Medication For Migraine

Medication for Migraine: What Are Your Choices

A migraine headache is not something people want to endure often, though persons with chronic migraine headaches used to do just that. Now the person with a migraine has choices and medication for migraine need not just consist of a cold cloth and lavender oil or an aspirin.

Chronic migraine headaches can be debilitating and for some people – very frequent. Narcotics were an inadequate answer for a person with a migraine headache since the whole idea was to function and be pain free and any narcotic can be addictive if used in excess. This brought about a completely new line in research and new medication for migraines and new choices for those with chronic migraine headaches.

A migraine headache often shows up in adolescence and continues until around age 60 for those with chronic migraines. Most persons with migraine headaches would only have the choice of aspirin or a trip to the hospital and strong narcotics as recently as 30 years ago.

This has changed immensely though and now the thrust is toward preventing the full-blown migraine headache by avoiding triggers and using interrupting or abortive medication designed to kill the pain and stop the cycle.

Medication for migraine headaches is becoming increasingly more sophisticated and directed to the problems associated with migraine headaches.

Serotonin appears to be low in some people with chronic migraines so some abortive types of (interrupts the migraine before it grows too large) medication for migraines are Triptans, which work on the serotonin level.

This is not a narcotic nor is it an effective painkiller for other types of pain other than headache but is proving to be effective as a medication that works for migraines. Other medications used to interrupt the migraine headache are acetaminophen-isometheptene-dichloralphenazone, dihydroergotamine and ergotamine tartrate.

Sometimes a migraine will progress too far to be interrupted and in that case, palliative medications are used to help relieve the symptoms. The most obvious of course is the headache pain but nausea is another uncomfortable migraine headache symptom that is addressed by specific medication.

A prophylactic (preventative) approach to migraine headaches is taken when the migraine episodes are several times a month and interfere with the individual’s quality of life and vocation or schooling.

The migraine prevention is often a drug that has been used for another purpose but is effective in preventing chronic migraines. It is important if preventative medication is prescribed that it be taken only as directed by the physician and exactly as directed to be safe and effective.

Though options have grown immensely in what medication for headaches is available one of the most effective treatments at this time for migraine headaches is the identification and avoidance of migraine headache triggers.

With some relatively simple lifestyle changes, regular sleep patterns, moderate exercise and a proper diet many persons who experience migraines can greatly reduce the occurrence without excessive need for medication.

In more severe cases or when a migraine episode gains too much of a foothold the newer medication for migraine headaches are injectable or inhalable which increases their efficiency immensely and control the pain much more quickly.

The days when the only medication for migraine pain was aspirin and a dark room are long past and now a person who experiences migraine headaches can look forward to pain free days.

Migraine Medications

Certain conditions that tend to aggravate the pain being experienced by a migraine sufferer make it more difficult for him to function properly.

Bright glaring lights and loud blaring noises tend to intensify the head pain, thus the need to take migraine medications arises.

However, caution should be observed when taking drug based migraine medications. One has to consider the frequency and the severity of migrane attacks in order to determine the type of migraine medications to ingest. For those suffering only occasional migraines, simple non-prescription medications will suffice to alleviate the discomforts present during the migraine episode.

Difference between abortive and preventive migraine medications

For a deeper understanding of drug based migraine medications, it would be worthwhile to know that they are classified into two categories: the abortive medication and the preventive medication. The abortive medications are taken to provide relief from migraine already in progress in a person while the preventive medications are taken regularly and on a daily basis to prevent the onset of migraine in a person.

Hence, for persons suffering from migraine headache attacks whether mild or severe, abortive migraine medications are to be taken to lessen the discomfort of the pain brought by the disorder.

Effective abortive migraine medications

The most common of these abortive medications are aspirin, naproxen and ibuprofen, which are further classified as non-prescription drugs or over-the-counter medicines.

On the other hand, common abortive medications that require prescriptions include Triptans, Ergots and also Midrin. To get a prescription one has to go to the doctor. He will check and classify the migraine type and make sure that the right medicine will be taken.

The matter of preventive medicines is much more complex in the sense that there are many types of preventive medications to choose from. In determining which one to choose, its proven ability to effectively prevent the onset of migraine attacks should be considered.

Effective preventive migraine medications

Included under this type are the beta blockers, a migraine medication proven to be effective in preventing migraines since they are used for cardio or heart protection.

The tricyclic anti-depressants, which are also proven effective for migranes since they are used to treat patients suffering from clinical depression

Anti-convulsants, its relevance of success is used to treat patients with epileptic disorders; and the serotonin antagonists, drugs that effectively prevent migrane as treatment for patients with behavioral or psychotic tendencies such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Hence, it is not uncommon to resort to preventive migrane medication since migraine’s control and prevention will not only provide relief but will likely prevent the onset of other disorders as well.

Consulting your doctor for proper migraine medications will ascertain the real causes for these migraine attacks.