Other Preventive Medications at a Glance

Other major groups of medication used for the prevention of migraine include:

• Beta-blockers - Typically used for people with high blood pressure and coronary heart disease; may prevent headaches by improving blood flow.
• Calcium channel blockers - Usually prescribed for patients with high blood pressure and coronary heart disease; may help prevent headaches by improving blood flow.
• Antidepressants - Typically used to treat people with depression; may reduce migraine frequency by regulating serotonin levels in the brain.
• Serotonin antagonists - Commonly used to treat migraine attacks after they have started; may reduce attack frequency by affecting serotonin levels in the brain.
• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) - Often used as acute treatments for a wide variety of pain, including migraine, as well as migraine prevention; how these drugs may reduce attack frequency is not known.

Each class of migraine prevention drugs works differently. Just like AEDs, each drug has the potential to make a current medical condition worse, to react with other medications you may be taking, and to cause certain side effects. The following table is designed to provide you with a quick overview of each drug class. Again, it is important to consult with your healthcare provider to find the drug that may be right for you.