Medication-overuse headache day counter
Count days you treated a headache, split by the drug groups in the published classification. This is a conversation starter for a clinician. It is not a reason to stop a medicine.
Which number applies to which drug
ICHD-3 section 8.2 describes medication-overuse headache as headache on 15 or more days a month, in someone who already has a headache disorder, plus regular overuse of acute headache medicine for more than 3 months.
- Triptans, ergots, opioids, combination analgesics: 10 or more days a month.
- A simple pain reliever on its own: 15 or more days a month.
- More than one class, without any single class over its own line: 10 or more days combined.
People who meet both this pattern and the chronic-migraine day counts are often given both descriptions. Checkheadache days and migraine-feature days separately, and write the month down in a diary instead of estimating it in the waiting room.
How many days of migraine medicine counts as overuse?
In ICHD-3, triptans, ergots, opioids, and combination pain medicines are counted at 10 or more days a month. Simple pain relievers such as ibuprofen, naproxen, aspirin, or acetaminophen, used on their own, are counted at 15 or more days a month. Using more than one class adds up at 10 days total. Headache on 15 or more days, for more than 3 months, is also part of the published description.
Should I stop my triptan if the number is high?
No. Do not stop a prescribed medicine because a website crossed a threshold. Some of these drugs are unsafe to stop abruptly, and a clinician may or may not think overuse is the issue. Bring the day counts to the person who prescribed them.
What is a combination pain medicine?
A product that mixes a pain reliever with something else, often caffeine, and sometimes a barbiturate. Those follow the 10-day line, not the 15-day line used for a plain pain reliever.