20 Feb
Chronic headaches from Spannungstyp
Chronic tension headaches can often be successfully treated as over-the-counter analgesics such as Aspirin, Acetaminophen, ibuprofen, naproxen, etc. However, there are side effects of Acetaminophen. These are rare, but when the medication is for a long time and in large doses, it can cause serious damage to the liver. Prescription Drugs
There are also prescription non-steroidal anti-like naproxen (Naprelan, Naprosyn), indomethacin (Indocin) and Ketorolac tromethamine (Torodol).
The effects of these drugs include nausea, diarrhea or constipation, abdominal or stomach pain, stomach bleeding and ulcers. These side effects may be reduced or eliminated by the medication after meals or with milk.
Ophoids
Other drugs sometimes used in the treatment of tension type headache are headaches ophoids (meperidine and morphine), fenoprofen (Nalfon), flurbiprofen (Ansaid).
If you have chronic tension headaches headache type, you must absolutely avoid habit-forming analgesics. And you may find that biofeedback techniques can help.
Other alternatives
Other alternatives in the treatment of tension type headache are headaches barbiturates (Butalbital), ergot (such as ergotamine or dihydroergotamine), and anti-emetics such as prochlorperazine).
Your doctor may also indicate muscle relaxants such as Flexeril and Soma. (Note that these drugs do not really relax skeletal muscles directly, but are analgesic (pain-relieving) drugs, based on a patient’s brain.)
Combination drugs
There are single-drug combination that Acetaminophen or aspirin with caffeine or a sedative drug such as Butalbital. An example of this is Excedrin, which combines aspirin, Acetaminophen and Caffeine. This combination of drugs may be more effective in controlling these headaches as a pure analgesics.
Brand name drugs
There are also brand-name drugs such as Amidrine, Midrin and Migrex that is sometimes used to treat headaches by Spannungstyp. While many of these combination medicines are available over-the-counter that this combination Acetaminophen or aspirin with a sedative only by prescription. These medications can be addictive and can even lead to chronic daily headache. This means they should not be used more than one day per week and only with careful monitoring of your doctor.
