Migraine Treatments - What Options Do You Have?

Like most diseases and conditions these days the question isn't whether or not you can find a treatment. Nope. The question is which treatment do you pick from the dozens or hundreds that you find on the shelves. The first thing is to try to judge how severe your migraine is. Now I know this isn't easy because the first migraine anybody gets seems like the worst headache they've ever had (which isn't true I'm afraid).

How can you judge this? Well if you're using over-the-counter migraine treatments like codeine, ibuprofen, solpadeine, paracetamol or aspirin to treat your migraines successfully then you're in the lucky group of people who don't suffer from severe migraine headaches.

If you're tried OTC treatments and they're pretty much useless then you'll need to take the next step and look at the different types of medication you can use for a migraine attack. Or you might be more interested in natural migraine treatments instead.

Abortive Migraine Medication

Triptans
Zomig, Maxalt, Amerge and Imitrex. These were hailed as miracles drugs by migraine sufferers because they do seem to be very effective in killing the pain and easing the symptoms of the migraine overall.

Ergotamine (Ergots)
These act by decreasing your serotonin levels and narrowing the swollen blood vessels causing the pain of the headache. Ergots should be taken with caution and under strict medical supervision because they affect blood vessels in your body.

Migranal
This is ideal for somebody who can't take Triptans (for whatever reason) and works in pretty much the same way.

Tylenol and Excedrin
These are based on acetaminophin and aim to increase your ability to deal with the pain of the migraine. Avoid taking anything with acetaminophin in it unless you have to - you can suffer from "withdrawal" headaches otherwise.

NSAID (Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs)
The main thing to watch out for with NSAIDS (ibuprofen, naproxen,fenoprofen) is that you don't take them unless you have to. Otherwise you can wind up with a headache caused by your body becoming a bit dependant on them. NSAIDS raise your pain threshold so you're better able to deal with a migraine attack. Also don't combine one type of NSAID with another and they should also be avoided if you are pregnant or are trying to become pregnant.

Codeine, Demerol and Stadol
These are the heavy weights of migraine painkillers but can be both addictive and can cause damage to your body with extended use. Ideally you should only use these when you get migraines now and again but they're severe. These aren't for mild migraines - only for the most painful examples.

Preventative Migraine Medication

Beta Blockers
Blocadren, Toprol and Corzide are good examples of Beta blockers. They work in a number of ways but the main thing they do is stop the arteries in your head from swelling and causing that sickening pain. They also prevent the platelets in your blood from clumping together to form blood clots - which means blood flows more freely through blood vessels during a migraine attack.

Antidepressants
Because these types of medication can have an effect on serotonin levels they can also be useful in treating migraines. Thorazine, Compazine, Tigan and Phenegran are all potential treatments you can discuss with your doctor.

Calcium Channel Blockers
As the name suggests these treatments control the flow of calcium into the blood vessels. This basically takes the workload off your heart and increases the supply of blood and oxygen. These are prescription only treatments and some examples are Bepridil, Felodipine, Nicardipine and Verapamil.

Depakote (Divalproex Sodium)
This is one of the most promising preventative migraine treatments although it was originally created to treat epilepsy - which are relatively similar diseases. One major warning is that Depakote can't be used while pregnant or while you're trying to get pregnant. Overall Depakote has worked well as a migraine prevention medication.