Migraine treatment can involve trying to stop or mitigate the headache before it actually arrives, or if necessary, treatment can involve drugs or other types of medical actions to try to ease the headache when it can’t be prevented. One big thrust in treatment in recent years is to advise people to try to discern their own migraine triggers. Some of these are external factors that sufferers can’t control, but if they recognize that certain foods or avoidable conditions tend to bring on a headache, then they can take steps to eliminate those things.

But when the headache strikes, steps need to be taken to bring relief, which is where some migraine drugs enter the picture. The non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen, can help to some degree, though they work only with mild migraines. A group of drugs known as triptans have a better effect as a treatment for migraines, although they too have some limitations and may not work as well with extreme headaches. When heavy duty treatment is needed, doctors may combine medications, such as barbiturates, acetylsalicylic acid (i.e. Aspirin) and caffeine. A Sumatriptan/Naproxen Sodium combination has recently been shown to be very effective.

Migraine treatment is sometimes rather an odd process, perhaps because so many of the symptoms themselves are unusual. No one, for example, would normally expect caffeine to be both a trigger for the headaches and then a potential relief for them. Yet that appears to be the actual case. While caffeine can worsen the widening of blood vessels in the brain that is part of the headache, it can then turn around once the headache is there, and help the stomach absorb medication more quickly. Meanwhile, another odd treatment is botox injections in the scalp. This doesn’t eliminate the causes of the migraine, but prevents tension in the scalp from contributing to the severe headache.

Migraine disease can be treated in other than strictly medical ways as well. Supplements of Coenzyme Q10 have been demonstrated to have good results when used against migraines, and other herbal remedies like fever few appear to work for other people. Even marijuana is known to be effective. There are so many sources of good migraine treatment that every avenue should be explored. After all, with headaches and other symptoms occasionally being quite severe, the migraine patient is not likely to worry too much about where the treatment comes from, as long as it comes from somewhere.

Beth Kaminski is a leading expert in the treating anxiety disorder and has been publishing lots of information on the best anxiety attack medications for years now.