It goes without saying that preventing some disaster is usually easier than eliminating the consequences of it. It is especially important for certain health disorders, which are not curable for the time being, and it is much more effective to take certain steps to prevent the recurrences of the disorder than to fight the symptoms in progress.
Migraine is an example of health disorder, where the management strategy includes both abortive and preventive means. Abortive treatment, also known as acute treatment, aims at stopping migraine attack that has already begun. Preventive or prophylactic treatment options are usually used in order to reduce the frequency and severity of migraine attacks in future.
In fact, the situation with migraine treatment may be compared with fire safety: you can always keep a fire extinguisher in your room for emergency cases and, of course, you can regularly follow certain rules, like to keep electric wiring in proper condition and does not forget to switch off the electric iron before going to the pub. In this example, fire extinguisher may be compared to the abortive migraine treatments, which become helpful in case of emergency (migraine attack); and following fire safety rules is somewhere close to preventive migraine treatments, which are used in order to lower the risks of emergency cases.
Speaking about the abortive treatment of migraine attacks, it should be noted that there are many medications designed for his purpose. They include pain-killers (usually non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications and rarely opiates), butalbital combinations, anti-nausea medications, ergots and triptans.
These medications are to be taken during the migraine attacks or after the appearance of its forerunning symptom – aura. Of course, effectiveness of the said treatment options, as well as their safety, depends much on the particular medication used. Nowadays triptans (Maxalt, Amerge, Zomig, Axert, Frova and Relpax) are gaining their popularity as the most effective and safe options against migraine attacks.
Triptans are the most brand-new medications with mild side effects, such as nausea, dizziness or muscle weakness. However, such statement should not lull the vigilance of a patient, because all the medications even those that are claimed to be the newest and safest, may cause adverse reactions; in order to avoid them one should carefully follow the directions on the medication label and in the doctor’s prescription.
Preventive treatment options are mostly recommended for those people, who suffer from severe migraine attacks two times or more per month. These medications are usually taken regularly on a daily basis or a doctor may recommend taking them in advance before the approaching of certain trigger of migraine attacks (for example, menstruation in women).
Antidepressants, such as Pamelor and Vivactil, certain blood pressure lowering medications, such as Inderal, Covera, Isoprin and Calan, anti-seizures drugs (Topamax and Neurontin), and Cyproheptadine medications are most commonly used for migraine prevention. Evaluating risks and benefits of any of the said medications is especially important here; hence choosing the appropriate medication for preventing migraine attacks should be done by a qualified doctor after careful examination of a patient.
Well, now with the basic information on migraine treatment options, described above, it is up to you and your doctor (surely, if it is you who suffers from migraines) to decide what to do with the migraine attack – to abort or to prevent…
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