A recent investigation found that the use of medications commonly prescribed to relieve episodic migraine (EM) significantly boost the risk of developing transformed migraine (TM), a form of migraine characterized by 15 or more days of headache per month. In the study, 8,219 people with episodic migraine were followed for one year; 2.5% developed TM over the course of the year. The use of commonly prescribed medications, particularly narcotics (such as acetaminophen with codeine or Percocet), or barbiturates (such as Fiorinal, Fioricet and Esgic) were associated with a dose-dependent increased risk of new onset of TM.

 Principal investigator and senior author of the study, Richard Lipton, MD notes that “this confirms the longstanding feeling among many doctors that certain medications used to treat migraine may increase the frequency of headaches if overused. These findings have important public health implications.”

Headache – December 10, 2008 ;Epub.

www.headachejournal.org