‘Triptan’ Overuse Headache

It is interesting to note that we now have another condition (or complication) in the headache and migraine industry – ‘Triptan Overuse Headaches’! This was always going to happen as it did with ‘Medication overuse headache’.

Whilst for many of my patients, the triptans were their best friend initially, eventually over time they were finding that they were needing to take another one in decreasing intervals, i.e. their effectiveness is decreasing or ….. perhaps it is that the cause of the sensitisation process is worsening.

It is imperative that the source of the sensitisation of the brainstem be determined.

Essentially the brainstem is influenced by four systems:

    * serotonin

    * diffuse noxious inhibitory control system

    * information from structures inside the head – blood vessels, teeth, gums, eyes, sinuses etc

    * information from structures of the upper neck – muscles, ligaments, capsules, joints etc

Of the above the easiest to confirm or eliminate is information from the neck.

Can you imagine how one of my patients who was experiencing migraine daily and who was taking Imigran (a triptan) three a times day for the past 10 years, felt when her migraine eased within 30 seconds after placing her head into a retracted (i.e. the opposite to a poking chin posture) position – she burst into tears! What a moment ….she realised her neck was contributing to her migraine.

YourHeadacheSoultions.co.uk is one voice of the Watson Headache Institute.

The Watson Headache Institute was established to increase the awareness of cervicogenic (neck) disorders in headache and migraine by imparting my (and that of others) clinical experience and knowledge; to present and discuss past and present relevant research and to undertake and support rigorous clinical and scientific research in this specialty.

Appropriate and up-to-date knowledge is self-empowering; I believe that every headache sufferer has the right to know their headache diagnosis as precisely as possible (and what it means), to know the nature of their headache disorder, its outcome and possible types of treatment.

What has yet to gain acceptance is my (and that of others) belief, supported by my unparalleled clinical experience and a significant body of international research, that it is incorrect to consider headache and migraine types as totally different entities and that cervicogenic (neck) disorders can be instrumental in the headache and migraine process.

Although Physiotherapy, Chiropractic and Osteopathy are different disciplines, we are supporters of the idea that headache and migraine sufferers, no matter what their diagnoses, can be helped to live their lives more effectively through appropriate neck treatment. However, because treatment of the neck does not fit the medical model of headache and migraine, the model has demonstrated little interest in exploring this as an option. It is essential that all factors, which have the potential to sensitise the brainstem, be investigated equally.  Currently this is not the situation – the neck is largely disregarded.

So, whilst YourHeadacheSolutions.com is also about Education, it is also a directory for headache and migraine sufferers to source practitioners who have a particular interest in and are skilled in examination of the neck as a source of your headache or migraine – to create a more comprehensive approach and provide an alternative, medication-free treatment.