Question:

Ive been taking oxycontin for about a year now and i get really horrible headaches when i take it..?

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the headaches are usually small areas on the left front of my head... sometimes in the time when im half asleep half awake.. i get really really horrible sharp headaches that last for like 20 seconds.. theyre really horrible tho.. why is this? is it the oxy? PLEASE DONT TELL ME HOW ADDICTING OXY IS.. i already know and am addicted... so if you dont answer this ? and just tell me how bad the drug is.. ill report you.

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7 ANSWERS


  1. Oxycodone does this, it is normal if taken in high doses or taken other than prescribed.


  2. I am going to have to agree with "Heart's in the 808" on this one.  Since you have been on this drug for a period of time your liver is having a harder time detoxing your body.  This is normal when taking medications for a long time.  The nice thing is that oxycontin is a little easier on the liver than some of the other pain killers you could be taking (anything with acetaminophen, for example).  Headaches are also a common side effect of almost all pain relievers.  Since your headaches are only lasting for short periods of time, I would tend to say that it is more than just an adverse reaction (they tend to last longer than 20 sec).

    Heart's in the 808 - I don't understand the "thumbs down" either.  I have gotten these on a few of my answers.  The funny part is that the answers have been chosen as Best Answer.  I think they are just jealous.  P.S. - I gave you a thumbs up.

  3. It sounds like you could be getting rebound headaches from the meds.

    You could google that and see if that is what it is.

  4. Yes it could be your headaches are stemming from the Oxycontin due to the drugs effect on your liver...the liver is a filtering Organ, with your contiued use of this drug your liver is having a harder time breaking it down and getting rid of the toxins...thus causing headaches due to toxic build-up

  5. Aw hun I honestly don't know, why don't you ask your Gp about these headaches you're experiencing, it might be a common side effect, but it might be down to something entirely different.

    Good Luck. I hope you get yourself sorted. X :-)

  6. While headaches have been noted in the clinical studies and in patients who have used Oxycontin, it should be noted that the percentage of patients who reported headaches in the clinical studies made on this medication were the same as the percentage of people complaining  of headaches in the placebo control group.  Therefore, there is no way to be sure that the Oxycontin actually causes headaches or not.  Also in all adverse reaction reports on Oxycontin, less than 5% of the patients report headache as a side effect.

    While it might be possible that the medication is causing your headaches, it is also possible that your overall medical condition is the cause.  This is a condition which should be followed up with your physician.

  7. If you are on OxyContin, then it is doubtful that the headaches are a rebound phenomena, as one responder has suggested.  Rebound headaches occur after the medication wears off, and the method of taking OxyContin would in most cases keep you on a reasonably constant dosage level, which would actually prevent a rebound headache.  Whereas, taking short acting oxycodone such as OxyIR might cause a rebound headache.

    Without knowing your other medications, your dosage level, and your general medical condition, it would not be reasonable to assume that your liver was unable to adequately metabolize and detox the OxyContin.  Also if you had an issue related to liver toxicity, I would expect the headaches to last longer than 20 seconds or so, since I would not expect you to suddenly have 20 second spikes in your liver toxins.  However, that might be an avenue which could be checked, if normal causes were ruled out.  In this case it would seem to be more of a "Zebra" diagnosis.  In medicine when we hear hooves on the prairie we don't look for zebras first, we look for horses.

    This may or may not be related to your OxyContin.  As one responder said, if it was a side effect of the OxyContin it would be expected that the headache pain would be more constant in nature, just as it would in liver toxicity.

    Another possibility is that due to the pain issues which have necessitated the need for OxyContin, you have increased stress.  Also, all patients with chronic pain syndromes have constant activation of part of their brain which, over time, lowers the levels of your neurotransmitters.  The neurotransmitters are normally replenished when you sleep, but sleep architecture is poor in chronic pain patients, so this replenishment is often inadequate.

    That whole last paragraph is a longwinded explanation for why you have a perfect trigger mechanism for migraines, cluster or ice pick headaches.  This is a more likely reason for stabbing headaches of short duration, but should be evaluated.

    Again, without knowing the physical condition which required the use of OxyContin, or any other medical information, all that anyone can do on here is guess.  However, the type headaches you are describing are not the type consistent with any response to the use of OxyContin, or the metabolism of the OxyContin by the body.

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