124. Cracking the Code: How to Treat One of the Most Resistant Headaches in Medicine

🧠 Are your patients coming back again and again with chronic headaches that don’t respond to anything you prescribe?
You’re not alone—and neither are they. Over 50% of patients presenting with headaches suffer from this refractory, misunderstood condition that can feel impossible to treat.

In this episode, I’ll walk you through how to confidently diagnose, manage, and finally treat medication overuse headache (MOH)—one of the most common but overlooked contributors to chronic headache and migraine presentations.

As a quadruple board-certified physician and academic headache specialist, I’ve seen hundreds of patients who were stuck in the endless loop of rebound headaches. But once you know how to spot it—and more importantly, how to guide your patient through detox and recovery—you can completely change the trajectory of their health and quality of life.

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🎯 In this episode, you’ll learn:

✅ How to diagnose MOH—including key patterns, red flags, and how to differentiate it from chronic migraine, tension-type headache, or post-traumatic headache.

✅ What to avoid—the well-meaning mistakes even seasoned clinicians make that can keep patients in the MOH cycle.

✅ The Best Method I've Found That Works—discover which medication and supplements can ease the frequency and intensity of headaches during and after the withdrawal phase.

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👩‍⚕️ Whether you’re a primary care doc, neurologist, pediatrician, nurse practitioner, physical therapist, or integrative provider, you need to know how to treat MOH. It's not rare. It’s not niche. And it’s definitely not hopeless.

🎙️ Listen in and take the first step toward becoming the clinician who finally helps your toughest headache patients feel better—and stay better.

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💡 If you're ready to master this skill and elevate your headache treatment game, this episode is your essential clinical playbook.

🔔 Subscribe, like, and share this episode with a colleague who’s ready to stop chasing symptoms and start transforming outcomes.

DISCLAIMER:

Anna Esparham, M.D.is a medical doctor, but she is not your doctor, and she is not offering medical advice on this podcast: “Doctor Anna, MD”. If you are in need of professional advice or medical care, you must seek out the services of your own doctor or health care professional.

This podcast provides information only, and does not provide any financial, legal, medical or psychological services or advice. None of the content on this podcast prevents, cures or treats any mental or medical condition. You are responsible for your own physical, mental and emotional well-being, decisions, choices, actions and results. “Doctor Anna, MD” owned by Health Is PowHer, LLC disclaims any liability for your reliance on any opinions or advice contained in this podcast.