Medication overuse headache check: count your painkiller days
Taking acute headache medicine too often can itself keep headaches going. Doctors look at how many days a month you take it. Tap each day you took something; tap again to change the type.
One month is not a diagnosis: the definition needs regular overuse for more than three months together with headache on 15 or more days a month. Do not stop a prescribed medicine on your own; take this count to your doctor.
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How to use the count
- Go back through your diary, calendar or pharmacy receipts and mark every day you took an acute medicine.
- Count days, not tablets: two doses on the same day are one medicine day.
- Repeat for the previous two months. A pattern over three months matters more than one busy month.
Why days matter
Guidelines count medicine days because frequent use of acute treatment is linked with headaches becoming more frequent. The usual levels are 10 days a month for triptans, combination painkillers, ergots and opioids, and 15 days a month for simple painkillers.
Sources
ICHD-3 — 8.2 Medication-overuse headache · NHS — Medication overuse headaches