How to treat a migraine
You can treat migraines in many different ways, including painkillers that you get over-the-counter, such as paracetamol and ibuprofen, prescription medication from your doctor, and lifestyle changes. You can also take medication (called anti-emetics) to help with the nausea and sickness that often come with a migraine.
Here at Superdrug Online Doctor, we can help you order prescription migraine treatment online. After completing a short online form about your symptoms, one of our doctors will review your answers and can issue you with a prescription if appropriate, which is then delivered quickly to an address of your choice.
Over-the-counter painkillers
Over-the-counter painkillers include paracetamol, aspirin, and ibuprofen. Take some of these as soon as you have signs of getting a migraine so there is time for your body to absorb them. If you wait until the headache worsens, it can be too late for the medication to work effectively.
Tablets that dissolve in water can stop the pain more quickly as the medication is absorbed more rapidly into the body, and are a good choice for anyone who suffers from nausea or vomiting.
Be careful if you take painkillers regularly to ease the pain of a migraine, as this can lead to a medication overuse headache. Doctors recommend not taking painkillers for headaches more than 15 days per month. Talk to your doctor if you are worried about your use of painkillers.
Triptans
Triptans are prescription medications used to treat migraines. They come as tablets, an injection, or a nasal spray. You may also hear them called 5-HT1 agonists. Triptans work by stimulating serotonin production to constrict blood vessels and stop the headache within 30 mins to an hour of taking them.
Here at Superdrug Online Doctor, we have the following triptans available:
- Sumatriptan – tablets taken once to relieve migraine
- Imigran Nasal Spray – nasal spray used once to relieve migraine
- Migraitan Tablets
- Maxalt Melt Tablets
- Buccastem M
- Imigran Recovery
Take triptans only once you have the symptoms of a migraine, not just when you get signs of an oncoming migraine, like aura. If you take them too early, they can be less effective.
You can take triptans alongside over-the-counter painkillers and anti-sickness medications. Like other painkillers, getting medication overuse headaches from taking triptans is possible. Talk to your doctor if you take them more than 10 days a month. You may need to consider alternatives.
Gepants
Gepants are another type of medication that doctors can prescribe to treat migraines. They work differently from triptans because they do not tighten the blood vessels, making them a suitable treatment for people with heart-related conditions.
Gepants are a new treatment for migraine so there is less research into them than there is for triptans, but clinical studies so far show that they cause fewer side effects. These studies indicate that gepants work to stop migraine headaches within two hours of taking them.
At Superdrug Online Doctor, we can provide Vydura. Vydura is the brand name for rimegepant, which is a gepant.
Preventative medication
Doctors can prescribe medication to help prevent migraines. They usually only consider this if you are getting frequent migraines (more than 1 per week) despite avoiding possible triggers.
There are different options available, including beta blockers and calcium channel blockers. It can take a few weeks to determine the correct dose and whether the medication is suitable. We currently do not offer preventative migraine treatment at Superdrug Online Doctor.
What is the best treatment for migraine?
The best migraine treatment is often the one you are able to take as soon as you start to get symptoms. If you have to delay treating migraine, the symptoms can worsen. So, keeping your migraine treatment handy so you can take it as soon as you notice symptoms is important.
As with any medication, different people react in different ways to it. Figuring out which migraine treatment works best for you can take time, and you may need to try other options. You may also find that a treatment that works for you at one point does not work at another.
Talk to your doctor to ensure you understand all your options and what is best for your situation, considering any health conditions, your lifestyle, and other medications you’re taking.
Back to top