Pain drugs can cause headaches

I get terrible rebound headaches from anti-inflammatory drugs (both prescription and over-the-counter). My doctors seem to not believe me; instead, they insist that anti-inflammatories are just what I need for arthritis. Have you heard of this, and do you know of any anti-inflammatories that don’t cause headaches when you stop taking them?

Dr. Joel Saper is director of the Michigan Headache and Neurological Institute and past president of the American Assn. for the Study of Headache. He has long been concerned about rebound headaches resulting from overuse of pain relievers, including anti-inflammatory drugs such as Advil, Aleve or Motrin IB.

If such medications are used more frequently than once or twice a week, they can sensitize brain receptors excessively. Then, as the medicine wears off, the headache recurs. If you have worsening headaches with more frequent drug use, you should suspect this type of vicious circle.

You might consider topical medicine such as Voltaren Gel or nondrug approaches for your arthritis pain such as boswellia, fish oil, ginger or turmeric.

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Is it true that coffee can help an asthma attack if you don’t have your medicine handy?

Caffeine acts somewhat like a traditional asthma medicine (theophylline). A review of the scientific literature says that caffeine modestly improves airway function for up to four hours (Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2001, No. 4).

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Joe Graedon is a pharmacologist and Teresa Graedon is an expert in medical anthropology and nutrition. www.peoplespharmacy.com