What is a migraine? Why migraine happens. Who gets migraines? Treating migraines.

Migraine Medication

 

 

With migraine headaches being such a complex and common problem there's a lot of different types of medication available to treat it. There are three basic categories for the types of medication available to migraine sufferers. These will either prevent the migraine from happening, treat it after it happens and finally those treatments to alleviate the symptoms that migraines bring on.

The Three Types Of Migraine Medication

The three different types of medication available for migraine headaches can be categorized as follows:

Preventive
These medications are designed to prevent a migraine occuring in the first place. Examples are cataflam, lodine and ansaid.

Abortive
These will stop the migraine after it has happened. Examples of these are ibuprofen, ketaprofen, naproxen, ergotamine tartrate, rizatriptan, frovatriptan.

Symptomatic
This type of medication will treat the nausea and vomiting normally associated with most migraines. Examples are thorazine, compazine, tigran, phenergan and reglan.

Triptans are the most commonly prescribed type of medication for migraines are triptans. This covers an entire range of treatments which go to work directly on the blood vessels in the skull to relieve the pressure on them and thereby reduce the pain.

If you're looking for OTC (Over The Counter)medication then Ibuprofen, Tylenol and aspirin are the most common form of OTC medication provided for migraine headaches. These will help with the pain of an existing migraine headache but can also help with the nausea and vomiting experienced also. OTC medication is only recommended for sporadic or short term migraine attacks.

Nasal sprays are also becoming a popular method for treating migraine headaches. Imitrex is one such example of a nasal migraine treatment. The reasoning behind these treatments is that the nasal application puts the medication directly into your bloodstream and also avoids the issue of additinoal vomiting caused by ingesting oral medication.

In the case of severe or ongoing migraines (3 days or more) it's always best to visit your family doctor and check if prescription medication is required. Again personally I've had to follow this route to treat migraines for several years. Fortunately the prescription medication is no longer required as my migraine attacks have dramatically decreased in severity and intensity.

You Should Always Seek A Doctor's Advice

Regardless of the cause or severity of your headache always, always seek professional medical advice before taking any prescription or non-prescription medication to treat a migraine. This is especially true if you're not sure whether or not you have any allergies to medications like Ibuprofen for example.

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