There are several classes of medications that can cause headaches:

- Those that are used for other illnesses and have headaches among their side effects. A good example is nitroglycerine used in heart disease.

- Those that are intended to treat headaches may be overused to the point that they produce rebound headaches. Rebound headaches are often produced when a headache rescue medication is used more than twice in a week on a regular basis. This is especially true with combination medications such as the common over-the-counter headache remedies.

A good treatment plan needs to reduce the need for frequent interventions with these types of medications, using instead, the preventative medications to reduce the number of attacks. More fill follow later in future installments of this section.

-Return to headache survival guide

© Edmund Messina MD 2002