Nasty side effects of self-medicating

Overall, the invention of over-the-counter painkillers has been very convenient for headache patients. However, there are also some serious downturns to the common practice of self-medicating headaches. One example of this is that the abuse of non-prescription painkillers has gone through the roof, with more and more patients regularly exceeding the recommended dosages. I am guilty of this myself when the two ibuprofens I’m allowed to take just don’t cut it. However, health implications of drug overuse include liver damage, stomach bleeding, and kidney disease - which are very serious conditions, if you ask me. E. Greenlaw, ‘OTC pain relief: beware of double-dosing’, WebMD, https://www.webmd.com/pain-management/features/pain-relievers-double-dose, (URL visited on October 30, 2022). Another effect of painkiller abuse is medication-overuse headache, which one in twenty people worldwide suffer from.World Health Organization Team, ‘Headache disorders’, World Health Organization, https://who.int/en/news-room-fact-sheets/detail/headache-disorders, (URL visited on October 20, 2022). Next to drug abuse, another drawback of the overabundant usage of over-the-counter medicines is that only a fraction of the headache patients sees their headaches as something serious enough to consult a doctor over. Most people think they can overcome their migraines by simply popping some ibuprofen from time to time, leaving possible underlying conditions unchecked.

If you think about it, it is quite strange that it is more normal to take painkillers for headaches than to just take some rest and call it a day. Maybe we should take our headaches a bit more seriously and listen to our bodies instead of trying to overrule the warning signs it gives us.