Treatment migraine?

There are different ways to treat migraine. For example, a treatment migraine can consist of taking preventive medication, which you can take to prevent a migraine. There also are different pills which y ou can take to reduce a migraine attack.

A treatment migraine does not only consist of medication. There namely are different tips and tricks which you can apply to prevent migraine or to neutralize an attack. Nowadays there also are non-traditional ways to treat migraine, such as acupuncture. Below, we sum up the different options when it comes to treatment migraine. You can also find tips and tricks here on how to deal with a migraine attack.

Treatment migraine: what can you do yourself?

In another sub page we already discussed how you can prevent migraine yourself, without having to go to a doctor. Knowing causes and risk factors and removing them from your life namely is the first phase in a treatment migraine. Preventing is better than healing. This is something you might want to do at the hand of a migraine diary. After a while you will namely be able to recognize risk factors and causes. It is then also useful to make a list of those and trying to integrate this new knowledge into your daily life.

The second step of a treatment migraine consists of relieving an attack. If you have not managed to prevent the attack, there are different tips and tricks which can relieve your attack. For example, many people are helped by sleeping. Lie down in a dark room and close your eyes. Light, noise, and smells can namely trigger migraine. because you are no longer confronted with these triggers, your head can calm down.

However, migraine does not only consist of headache. There often also are other symptoms, which should be combated in a treatment migraine. Muscular tension can be reduced by, for example, a cherry stone pillow. It often is the neck which tenses up during a migraine attack. A cherry stone pillow can bring relief in that case.

Painkillers?

If you attacks are too intense, you can eventually make use of pain killers to reduce your attack. If you want to use pain killers in treatment migraine, there are some tips and tricks below regarding how to best use them. For example, you can take a medication in the start of your migraine attack which combats vomiting, based on domperidone. This can, for example, help to more easily take up the painkiller.

After 30 minutes you can then take a painkiller. Make sure that you take a suitable dosage. In adults, a suitable dosage for treatment migraine is 1g paracetamol or 1g acetylsalicylic acid. In children, a dosage of paracetamol can also be given, appropriate for their age. Always make sure to carefully read the package insert before you take the medication. It can namely be so that you may not combine it with other medication which you take, or that it has certain side effects.

Important in treatment migraine is that you do not take painkillers on a daily basis. This can namely cause certain side effects and in some cases it might even cause or worsen your migraine. Because of this, it is best to discuss your dosage and use with a healthcare provider, even when it regards medication which you can get without a prescription.

Notifying others?

It can also be useful to let others know that you have migraine. Not everyone is used to the symptoms of migraine. Your explanation can therefore help. This way, they can support you in a better way and help you if you have a migraine attack.

Keeping going?

Do you have migraine? Then there is no use to keep pushing against a migraine attack. You might not always be able to go to a dark room when you are in school or at work, for example, but if you have the change, do not try to stay 'strong'. By constantly pushing yourself, chances are that your complaints worsen and that you make yourself more vulnerable.

Treatment migraine: professional non-medicinal treatment?

As mentioned earlier, there are different ways to treat migraine without medication. Whether this type of treatment works, of course partially depends on what the causes of your migraine are. In many cases, stress is an important factor, for example. In that case it is useful to have treatment migraine including techniques helping you to deal with stress. By actively learning how to handle stress you can eliminate risk factors rather than suppress them.

How do I include stress reducing techniques in my treatment migraine? Scientific research shows that therapy and accompanying relaxation techniques have a very good influence on the reduction of stress. During this therapy you namely learn how to avoid unhealthy stress in your life and how to deal with stressful situations. Stress can namely have a large influence on your immune system and muscular tension, which are some of the most important risk factors of migraine. It thus is useful to include stress reducing techniques in a treatment migraine.

There are different centers and types of healthcare providers who offer stress reducing techniques. For example, you can go to a psychologists or eventually follow stress reducing workshops. You can also make use of the online self-help program by "15Minutes4Me.com". This program was developed by doctors and psychologists and is based on cognitive behavioral therapy and solution focused therapy. The program contains relaxation techniques and gives you insight in the mechanism of stress. The program thereby helps you in fifteen minutes per day to be able to withstand stress. Recent research shows that participants experience 70% less stress after having followed the online program "15Minutes4Me.com" for one month.

Treatment migraine: medicinal treatment?

A treatment migraine often consists of taking medication. For example, there is medication which prevents an attack, and medication which relieves an attack. In many cases, medication is first prescribed in low dosages, so that heavier dosages can be taken in case the low dose is not enough.

Preventive treatment migraine?

This type of medication has the function of preventing attacks. They are often used in treatment migraine, often combined with medication, to take during an attack.. The most well-known preventive treatment migraine consists of beta blockers such as:

• Propranolol
• Atenolol
• Timolol
• Metaprolol

If these beta blockers cannot be used or only have little or unwanted effects, there also are other types of medication which can be used in a preventive treatment migraine:

• Sodium valproate
• Amitriptyline
• Flunarizine
• Pizotifen

These last two can cause very serious side effects, however.

Attack treatment migraine?

Below we provide an overview of medication use in treatment migraine, going from low dosages to heavier medication.

First step in treatment migraine?

Second step in treatment migraine?

Third step in treating migraine?

As the final step, medication on the basis of the following substances are often used in a treatment migraine:

• Triptan
• Ergotamine
• Antiemetic

Triptan is preferably not taken combined with the following medications:

• SSRI's
• Serotonergic TCAs
• St. John's wort
• MAO inhibitors