Migraine Medications Explained
There are so many migraine medications to choose from! What relieves migraines and what are the main differentials between all of them? This article will serve as your guide as we explain everything about migraine medications such as abortive and painkillers and explain it so you can understand it all.
This article will cover medications made to stop your headache or migraine after it starts. These types of migraine medications are called abortive or acute medicines. These include headache painkillers, specific ones for migraine, others for various types of headache.
Designer or Triptans migraine medications are common brands called Amerge, Maxalt, Zomig, Imitrex and Frova. These medications are made for migraines and have a mechanism of acting on the serotonin receptors. They will ease inflammation and tighten the blood vessels that widen during a migraine attack.
For some individuals, Triptans are miracle drugs and work wonders. Not only are they great at stopping the pain but they also act on other migraine issues such as drowsiness and nausea. Migraine medications such as these can be used orally, through a nasal spray or with an injection.
Painkillers for headaches are also form part of migraine medications. The most well known are Advil, Aspirin, Motrin and Naproxen. These are called NSAID which is short for nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. These drugs target to lessen inflammation and improve pain threshold so you can handle your migraine better.
As with any migraine medications always be sure to check with your doctor about your medical history and any other drugs. This is particularly important with NSAIDs as only one type should be taken at any one time and they can result in what is called a rebound headache. This means your body gets used to the medication and if you don’t take them you may get a headache. You should also not take them if you are pregnant as they can increase the risk of miscarriage. And certain ones taken on a long term basis can result in stomach issues.
The heavyweights of the migraine medications are the narcotics. Such names as codeine, Demerol, Stadol and Dolophine. These are commonly given through injections, although tablets and nasal sprays can also be used.
These powerful medications are given to counter strong pain. They should only be used with the supervision of a doctor and with extreme caution. These are addictive substances and eventually the dose required to relieve your headache needs to be increased and this can do serious damage to your body. These are best reserved for people who suffer infrequent severe migraines or those individuals that end up in hospital with a migraine.
Make sure you talk with your medical doctor about your migraine medications. The above paragraphs discuss abortive therapies, which work once a migraine has begun. But maybe prevention rather than cure would be a better approach? Be sure to investigate how you can prevent a migraine and this may help with decreasing intensity and frequency of attacks.