This is one of the most common causes of frequent headache and one of the least discussed, for a reason worth stating plainly: there is nothing to sell for it.
What it is
If you already have a headache disorder and you take acute headache medication regularly enough, the medication itself can start producing headaches. The original problem is still there, but a second one has been layered on top.
The criteria
ICHD-3 defines it specifically:
- Headache on 15 or more days per month, in someone with a pre-existing headache disorder, and
- Regular overuse for more than three months of medication taken for acute headache
Overuse has different thresholds depending on what you take:
| What you take | Overuse threshold |
|---|---|
| Triptans (sumatriptan and others) | 10 or more days a month |
| Simple painkillers (paracetamol, ibuprofen, aspirin) | 15 or more days a month |
Two separate numbers, and the triptan one is lower. Ten days a month is two or three days a week — which does not feel like overuse to someone in pain.
The classification itself notes that these day thresholds come from expert consensus rather than trial data. They're a workable line, not a law of nature.
One thing to check separately if you take a triptan: St John's Wort interacts with them, and it appears in a great many sleep and mood supplements, ours included.
Why it's easy to miss
The logic that gets people here is entirely reasonable. The headaches get more frequent, so you treat them more often. Treating them more often makes them more frequent. Each individual decision is sensible and the pattern is a trap.
There's no moment where it announces itself. There's just a slow drift from "occasional headaches" to "I always have some painkillers on me."
That shape — a sensible response to pain that becomes part of the problem — turns up elsewhere too. It is close to what happens in chronic pain and central sensitisation, where a major guideline now says not to start painkillers at all.
The way out is counter-intuitive, and not a DIY project
The treatment is to stop or substantially reduce the overused medication — which, in the short term, usually makes the headaches worse before they improve. That withdrawal period can run days to weeks.
This is a supervised process. How it's managed depends on which medication you've been overusing, whether bridging treatment is appropriate, and whether a preventive should be started at the same time. Some medications should not be stopped abruptly at all.
So: bring this to a GP. Do not stop anything on the strength of a web page, including this one.
What to bring to the appointment
Keep a two-week record before you go: what days you had a headache, what you took, how much, and whether it helped. That's the information that makes the conversation quick.
Worth noting alongside it: how you are sleeping. Short sleep is a recognised headache trigger, and it is one of the few things in this picture you can act on without a prescription. It is also worth knowing that a number of everyday medicines have their own effects on how clearly you think, which can muddy the picture of what is causing what.
The single most useful sentence you can say: "I'm taking something for headache on about X days a month, and I want to know whether that's making it worse."
Our position
Proco sells supplements. There is no supplement for medication-overuse headache, ours included, and taking one alongside continued overuse changes nothing. We're writing about this because it's common and treatable, not because there's an order at the end of it.
Criteria from the International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3rd edition. This article is not medical advice. Do not stop prescribed medication without speaking to your doctor.