What are opioids?

Opioids are painkillers. They act on natural morphine receptors in the brain. Opium, extracted from the poppy plant, is a natural opioid. There are many different synthetic opioids.

See: https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/pdf/calculating_total_daily_dose-a.pdf

I thought that opioids were very effective  in treating pain!

That is correct. They constitute a significant advance in modern medicine. For acute pain, nothing works as well as opioids. But, in the long term, they have side effects and risks. Those risks include tolerance (the opioids become less and less effective), addiction (the person takes opioids and becomes dependent, beyond the use for pain), constipation, and bone problems. The regular intake of opioids is associated with car accidents, hip fractures, and problems with newborn kids if the mother uses opioids. 

What is the «opioid epidemic»?

In the 1990s, pharmaceutical companies convinced medical experts to advocate for an extensive use of opioids to treat chronic pain. The benefits were overestimated, and the risks ignored. Physicians changed their prescription habits. A black market of prescription opioids sprung up. Now North America is suffering the consequences of too many opioids, including deaths.  

Why is it so important to avoid opioids for migraine?

The migraine brain has unique chemical software. Unfortunately, it reacts to the regular exposure to opioids by changing his reaction to pain and lowering the migraine threshold. In a nutshell, opioids relieve pain in the short term but decrease tolerance to pain in the long term. There is a very high risk of medication overuse headache with opioids.

If you end up using them ten days a month or more, it is time to talk to your doctor about other alternatives for your migraine.

People with migraine should be aware that some combination analgesics in Canada that are available without a prescription contain small amounts of codeine, and the above recommendations apply to those as well.

Canadian Fact on opioids: over-the-counter access puts the population at risk

In many countries, especially in Europe, opioids are not available without a medical prescription. In Canada, combination analgesics may contain smaller doses of codeine. Tylenol 1s and 2s are in this category. The dose in one pill might be low, but many patients may use multiple tablets daily on a regular basis. 

Read more about the opioid crisis in Canada.

Opioids work for me, and they seem to be my only option. What should I do?

Medical guidelines for migraine attacks recommend that NSAIDs (anti-inflammatories) and triptans  be used first (See this post). They usually work better than opioids. That said, some people cannot use triptans (history of vascular problems) or NSAIDs ( gastrointestinal problems). These people may try opioids to treat their migraines. Also, some people do not respond to any triptan (we remind them that many triptans should be tried before making that conclusion, as the response varies a lot between people). In any case, some people use opioids to treat migraine attacks, but a skilled health care provider should monitor this,  to avoid complications. 

REFERENCES

Tepper SJ. Opioids should not be used in migraine. Headache. 2012;52 Suppl 1:30-4.

Buse DC, Pearlman SH, Reed ML, Serrano D, Ng-Mak DS, Lipton RB. Opioid use and dependence among persons with migraine: results of the AMPP study. Headache. 2012;52(1):18-36.

Saper JR, Lake AE, 3rd, Bain PA, Stillman MJ, Rothrock JF, Mathew NT, et al. A practice guide for continuous opioid therapy for refractory daily headache: patient selection, physician requirements, and treatment monitoring. Headache. 2010;50(7):1175-93.

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