Preventive medicines for migraine

Preventive medicines for migraine are medicines you take regularly to help prevent migraine attacks. They aim to reduce how many migraine attacks you get and how severe they are.

When to take preventive medicines

Preventive medicines may help if:

• you are having frequent migraine attacks (eg, four or more days with migraine a month)
• migraine is having a big impact on your daily life
• acute medicines are not helping, even at the maximum doses you can tolerate

you are regularly taking acute medicines on more than two days a week.

Talk to your GP to discuss whether preventive medicines would be a good option for you.

Choosing a preventive medicine

There are several different types of preventive migraine medicine. We list these on the next page. Your doctor will assess several things when deciding which medicine to prescribe. These include:

• whether you have any other health conditions
• if you are taking any other medicines
• the side effects associated with the medicines

other reasons that may prevent you from taking a medicine, such as pregnancy.

You should also have a say in which medicines you would prefer to take.

Taking a preventive medicine

• You will often start with a low dose of your medicine, with a plan to increase it if needed. This can help to minimise side effects. It can take up to eight weeks to see any impact from the medication. Ideally, you should take a preventive for at least three months to assess if it has helped.

If your preventive migraine medication is not helping, talk to your doctor. They can review whether they may be able to increase your dose or try a different treatment. They may also suggest a combination of treatments.