Relief of Severe or Frequent Migraine Headaches
For most people with
migraines, stronger medications may be necessary to control the pain. In these cases, your healthcare provider may recommend one of three classes of migraine medicines:
- Ergot medications, such as:
- Dihydroergotamine (Migranal®)
- Ergotamine (Bellamine-S®, Cafergot®, Ergomar®)
These medicines must be taken immediately at the beginning of
migraine symptoms in order to have their full effect. While these medicines can limit symptoms, they are not a migraine cure.
A number of these medicines should be used with caution or not at all in people with certain medical conditions, such as
heart disease or a history of a
heart attack or
stroke.
Although several effective
migraine medications are available, oftentimes, people may look for alternative or complementary treatment options for migraine relief. Alternative treatments are approaches that may be used instead of traditional treatments. Complementary treatments, on the other hand, may be used alongside traditional treatments. Some examples of alternative or complementary treatments for migraines that may be recommended include:
Most of these options are used to prevent migraines in the first place, since most have little effect once the
headache begins.
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