brain, spinal cord, and nerve disorders
Medication Overuse Headache
Diagnosis of Medication Overuse Headache
A doctor's evaluation Doctors base the diagnosis of medication overuse headache on how often people who are regularly taking headache medications have headaches and on how often people take the headache drugs. Medication overuse headache is diagnosed when all of the following are present: Headache occurs 15 days or more a month in people takingacetaminophen,aspirin, or another nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) or 10 days or more a month in people takingergotamine, triptans, opioids, or combination headache medications as treatment for a headache disorder. People are regularly taking too much of one or more medications to relieve the headaches and have been doing so for more than 3 months. No other headache disorder better accounts for the symptoms. Rarely, computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is done to exclude other disorders. 