOH is over rated. This is from my own personal experience. I have been taking pain meds for at least 15 or more years. Have taken many drug holidays and not once have experienced MOH.

I know that everyone is different and that some people do get rebound headaches/MOH, but for me, it hasn't happened.

Like Pen said, I too believe that a lot of people stress over it which could sometimes trigger that headache. Not all the time, but it certainly couldn't help.

For me, if I am in pain, regardless of what is causing the pain, I will take pain medicine to function. I have to work to support myself. I have no one to fall back on to help me pay my bills. So, I have no choice. I would rather have some quality of life, than to be in pain suffering, regardless of what is causing that pain.

BTW, I just wanted to say that I am so happy that you have your migraines under control. I too am on topamax and have seen a big improvement. I hope that it continues working for you!!

Hugs!!

I was concerned about this issue too (I'm not as skeptical as others on this forum about rebound, having experienced it once and seen my mom go through it) when I had surgery and had to take percocet a few times a day. But when I consulted my headache specialist, she told me that it takes months of daily use for rebound to build up. So I wouldn't worry too much as long as you do stop it before it gets to be a long time.

For the poster with fibromyalgia (sorry I forgot who wrote that!), you might see if your doctor is willing to put you on a long-acting narcotic. That's what our neurologist did when my mom developed fibro. She consulted the pain clinic, and they encouraged her to go ahead with that because it does control her pain, but it also has cut back the amount of vicodin that she was taking, so it's healthier for her liver too.

I do think that MOH exists, we have good people on here who have had it, that's proof enough for me.
However I think it is totally overblown. And that causes a lot of stress, and we can't afford the stress or the suffering we endure when too scared to take something that might help. And as we know, pain needs to be treated or it gets worse and harder to treat.

We in the UK are told 1 in 50 of us: 2%, is in danger of MOH. That is I believe, of everyone, not just headache people.
Too many, but not enough for the way they bash our already aching heads with it....

I think perhaps it is like some people are inclined to become addicted to things.....ciggies, booze, chocolate, whatever.
Others just never do....I wonder if (through no fault of our own, we don't choose our brain) these are the people whose brains might seek the medication? While others just don't have that inclination. I am not sure about this, just wondered.
Something must explain why so many of us take far too much medication, yet we don't succumb, and others are so careful and do.

I was on DH118 (Dihydrocodeine) for 20 years. I never knew it was quite addictive. When I spoke to the GP about this, she said "If you were going to be addicted, we would have known a long time ago. They continued to give me prescriptions for 100 and I stopped them in 2000 because my IBS was not the problem it was anymore. I just stopped one day...no coming off, it was that easy.

I know far more people who have been on the ~"holiday" and still had the headaches, than I do those that actually saw improvement. But that doesn't mean it isnt real, just that maybe some of us just have daily headaches for another reason.
I did post a link to a good talk by one of our top neuros and he said, "they get off the medication, and they still have the damn headache. Clearly there is something else going on here".

If only we could know which of us is a target and which not. I just wish the doctors would not make such a thing of it, like the neuro I saw who I wrote about that said I was causing all my headaches and just get off the meds. No suggestion as to how I might do this, or what might stop me jumping under a bus.....AND he was wrong!!!

Pen