When You Are I n Need Of Migraine Relief Where Do You Look?

Migraine headaches are a miserable inconvenience they can turn the holidays into a painful time where every holiday noise becomes an irritation rather than a joyful celebration. No one wants to feel ill during the holidays but chronic migraine sufferers must face the holidays with worry and fear. So what is a person supposed to do when the holidays are approaching and the fear of a migraine attack looms in the back of the patients mind?
Treating migraine headaches can be rather tricky so one must proceed with caution and use good judgment when it comes to seeking out a treatment plan. If you are one of the millions of individuals that suffer with chronic migraines where do you first turn for relief? Most migraine sufferers turn to the use of over the counter medications or some form of prescription medication in hopes of finding some form of migraine relief. Though these options may work for some migraine sufferers they do not always work for every migraine patient nor are they always a safe treatment option.

The Effect Of Prescription Medications

It is important that migraines sufferers realize that medication prescribed for migraine relief is not a cure for migraine headaches themselves but are used for one of two purposes:
1. Relieve Symptoms
2. Prevent Attacks

There are a variety of medications used to treat migraines and each treatment comes with their own side effects so it is important that the migraine sufferer be made aware of the effect prescription medications can have on them.

Prophylactic Medication
The use of prophylactic medication can be somewhat helpful as well in reducing the reoccurrences of migraine headaches. Prophylactic medicine is taken daily as a preventative medication. Prophylactic medication is not effective when taken once a migraine has developed its job if to help reduce migraine frequency not the pain associated with migraines. A few examples of Prophylactic Medication are:

• Beta Blockers
• Calcium-channel Blockers
• Tricyclic Antidepressants
• Antiserotonin Agents
• Anticonvulsants

Speak with your doctor about prophylactic medication and if whether or not he or she feels you would make a good candidate for prophylactic medication treatment.

Prescription medication should be one of the last treatments tried in helping relieve migraine headaches; however, until recent years, migraine sufferers had very few options in relieving their migraine pain. New prescription medication called triptans is now available on the market and is geared toward relieving migraine pressure. Triptans have two important abilities:

1. They are able to constrict blood vessels.
They create an upset in the process which leads into a migraine by disturbing the sequence of chemicals that inflict pain or irritation to the nerves.

Triptans
Triptans are a collection of tryptamine-based drugs. Tryptamine is a monoamine alkaloid that can be found in certain vegetation such as plants, fungi and animals. Triptans are used as a tool to prevent migraines from being successful in completely immobilizing an individual. Triptans consist of:
• Sumatriptan (Imitrex, Imigran, Cinie, Illument, Migriptan)
• Rizatriptan (Maxalt),
• Naratriptan (Amerge, Naramig)
• Zolmitriptan (Zomig)
• Eletriptan (Relpax)
• Elmotriptan (Axert, Almogran)
• Frovatriptan (Frova, Migard, Frovamig)
• Avitriptan

Because of triptans unique ability to attach to the serotonin receptors on the blood vessels and the surrounding nerves, they can help reduce and in some cases completely stop migraine headaches from occurring. We mentioned several triptans and you might be feeling somewhat overwhelmed and unsure as to which one is worth speaking to your doctor about. The most commonly used triptan and the one with the longest use history would be Sumatriptan. Sumatriptan can be taken orally, by injection or through inhalation.

Doctors will not go around prescribing triptans for everyone complaining that they suffer from migraines. Triptans are typically only prescribed to migraine sufferers that experience moderate to severe migraine pain and even then other forms of migraine treatment will be discussed and ruled out before a doctor will recommend or suggest a triptan.
The most common side effects associated with triptans are but not limited to:
• Drowsiness
• Facial Reddening
• Fatigue
• Tightening In The Chest
• Tightening In The Throat
• Dizziness

The role Triptans play in releasing migraine pain is due to the affect triptans have on the restriction of blood vessels or the narrowing of them to prevent them from enlarging and creating migraine pain. Though narrowing is part of their job, it can also have a reverse effect by not only narrowing the arteries in the head but also create a narrowing of the arteries in the heart. This becomes increasingly dangerous for those individuals that have already experienced some form of coronary narrowing. The narrowing caused by the triptans could lead to further narrowing resulting in a heart attack or stroke. Maybe You Should Look Into A Safer Form Of Treatment.

Tags: Acetaminophen (a.k.a. Tylenol), migraine pain, migraine relief, Non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID), over the counter medication, treating migraines