Goshuyuto Reduced the Monthly Intake of Anti-headache Drugs and Improved Pain Status in Patients with 20-Year History of Medication Overuse Headache in an Outpatient Setting

• Published in: Kurume medical journal Vol. 68; no. 2; pp. 153 - 156
• Main Authors: HASEGAWA, YU, KURATSU, JUN-ICHI
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan Kurume University School of Medicine 30.06.2021
• Subjects: Analgesics - adverse effects; Female; goshuyuto; Headache Disorders, Secondary - chemically induced; Humans; medication overuse headache; NSAIDs; outpatient setting; Outpatients; over 20 years; Pain - chemically induced; triptan; medication overuse headache; outpatient setting; over 20 years; triptan; NSAIDs; goshuyuto
• ISSN: 0023-5679; 1881-2090
• DOI: 10.2739/kurumemedj.MS682019

The management of medication overuse headache (MOH) is sometimes challenging, particularly for patients with a long disease duration. We observed that patients who used goshuyuto, a traditional Japanese medicine, exhibited a favorable clinical course. Two women who had a history of MOH for over 20 years were treated using 5.0–7.5 g/day goshuyuto in an outpatient setting. The treatment reduced their use of habitual drugs, including triptan (33–55%) and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (75–82%), as well as the headache impact test score-6 (16–23%) over 24 weeks. As goshuyuto has a protective effect on chronic headache and is reported not to lead to MOH, it is a good candidate for the treatment of patients with MOH in an outpatient setting, even for those with an over 20-year history of MOH.