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Medication Headaches

Many drugs can induce acute headache, including nitroglycerin, antihypertensive agents (beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme [ACE] inhibitors, and methyldopa), dipyridamole, hydralazine, sildenafil, histamine receptor antagonists (e.g., cimetidine and ranitidine), NSAIDs (especially indomethacin), cyclosporine, and antibiotics (especially amphotericin, griseofulvin, tetracycline, and sulfonamides).

Drug-induced aseptic meningitis, a rare occurrence, has numerous possible causes, including NSAIDs, antibiotics (e.g., trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, sulfasalazine, cephalosporins, ciprofloxacin, isoniazid, and penicillin), intrathecal drugs and diagnostics (e.g., antineoplastic agents such as methotrexate and cytarabine; gentamicin; corticosteroids; spinal anesthesia; baclofen; repeated iophendylate for myelography; and radiolabeled albumin); intraventricular chemotherapy; intravenous immunoglobulin; vaccines (polio; measles, mumps, and rubella; and hepatitis B); and some other drugs, such as carbamazepine, muromonab-CD3, and ranitidine.43

Recommended Related to Migraines/Headaches

Identifying Food Triggers for Migraines

As headaches go, migraines are in a league of their own. Migraines typically produce pulsating pain on one side of the head. That can lay you low for up to 72 hours. About 20% of people with migraines have headaches preceded by aura, which can include: blinking lights blurred vision blind spots or zigzags in your field of vision Aura may also include numbness or tingling on one side of the body. Aura without head pain is also a form of migraine. Migraines are often prompted by one...

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The clinical presentation of drug-induced aseptic meningitis is the same as that of viral meningitis. Cerebrospinal fluid findings are the same as those in viral meningitis, except for a neutrophil predominance; however, in cases induced by intravenous immunoglobulin, eosinophils are present.

WebMD Medical Reference from WebMD Scientific American Medicine

Reviewed by Lily Jung, MD on December 01, 2006
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