What Kind Of Migraine Medication and Treatment Should I Take?

For some people, the worst thing about a migraine is not the pain - it’s migraine nausea. Nausea and vomiting are two very distressing symptoms accompanying migraines in some people. About 80% of migraine sufferers get nauseous, but only 30% actually throw up. In rare occasions, a person may vomit so many times they actually become dehydrated. For the type of nausea primarily caused by the brain itself, the activity that causes the migraine also causes the nausea. This is where the “triptan” drugs are used.

Most of the time, simply treating the migraine relieves the nausea. However, the nausea and vomiting may be so bad that it actually prevents a person from taking their migraine relief medications. When this happens the nausea only serves to prolong the agony. One natural method that delivers real benefits is ginger. Taking ginger in the form of tablets or even a tea has been shown to alleviate some of the nausea accompanying a migraine, as well being effective for other conditions, including motion sickness, pregnancy and vomiting after surgery.

There are two types of migraine pain relief: Nausea that’s caused by extreme pain from any source – whether it be from a headache, neck or back pain, or abdominal pain. Nausea produced by the brain sending signals down the vagus nerve into the stomach causing acute queasiness. In the first instance, standard anti-nausea medications may be used to relieve symptoms. These medications may be taken orally as pills - or in severe cases where someone just cannot hold down anything - as rectal suppositories. Answar any of your Migraine and Headache Questions you may have.

Examples of standard anti-nausea medications include:
Phenergan (promethazine hydrochloride)
Thorazine (chlorpromazine)
Compazine (prochlorperazine)
Tigan (Trimetho-benzamide hydrochloride)
Reglan (metoclopramide hydrochloride)
Gravol (dimenhydrinate)
All of the above are available in suppository form except for Reglan.