Migraine is a very common medical condition. Migraine headaches are the second most common cause for work absences secondary only to low back pain. Unfortunately migraine is the most prevalent in the working population age group. Fortunately many new migraine treatments have been developed. The newest migraine medication that has been FDA approved is Treximet. Treximet is a combination medication. It has Imitrex with RT technology in combination with naproxen sodium (the active ingredient in Aleve.) Imitrex was the first drug in the class of triptan medications that are migraine treatment specific. Studies have shown that the Treximet formulation of the two component drugs is more effective in migraine treatment than with either drug alone. Overall, Treximet has about a 10% greater effectiveness in stopping a migraine attack with the first dose, over either of the other migraine drugs, taken alone or together.
There are several other migraine treatment medications including Maxalt, Zomig, Relpax, Frova, Amerge and Axert. All of these medications are “designer drugs” formulated specifically to treat an acute migraine attack. The most important step for any patient who suffers from headaches is to get in to see a headache specialist. Migraine and headache treatment has become a specialized area in neurology. Neurologists who treat migraine, cluster and other headache disorders take a different approach to treatment of headaches and improving the patient’s quality of life. For additional information on migraine and headache treatment click here.