Rebound Headaches can occur if medication containing butalbital is taken, which usually also contains aspirin or caffeine. This medication is often prescribed for people with both tension headaches and migraines. When these are taken for more than two or three days a week they may lead to a rebound headache, which is also known as medicines over use headache, or withdrawal headache.
Rebound headaches can put the subject into a cycle of pain and relief as the dependence developed on the drug causes pain when the drug is withdrawn. The subject takes more of the drug to relieve the headache and when the drug begins to wear off the withdrawal headache reappears. Because of their addictive nature butalbital drugs have been banned in some countries.
The best way to deal with the dependence problem is refrain from use of the product, but this can often result in severe head pain. At hospitals phenobarbital loading can be administered to ease withdrawal.1
Users of caffeine in coffee, colas, and other products can also suffer from caffeine withdrawal. This is usually not as severe as the rebound headaches of butalbital mixed with caffeine. To avoid a caffeine withdrawal headache the New England Center for Headache recommends eliminating one portion of caffeine from the daily total and stay at that level for a 5 to 7 days. Then to reduce intake by another level. In this manner slowly weaning from caffeine use altogether. For example, if a person were to drink 5 cups of coffee per day, he or she should decrease one cup every 5 days, eliminating another cup the following week, and so on.
