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Symptoms
By Mayo Clinic staffRebound headaches tend to:
- Occur every day, often waking you in the early morning
- Improve with pain-relief medication but then return as your medication wears off
- Persist throughout the day
- Worsen with physical or mental exertion
Other signs and symptoms may include:
- Neck pain
- Anxiety
- Restlessness and difficulty concentrating
- Memory problems
- Irritability
- Depression
- Unrestful sleep
- Stuffy nose
When to see a doctor
Occasional headaches are common. But it's important to take your headaches seriously. Some types of headaches can be life-threatening.
Seek immediate medical care if your headache:
- Is sudden and severe
- Accompanies a fever, stiff neck, rash, confusion, seizure, double vision, weakness, numbness or difficulty speaking
- Follows a head injury
- Gets worse despite rest and pain medication
- Is a new type in someone over 50
- Wakes you from sleep
Consult your doctor if:
- You usually have two or more headaches a week
- You take a pain reliever for your headaches more than twice a week
- You need more than the recommended dose of over-the-counter pain remedies to relieve your headaches
- Your headache pattern changes
- Your headaches are getting worse
References
- Headache: Hope through research. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/headache/detail_headache.htm. Accessed Aug. 21, 2011.
- Evers S, et al. Clinical features, pathophysiology and treatment of medication overuse headaches. The Lancet Neurology. 2010;9:391.
- Cupini LM, et al. Medication overuse headache: Neurobiological, behavioural and therapeutic aspects. Pain. 2010;150:222.
- Bigal ME, et al. Overuse of acute migraine medications and migraine chronification. Current Pain and Headache Reports. 2009;13:301.
- Felice MD, et al. Update on medication-overuse headache. Current Pain and Headache Reports. 2011;15:79.
- Tepper SJ, et al. Breaking the cycle of medication overuse headache. Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine. 2010;77:236.
- Rapoport AM. Medication overuse headache: Awareness, detection and treatment. CNS Drugs. 2008;22:995.
- Sun-Edelstein C, et al. Alternative headache treatments: Nutraceuticals, behavioral and physical treatments. Headache Currents. 2011:469.
- Loder E, et al. Evaluation for secondary causes of headache: The role of blood and urine testing. Headache Currents. 2011:338.
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