Migraine Tablets and Over-The-Counter Relief

Migraines are often debilitating and have an adverse effect on your daily life. If you're not sure which over-the-counter pain relief tablets are best for you, read on to find out more about migraine and how pain relief works.

Migraines are not only painful, but for many people they disrupt everyday life and make even the simplest tasks difficult.

If you have seen your GP about your migraines, then it is likely you have been prescribed medication. This is to help control the frequency of attacks and the pain and nausea that comes with a migraine.

Others though prefer to rely on treatments available from the pharmacy. But with so many options available it can be difficult to know what to buy to treat your migraine effectively.

To help you make the right choice we are going to explain some of the most common ingredients found in migraine tablets, what they do and when they should be used.

What is a migraine?

Although Migraine is a headache, it is not like a common tension headache. People with migraine will usually experience strong, throbbing headaches on one side of the head. Many people also experience nausea or vomiting and many, are also sensitive to sounds and light.

For example, if you have a migraine you may need to lie down in a darkened room where you can avoid conversation and background noise.

Doctors and scientists don’t fully understand why some people have migraines, although a genetic link is recognised.

However, doctors think you get a migraine when the nerves in your brain are being over sensitive. This means when the nerves are triggered by things like, hunger, fatigue, lack of sleep, hormonal changes or stress they become over stimulated and cause a migraine attack.

What are the symptoms of migraine?

According to the National Migraine Centre there can be four stages of a migraine attack. But not everyone will experience all four stages.

Hours or days before an attack you might experience mood swings or cravings for cheese or chocolate. Yawning a lot is also a common sign that a migraine is on its way.
If you have migraine with aura, then this will begin just before the headache and can last between 15 minutes and an hour. Common aura symptoms are zig zag patterns or lights across your eyes, tingling in your hands and fingers, difficulty talking or using the right words and dizziness.
The migraine headache usually presents itself on one side of your face, commonly above your eye. It is often described as a thumping pain, and it can last anywhere from a few hours to a few days.

It often takes one or two days to recover from a bad migraine as people feel fatigue and weakness.

What tablets are available at the pharmacy?

There are a variety of migraine tablets on the market. One of the most common is Nurofen, but there are other brands each with ingredients designed to relieve the pain of a migraine headache.

What are the most common ingredients in a migraine tablet?

The ingredients vary from brand to brand. But most brands available without prescription use one or more of the following ingredients:

Ibuprofen Lysine – This is an anti-inflammatory medicine which blocks the set of chemicals that produce prostaglandins (which cause pain). Taking ibuprofen as soon as you feel a headache coming on may help to reduce the pain of a migraine attack.

Paracetamol – Paracetamol, like ibuprofen, blocks the chemical messengers telling the body there is pain. People who have high blood pressure, heart or kidney failure or a stomach ulcer should use paracetamol rather than ibuprofen. Paracetamol doesn’t irritate the stomach lining, cause fluid retention or effect your blood pressure.

Co-Codamol – Co-codamol is a mixture of paracetamol and codeine. People usually take this type of medication when ibuprofen doesn’t work. But it isn’t suitable for everyone and it’s important to talk to your doctor or pharmacist if you have any other health conditions like epilepsy, or those that effect your breathing. Only the lowest dose of co-codamol is available without prescription as co-codamol can be addictive.

Sumatriptan – Sumatriptan is a triptan. It is used especially for people with migraine. It works by reducing the pain signals from your cranial nerves and stop the release of the proteins that cause pain. For many people, sumatriptan is more effective than other medications.

Caffeine – Caffeine is an ingredient in some migraine tablets tablets. This is because research has shown that caffeine can help to make pain feel less intense. It also boosts absorption to bring faster pain relief.

Buying over-the-counter migraine tablets

When you come into the pharmacy for migraine relief tablets you can talk to a member of staff about the brands available and get help choosing the tablet that suits you best.