Can you kindly advise about my use of propranolol …
I sometimes get headache when I wake up. It comes in bouts of a week and I get a bout almost every month. The headache lasts for hours but is usually better by the evening. I can’t concentrate or think properly and I am in constant confusion when the headache occurs.
Painkillers (such as ibuprofen) helped a bit but I took them so often that I got *Medication Overuse Headache *and I had to discontinue them completely.
I now find a single tablet of Propranolol (40mg) helps. I take the short acting version. Note that I am not using propranolol as a preventative but as a way of treating acute headache.
Is there a danger of getting rebound headache from using Propranolol in this way?
This is something you really should talk to a Dr about. Not sure about rebound headache, but also not sure if it’s a good idea to use blood pressure medication in this way (as in take it occasionally). If you’ve been diagnosed with migraine why not take propranalol as a preventative? You might be able to avoid the headaches altogether
This is something you really should talk to a Dr about. Not sure about rebound headache, but also not sure if it’s a good idea to use blood pressure medication in this way (as in take it occasionally). If you’ve been diagnosed with migraine why not take propranalol as a preventative? You might be able to avoid the headaches altogether
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Hello Lorcalon. Thank you for your reply. I would rather not take propranolol as a preventative every day because my migraines are almost certainly due to my withdrawal taper from benzodiazepines. The benzo withdrawal is taking ages but eventually the migraines they are causing will improve. However I wouldn’t be able to detect when the migraines have gone if I am taking daily propranolol.
Some authors say that **all meds **taken too frequently for acute migraine can cause Medication Overuse Headache (MOH or “rebound headache”). However when I look at the the ICHD (International Classification Of Headache Disorders, section 8.2) it lists only meds like analgesics, triptans, opioids, etc. It doesn’t mention rebound from frequent use of meds which are known to prevent migraine.
I was on Propranolol for a few years. From my experience it’s not a drug you should be taking every once in a while because it needs to be taken regularly and the dose should not be decreased or increased suddenly as it can have a negative effect on the heart. I’ve never heard of it causing headache, it’s not on my side effect list. Unless your Dr has said it’s okay then I would say it’s definitely not okay to take a Propranolol as a substitute for ibuprofen or paracetamol.
propanolol is used as needed for certain things (for example, physical symptoms of anxiety before a speech), but I have never heard of it being used as an acute migraine med - only a preventative. I’m surprised it would even be effective taken that way as most migraine (prev.) meds need to build up in the system. I don’t know if it could cause rebound issues as I have never heard of it being used this way, so hopefully someone with more info will come along. Depending on how often you are getting migraines, it may be worth a preventative. I understand not knowing when they decline on their own, but one could always taper the migraine preventative after benzo withdrawal is over and see how it goes.
Who gave you the propanolol? Is that how it was prescribed to you?
propanolol is used as needed for certain things (for example, physical symptoms of anxiety before a speech), but I have never heard of it being used as an acute migraine med - only a preventative. I’m surprised it would even be effective taken that way as most migraine (prev.) meds need to build up in the system. I don’t know if it could cause rebound issues as I have never heard of it being used this way, so hopefully someone with more info will come along. Depending on how often you are getting migraines, it may be worth a preventative. I understand not knowing when they decline on their own, but one could always taper the migraine preventative after benzo withdrawal is over and see how it goes.
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Hi DizzyForLife. I am going to take slow-release propranolol each day. However it worked extremely well as a treatment for acute migraine.
It seems that many years the same improvement as I experienced was noticed by two researchers who wrote about it in a letter to a medical journal. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/article … -0057b.pdf