Opioids Can opiods cause a nonstop 3 year long headache?

[mashumk]

In January 2010 I had a medical procedure and was on vicodin for a month. In February, after stopping Vicodin, I developed a feeling of pressure in the back of my head. By spring it was a strong headache beginning at the base of my head. It travels up and down depending on my position and movement aggrevates it.

From March that year I began Ultram and eventually moved to Vicodin. The pain only got worse and since early 2012 I have been on Oxycontin.

It has been 1 single nonstop headache. Not headaches as if I'm going through mini withdrawals. I've done all the tests and multiple procedures for neck and head that are unsuccessful.

Now all I can do is suspect the opiods. But I can't find any experiences in which the person has pain at the base of the head because of opiates. It's unbearable. Is there any part of the brain at the base of the skull that opiods negatively affect?

 

[Hiltoniano]

Others with more experience in the long-term effects of opiates will chime in, but Ill give it a go:

I think there is a very small chance that opiates are causing the headaches. Opiates usually have analgesic affect, or painkilling properties, as you know. So I cant see how oxycodone or various other opiates would cause a 3-year headache. It could be some sort of nerve damage, muscular issues, or any various things. There may be a relation between the opiates and the headache, but I don't see it as the cause. relation is not causation. Honestly though nobody can do anything but speculate, which is unfortunately discouraged on BL.

 

[hatrix]

I'm really not sure if that's possible. I don't think anyone is going to be able to tell you for certain, everyone reacts differently to drugs. Body chemistry, etc.

I'll tell you one thing, be happy you don't suffer from cluster headaches. You'd probably have committed suicide by now.

 

[Lady Codone]

My first thought was: opiates are dehydrating ---> dehydration causes headache. But based on your post I don't think that's the issue. Never heard of opiates setting off a years-long headache, but anything's possible.

If you have a chiari malformation, drugs can cause pressure changes in the head that cause pain. About 1 in 200 people has this condition but many don't even know it. An MRI would rule that out.

 

[bunge]

Ive heard of opiates (especially opioids) causing headaches before but never a 3 year long one!
Do opiates relieve the pain at all?
Do any in particular make it worse?
Have you had epilepsy tests? And have you been tried on ergotamine derivatives like sumatripan?
Sorry about all the questions, when i know your looking for answers. If the answer to most of those is yes, then its almost like an episode of House.lol
What im thinking is a vascular issue with the vessels at the base of the skull, where a large amount of blood vessels enter the cranial cavity, along with the top of the spinal cord and alot of other nerves. That might explain why the pain moves when you change position.
Ill add though that im not a qualified doctor. Just an interested geek with alot of time and textbooks.lol

above poster beat me to it.lol
have you had an mri of the brain?
@hatrix, i hear you about the cluster headaches! My uncle gets them so bad that he has injectable sumatripan and an oxygen tank ready at home in case he gets an attack. My mum also suffers with severe migraines, as do a number of her side of the family.
Im seriously shitting it that ill develop them one day.lol

 

[pizzystrizzy]

Have you heard of rebound headache?

Medication overuse headaches (MOH), also known as rebound headaches usually occur when analgesics are taken frequently to relieve headaches. Rebound headaches frequently occur daily and can be very painful and are a common cause of chronic daily headache. They typically occur in patients with an underlying headache disorder such as migraines or tension headaches that "transforms" over time from an episodic condition to chronic daily headache due to excessive intake of acute headache relief medications. MOH is a serious, disabling and well-characterized disorder, which represents a worldwide problem and is now considered the third-most prevalent type of headache... These types of headaches are known to occur with frequent use of many different medications, including most commonly: triptans, ergotamines, analgesics, opioids.

 

[sekio]

Rebound headache shouldn't last for years, though.

Have you had a CT/MRI, and possibly an angiogram done?

 

[bwanajzj]

When I get bad headaches that seem to last for long while on opiates, they also seem to disappear every time I eat well and drink enough water (opiates cause water retention in cells, so even though you are dehydrated in general, you may not feel thirsty). Are you keeping a regular, healthy diet?