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6 ways to combat headaches without painkillers

<p><em>Marissa Sandler is the CEO and co-founder of Careseekers. Previously a social justice lawyer and researcher for over 15 years, Marissa is passionate about helping people live with dignity and finding innovative solutions to problems.</em></p> <p>According to Headache Australia 5 million Australians suffer from headaches. Although most of us reach over for the painkillers whenever a headache strikes there are ways to combat headaches that don’t involve any medication at all.</p> <p>Headaches are rarely a one-off event and that is why although it is helpful to explore the different non-medicinal cures at the same time you need to look at prevention. If you don’t address the reasons you get headaches, no sooner have you got rid of one headache, you will be on the path to another one.</p> <p><strong>If a headache does strike here are some things you can try to cure it:</strong></p> <ol> <li>Have a rest in a cool, dark room</li> <li>Alternating hot and cold therapies – place an ice pack on your head or have a warm bath or switch from one to the other</li> <li>Take a walk in the fresh air</li> <li>Get a massage</li> <li>Peppermint oil on your temples, foreheads and wrists will alleviate tension headaches</li> <li>Acupuncture has been known to help the most vicious of migraines</li> </ol> <p>Headache Australia has lots of tips to minimise the number of headaches you experience. Their advice is based on understanding when headaches strike, knowing what causes them and then making lifestyle changes to reduce the causes.</p> <p><strong>Understand when headaches strike</strong></p> <p>Keep a headache diary – on the days you experience a headache make sure you note down what you ate, what exercise you did (if any) what was going on emotionally for you (was it a stressful day?) how much alcohol you consumed etc.</p> <p><strong>Know what causes them</strong></p> <p>By identifying precipitating factors that cause headaches – this includes the amount of sleep, environmental factors like amount of light and noise you are exposed to, diet, physical exertion</p> <p><strong>And then… make lifestyle changes</strong></p> <p>If lots of sugar causes headaches you will need to cut the sugar, if its alcohol you may look at cutting down the number of drinks you have in a week.</p> <p>If stress causes tension headaches you will need to reduce the stress in your life, this is obviously easier said than done but when it comes to stress you can only control your reaction. Take yourself out of situations you know cause you additional stress or distance yourself from people that cause you undue stress.</p> <p>Alternatively plan for stressful periods, if you know you have a stressful week at work try and make other aspects of your life not stressful or make sure you make time to go for a walk or eat healthy food.</p> <p>This all cannot happen if you don’t take responsibility for your headaches, understanding headaches are something that happens within you and not to you may empower you to take control of your headaches and make changes to reduce their occurrence and severity.</p> <p><em>Images: Getty</em></p>

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Alarming painkiller warning for Aussie families

<p><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p> <p>A cheap painkiller prescribed to millions of Australians every year is “like Santa Claus in a pill,” according to Sydney psychiatrist Dr Tanveer Ahmed.</p> <p>He said the drug Lyrica has “become all things to all people,” leaving an increasing number of patients addicted.</p> <p>“It is being dished out like lollies,” Dr Ahmed told<span> </span><em>A Current Affair</em>. He says it is much easier for GPs to prescribe Lyrica than other painkillers like codeine, which are heavily regulated to prevent addiction.</p> <p>“There really is very little restriction, you can go and get a repeat at a pharmacy without question, you can go to doctors and there is very little monitoring,” he said.</p> <p>Finance broker Christalla Andreadis started taking Lyrica after suffering severe spinal injuries in a car accident in 2017, and now she’s struggling to stop.</p> <p>“Now everyone is going to know my dirty little secret,” she said.</p> <p>“I can’t go on like this, you suffer in silence and when you’re thinking, ‘I can’t do this anymore’, I don’t want to grow old like this.”</p> <p>The 52-year-old was embarrassed to admit she was outsmarted by a simple painkiller.</p> <p>“The drug gets its claws into your soul. It has taken every fibre of my being, is what it has taken me to try and come off it,” Ms Andreadis said.</p> <p>In the past two years, she has managed to reduce her dosage but can’t quit cold turkey.</p> <p>Gayle Wilson’s daughter Anita died after taking a deadly combination of Lyrica and opioids.</p> <p>“I feel as though I failed her. I couldn’t find anything else to do, to keep her alive,” Gayle said.</p> <p>Anita’s death at only 33 followed years of addiction to pain medication, which started after she had her wisdom teeth removed in 2017.</p> <p>Lyrica, as known as pregabalin, was originally prescribed to treat epilepsy and nerve pain. Manufactured by Pfizer, it was added to the Australian Pharmaceutical benefits scheme in 2013. The company launched a marketing blitz, investing $3.8 million into almost 500 education events teaching Aussie GPs about the drug.</p> <p>Pregabalin scripts skyrocketed from 36,000 a year in 2012 to more than 40 million by 2018.</p> <p>In America Pfizer have been prosecuted over the marketing of Lyrica.</p> <p>“They agreed to pay $2.3 billion for a healthcare fraud settlement, they were illegally marketing four different drugs and Lyrica fell under that umbrella,” Amy Kawaa explained.</p> <p>Amy started a support group for patients who beat addiction to Lyrica.</p> <p>When A Current Affair approached Pfizer, we initially received a one sentence response, saying Pfizer no longer owns Lyrica.</p> <p>The programs questions were then forwarded on to a company called Viatris, which was created late last year when a division of Pfizer merged with another pharmaceutical firm.</p> <p>Pharmacist Said Khodary said the number of Lyrica scripts he has filled has more than doubled in the past three years. "Anyone on a healthcare card, pension card, can pick it up for $6," Mr Khodary said.</p> <p>He's well-seasoned at spotting doctor shoppers.</p> <p>"They try to come up with lots of excuses, sometimes they're sweating, they're nervous, they're a bit anxious sometimes," he said.</p> <p>Victoria is the only state which has mandatory monitoring for Lyrica prescriptions.</p> <p>"There is no way for us to really monitor if they're getting prescriptions elsewhere. It would really help a lot," Mr Khodary explained.</p>

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This common painkiller causes 3,000 deaths a year in the UK

<p>Taking a daily aspirin is far more dangerous than was originally thought and causes more than 3,000 deaths a year in Britain, a major study suggests.</p> <p>Millions of pensioners take the blood-thinning pills to ward off heart attacks and strokes. But researchers at Oxford University found that those older than 75 who use aspirin daily are 10 times more likely than younger patients to suffer disabling or fatal bleeds.</p> <p>Researchers said patients of this age who have already suffered heart attacks or stroke should still take the daily tablet, but should also take an extra drug to reduce the risk of bleeding.</p> <p>The study says pensioners who take aspirin daily "as a health choice" should consider weaning themselves off of the drug. However, doctors stressed that no-one should come off the pills quickly, or without consulting their GP, as doing so would create an immediate risk of heart attack.</p> <p>It has long been known that aspirin carries an increased risk of gastro-intestinal bleeding but the new study, published in <em>The Lancet</em>, suggests the danger rises far more sharply with age than was thought.</p> <p>The study's lead author, Prof Peter Rothwell, said blood thinners were causing around 20,000 bleeds annually, of which at least 3,000 were fatal.</p> <p>All patients who have had a heart attack or stroke should still take aspirin, he stressed. But those above the age of 75 should also be prescribed a proton pump inhibitor which would reduce bleeding risks by up to 90 per cent.</p> <p>Those without such medical histories should consider coming off aspirin altogether, he suggested.</p> <p>A New Zealand doctor said clinicians needed to consider many factors when discussing aspirin use with older patients.</p> <p>"Guidelines should be very carefully interpreted in older populations – since there is so much diversity, [from] relatively healthy people who can even climb Mt Everest to very frail people on many medicines," said Otago University professor of public health Nick Wilson. "So this is why a clinician needs to consider many issues and discuss these with the individual older patient – and be ready to review if any problems develop."</p> <p>The UK study involved 3,166 patients who had a stroke or heart attack, most of whom were prescribed aspirin.</p> <p>For patients under 65, the annual rate of disabling or fatal bleeding was less than 0.5 per cent, rising to 1.5 per cent in those aged 75 to 84 and nearly 2.5 per cent for patients aged 85 or older. Over the decade, those over 75 had six times the risk of fatal bleeds, and a tenfold increased risk of bleeds which were either deadly or disabling.</p> <p>The proportion of survivors experiencing a new or worse disability rose from three per cent for those under 75 to 25 per cent among older patients.</p> <p>Those without a history of heart attack or stroke should avoid taking aspirin as they got older, said Prof Rothwell.</p> <p>While the drugs had "tiny benefits" for such patients in their 50s and 60s, the dangers increase with age.</p> <p>"You would probably be advised to stop it in your late 60s or around 70 because at that point the risks may well outweigh the benefits," he said.</p> <p>Doctors stressed no-one should come off their drugs quickly or without consulting a GP. But Dr Tim Chico, consultant cardiologist at the University of Sheffield, said the risks of aspirin were often underestimated.</p> <p>"Although bleeding is a well-recognised side effect, this drug is still seen by many people as harmless, perhaps because of how easily it can be bought," he said.</p> <p><em>Written by Laura Donnelly. First appeared on <a href="http://Stuff.co.nz" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Stuff.co.nz</span></strong></a>.</em></p>

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