New research from scientists at Stanford University School of Medicine suggests cannabis use can be linked to higher rates of “rebound headaches” in migraine sufferers. The research is observational and retrospective, but it is yet another finding questioning how helpful cannabis is for chronic migraine patients.
The new research looked at retrospective longitudinal data from 368 chronic migraine sufferers. Over half had been diagnosed with medication overuse headaches. Those using cannabis were found to be six times more likely to suffer from rebound headaches.
“Many people with chronic migraine are already self-medicating with cannabis, and there is some evidence that cannabis can help treat other types of chronic pain,” says Niushen Zhang, one of the researchers working on the project. “However, we found that people who were using cannabis had significantly increased odds of also having medication overuse headache, or rebound headache, compared to people who were not using cannabis.”