The Best Medications for Treating and Stopping Migraines

Although there is no cure for migraines, you can often reduce and possibly prevent some migraines. Drugs are available to prevent or treat migraines. There is some evidence that taking aspirin along with a drug that helps with nausea, such as metoclopramide (for example, Reglan), may help reduce migraine symptoms.

You may also reduce the number of migraines you have by identifying and avoiding triggers that lead to migraines, such as drinking red wine or getting too much or too little sleep.

Initial treatment
At first you may use pain relievers that you can buy without a prescription, such as acetaminophen (for example, Tylenol), and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin, ibuprofen, or naproxen sodium, to reduce migraine symptoms. Some doctors recommend that you first try an NSAID to see whether it reduces pain before trying abortive or preventive drugs, which may have more side effects.

Initial treatment depends on how severe your migraine attacks are and how often they occur, but usually includes drugs to stop a headache (abortive) or drugs to prevent a headache (preventive), along with treatments that may reduce stress.

The most commonly used abortive drugs are:

• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as aspirin, some of which you can buy without a prescription.
• Triptans (serotonin receptor agonists). These are usually the first type of prescription medicines tried to quickly stop a migraine attack.
• Ergotamine derivatives, such as Cafergot, although these medications may not be as effective as triptans for treating migraines.
• Midrin, which is a combination of the drugs isometheptene, acetaminophen, and dichloralphenazone.

The most commonly used preventive drugs—used to avoid or reduce the frequency of migraine attacks—include:

• Beta-blockers, which relax blood vessels.
• Calcium channel blockers, which reduce the amount of narrowing (constriction) of the blood vessels.
• Antidepressants, such as amitriptyline, a tricyclic antidepressant, which has been shown to be effective in preventing migraines.
• Anticonvulsants, such as topiramate, which is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for preventing migraines.