Doctors: Rx painkillers may make migraines worse

By ABC's Dr. Timothy Johnson

VIDEO:

Many migraine sufferers turn to strong painkillers to stop their headaches. Codeine, butalbital and oxycodone are a few of the prescription drugs used to treat the affliction.

But new research shows that using these painkillers may make migraines even more frequent.

Doctors from Albert Einstein College of Medicine surveyed 24,000 people in the U.S. suffering from headaches. They asked these people what they took to stop them. Within a year, 209 of the patients had gone from fewer than 15 days of headache each month to having them a lot more often.

People who took painkillers at least eight times per month were twice as likely to develop these chronic migraines within a year.

At the same time, researchers found that patients who took non-steroidal drugs for migraines -- drugs including aspirin, Advil, and Motrin -- did not have any higher risk for developing chronic migraine.

But patients and doctors may want to consider over-the-counter drugs, before resorting to stronger ones.

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