Migraines affect close to 30 million people in the United States. Triptans and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are the most commonly used medications to treat migraines. Other options such as migranol, lydocaine and fioricet can be tried if NSAIDS or triptans do not work.
NSAIDS
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen and naproxen are one option. Some research shows that these are just as effective as triptans and do not have the same side effects.
Triptans
Triptans are a class of drugs designed to break, or abort, migraines. Treximet, sumatriptan, frovatriptan, naratriptan, almotriptan, eletriptan, zolmitriptan and rizatriptan are the different triptans available. They should be taken at the onset of a migraine to be the most effective.
Migranol
Migranol is a nasal spray form of dihydroergotamine (DHE) mesylate. DHE is an effective alternative for people who do not obtain relief from triptans. Because of drug interactions, migranol cannot be taken within 24 hours of using a triptan.
Lidocaine
Lidocaine is an anesthetic. When used for migraines, it will numb the head and block the pain. A doctor can prescribe a nasal form to use at home.
Fioricet
A combination drug called Fioricet contains butalbital, caffeine and acetaminophen. This is an effective medication to break migraines and headaches. Doctors tend to be hesitant to prescribe it because it can be addictive.
References
- Pain; Pharmacological treatments for acute migraine: quantitative systematic review; Anna D. Oldman, Lesley A. Smith; Henry J. McQuay, R. Andrew Moore; 2002
- Medical Journal of Australia; Migraine prophylaxis; Richard J. Start and Catherine D. Stark; September, 2008
- Medscape General Medicine; Lysine Clonixinate vs Naproxen Sodium for the Acute Treatment of Migraine: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Crossover Study; Abouch Valenty Krymchantowski, Patricia Peixoto, Rafael Higashi, Ariovaldo Silva Jr., Vivian Schutz; December, 2008
