Migraines affect one in 10 people

Following our previous programme on the abuse of everyday painkillers, the BBC received over 3,000 calls from people wanting help.

We showed how, for people like Janet Richardson from Leeds, what started as a way to fight migraines became an addiction.

"You associate drug problems with drug addicts," she said, "and for someone to tell me that you are now an addict, you are a little bit ashamed."

With over 50 brands of painkillers on the market, the industry is booming. The medication is sold as an instant cure but some of the drugs contain codeine which can be dangerous.

When I saw the lady, it struck me how much of what she said was me. She had a problem and she took 10 a day and I take 20 a day Real Story viewer Derek Hartshorne

"Some of the medications used in the UK have an addictive quality," said Professor Peter Goadsby, of the headache research unit at London's Institute of Neurology.

"Those that contain codeine in particular act in the same part of the brain and have the same degree of addictive potential but are still freely available."

Taken at the advised quantities and for a short period of time, the tablets are not dangerous - but for 30,000 in the UK, they have become an addiction.

Derek Hartshorne from Wakefield, Yorkshire is one of the many people who contacted the programme.

He told us: "When I saw the lady, it struck me how much of what she said was me. She had a problem and she took 10 a day and I take 20 a day.

"I thought the problem is really there and it's time that I did something about it."

For help and advice about medication overuse headaches and addiction to pain relief tablets, you may wish to contact the organisations listed in the website links on the right.

Real Story: BBC One, Monday 24 May 2004, 1930 BST and live on the Real Story website.