Category: Acute Treatment

Gepants: preventives AND an acute treatment for migraine

I heard about gepants, Nurtec, Ubrevly…what are these new medications?   First, let’s say that “gepant” is the name of a class, or a family of medications, a bit like “triptan” or “anti-inflammatory”. At present time, there are three members of this family available in the…

Going to the Emergency Department

Going to the emergency department is usually a challenging experience. This may be the worst place on earth for a person with migraine (apart from a death metal concert). Strong lights, noises, smells. Uncomfortable chairs. Long wait times. A migraine attack might not be a…

The fascinating history of triptans

Did you know that triptans are the grand-children of a fungus?  That’s right. The story of the triptans starts with a fungus that grows on the rye plant. This fungus, Claviceps purpurea, attaches to the rye and forms a shape that resembles the foot of a hen,…

Top Ten Facts of treating the migraine attack

The migraine attack is a chemical and electrical storm in the brain Many zones of the brain are active during an attack. We now have scientific evidence that migraine pain comes from pain nerves around the meninges. The aura is caused by a wave of electricity on…

The Combination Principle

Your migraine attacks just won’t break with one medication? Try two! Some migraine attacks are difficult to treat. The migraine attack is a chemical and electrical storm in the brain that leads to pain and a wide variety of accompanying symptoms (See this post).  The key options…

The Treating Early Principle

My doctor prescribed me medications to treat my migraine attacks…but they don’t work! Sounds familiar? You may be treating your attacks too late.   I have been told to wait until my pain is severe to take my meds. Isn’t that the right thing to do?  No, it’s…

Opioids and migraine: AVOID!

What are opioids? Opioids are painkillers. They act on natural morphine receptors in the brain. Opium, extracted from the poppy plant, is a natural opioid. There are many different synthetic opioids. Name Brand Equivalent of morphine dose Morphine Statex 1 Codeine Empracet (with acetaminophen) 0.15 Oxycodone…

List of acute treatments

The medications discussed here are the migraine medications which are used to treat individual migraine attacks (See this post). They can be divided into broad categories: Analgesics, NSAIDs, Triptans, ergot derivatives, Gepants, Anti-emetics, Cannabinoids and Opioids.  ** We included cannabinoids since people are interested in them, but…

How to use acute treatments for migraine attacks

What are acute treatments for migraine? Acute treatments are medications to help you to break a migraine attack, not to prevent one. These medications are taken as needed when a migraine starts. They are different from preventive treatments, taken  regularly to decrease the frequency of migraines (See…

I have severe attacks, and sometimes I throw up…what can I do?

Many migraine patients will have nausea with at least some attacks, and some will vomit.  Vomiting, especially if it occurs early in the migraine attack, can be a problem because if the patient throws up their medication before it is absorbed into the body, it obviously will…

Dihydroergotamine (DHE) Subcutaneous Injection Guide

The Objective: To learn how to subcutaneously inject a mix of saline (sodium chloride) and DHE to reduce the burning sensation often associated with injecting pure DHE. See our Dihydroergotamine (DHE) Subcutaneous Injection Guide Post#803