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Elsewhere
on this website, we discuss the most common medications used to
treat migraine headaches. Let's now examine some others that
are used. Although potentially addicting, narcotics and medicines
containing butalbital are sometimes used for those with migraines.
Because of the potential for addiction, they are normally
not used for an initial treatment. However, they are occasionally
used with patients whose condition fails to respond to the traditional
OTC medicines and yet who are not good candidates for triptans,
either because of pregnancy or risk of stroke and heart attack.
Patients
who suffer from severe nausea sometimes are recommended a treatment
that combines a triptan with an anti-nausea medication. One such
anti-nausea medicine is prochlorperazine, or possibly metoclopramide.
If the nausea is serious enough to make oral medication impractical,
DHE-45, prochlorperazine or valproate might be given intravenously.
In patients
with severe nausea, a combination of a triptan and an anti-nausea
medication, for example, prochlorperazine (Compazine) or metoclopramide
(Reglan) may be used. When nausea is severe enough that oral medications
are impractical, intravenous medications such as DHE-45 (dihydroergotamine),
prochlorperazine (Compazine), and valproate (Depacon) are useful.
Of course,
the best way of treating a migraine is to prevent it in the first
place. Two primary methods of preventing migraines are used.
One is by avoiding the triggers that cause them, and another
is by using preventative medications (prophylactic medicines). Neither
strategy is known to 100 percent effective. However, by practicing
prevantative methods, a person can reduce the frequency of the headaches.
If the first strategy, avoiding triggers, is used, one first has
to understand what a trigger is. Simply put, a trigger is
a factor which causes a migraine headache in a person prone to develop
them. Unfortunately, only the minority of migraine sufferers are
able to clearly identify their triggers. Some triggers might
include sleep disturbances, stress, fasting, bright / flickering
lights, hormones, odors, alcohol, cigarette smoke, aged cheeses,
chocolate, nitrites, monosodium glutamate, aspartame, and caffeine.
In some women, a decline in their blood level of estrogen
while in the onset of menstruation can be a trigger.
Some
people have reported that chocolate is a trigger for migraine headaches,
however scientific evidence has not yet clearly shown a link between
consuming alcohol and headaches. Red wine is a food product
that has been linked with migraines, yet strangely, no such link
has been established with white wine. And finally, monosodium
glutamate is said to cause headaches in some people, as well s facial
flushing and sweating when consumed on an empty stomach in sufficiently
high doses.
The
time period between a trigger and the onset of a migraine can be
anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days. Furthermore,
exposure to the trigger doesn't always bring on a headache. To
complicate matters even more, avoiding the triggers does not always
hold off the migraine headache. Still, by understanding and avoiding
the triggers, one can often--though not always--lower the frequency
of migraine headaches. Speak with a doctor and he might be
able to help you more clearly identify your specific triggers.
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