More than one million people in Britain may be suffering from constant, crippling headaches because they are taking too many painkillers, according to experts.
The pills people take to relieve headaches and migraines may be making things much worse, according to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) in guidance to the health service for England and Wales.
As many as one in 50 people suffering from continual headaches are in fact victims of “medication overuse”, Nice reports.
The problem begins with taking the odd painkiller for tension headaches or migraines, which usually works. But some people take the pills more and more often, until they are on tablets for more than half the days in a month.
Nice says that if this goes on for more than three months the medication ends up causing the problem it is intended to cure.
“Patients with frequent tension-type headaches or migraines can get themselves into a vicious cycle, where their headaches are getting increasingly worse, so they take more medication which makes their pain even worse,” according to Martin Underwood, a GP and professor of primary care research at Warwick medical school in central England, who chaired the guideline development group.
Those at risk include people who are taking paracetamol, aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, for their headaches, either alone or in combination, for 15 days a month or more. – (Guardian Service)