Monday August 1, 2022 – Author:
ham
Headaches associated with viral infections are normal. After a Covid illness, the headaches can last for months. Ordinary painkillers relieve the long-Covid symptom well, but they should not be taken too frequently.
Whether it’s a flu infection, flu or Covid-19 – viral diseases are accompanied by headaches for many of those affected. There is even a separate IHS classification (ICHD-3) for this “headache as a result of a systemic viral infection”, provided that meningitis (meningitis) and brain inflammation (encephalitis) have been ruled out.
Headache common long covid symptom
Unlike other viral diseases, the headaches associated with Covid-19 can last an unusually long time. Headaches are among the most common Long-Covid-Symptomen. According to a review published in the journal headache, up to 45 percent of patients are also affected by headaches after the acute illness of COVID-19. 60 days after the acute viral illness, 16.5% still suffered from headaches, 10.6% after 90 days and 8.4% after six months. One paper showed that 61% of those affected by “long/or post-COVID headaches” experience headaches on a daily basis.
Daily and permanent
Hans-Christoph Diener, press spokesman for the German Society for Neurology, reads another relevant point from the study results in addition to a very high prevalence: “SARS-CoV-2 is obviously a trigger for so-called new daily persistent headaches (“new daily Persistent headache”/NDPH), a phenomenon that we have so far mainly known from viruses of the herpes family,” he says. However, this is by no means just an aggravation of pre-existing headache disorders, but often “newly triggered.”
Sort of like a tension headache
The neurologist refers to various studies according to which 47 to 80 percent of patients with pre-existing headache disorders stated that the COVID-19-associated headaches differed from the previous ones. The new headache was often bilateral and dull and oppressive, i.e. similar to tension headache. In some of those affected, they were also accompanied by a sensitivity to noise or light or nausea and vomiting, which is otherwise only known from migraines. A migraine usually occurs on one side.
Headaches associated with COVID-19 usually respond well to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen and aspirin. DGN experts warn against taking the painkillers too often and for too long. On the one hand, NSAIDs can damage the kidneys in rarer cases – and on the other hand the so-called cause drug-induced headache – a vicious circle arises:
„Medication Overuse Headache“
“People with headaches that have lasted for weeks or even months after a COVID-19 illness should therefore use headache tablets sparingly in order not to get caught in the ‘hamster wheel’ of drug-induced headaches,” advises DGN Secretary General Professor Peter Berlit, “Of course it’s easier No sooner said than done, but it is definitely worth trying out non-drug strategies as well.” The portfolio ranges from exercise in the fresh air to relaxation techniques and stress reduction. In severe cases, a neurologist specializing in headaches should be consulted.
Doctors assume a “medication overuse headache” if headaches occur more than 15 days per month and are treated with one or more painkillers over a period of more than three months.