Antimigraine agents

What are Antimigraine agents?

Antimigraine agents are used to treat migraine headaches. Migraines are different from other headaches because they occur with symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, or sensitivity to light. Some people who get migraines have warning symptoms, called an aura, before the actual headache begins. Pain relieving drugs can be taken as soon as the pain begins and include agents in the drug classes such as ergots, triptans and NSAID’s.

Prescription drugs such as sumatriptan (Imitrex, Tosymra) and rizatriptan (Maxalt, Maxalt-MLT) are used to treat migraine because they block pain pathways in the brain. Taken as pills, shots or nasal sprays, they can relieve many symptoms of migraine.

Prescription medications used to treat migraine headaches include triptans such as Sumatriptan (Imitrex), Zolmitriptan (Zomig), Rizatriptan (Maxalt), Almotriptan (Axert), Eletriptan (Relpax), Naratriptan (Amerge), and Frovatriptan (Frova).

The preventive antimigraine medications act by increasing the tone of the extacranial arteries, inhibiting the mechanism of neurogenic inflammation, or inhibiting pain transmission within the central nervous system.

Acetaminophen and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are first-line treatments for mild to moderate migraines, whereas triptans are first-line treatments for moderate to severe migraines. Although triptans are effective, they may be expensive.