Miss Val,

While there's no one "best" medication, I can offer you informtion on several medications that you can discuss with your doctors as well as some Migraine disease management tips.

Migraine disease management consists of five parts:

1) Correct diagnosis of the type of Migraine and finding a good doctor to work with.

2) Trigger identification and management. This is crucial. Some triggers can be managed or avoided to help us have fewer Migraines. Do you know what any of your triggers are? When working to identify triggers, one of the best tools for identifying triggers is a good Migraine diary. You can download a free diary workbook from our article Your Migraine and Headache Diary. Some of us have food triggers; some of us don't. It's advisable to determine if your daughter does, and an elimination diet is the best way to do that. For more information and a workbook on this, see Managing Migraine - Migraine Trigger Foods.

3) Preventive therapies if we have three or more Migraines a month. There's growing evidence that Migraine is a progressive brain disease. A recent study showed that Migraines can cause brain damage, and that people with three or more Migraines a month are more susceptible to this damage. For more information, see Is Migraine a Progressive Brain Disease? and Yes, Migraines Can Cause Brain Damage. There are now over 100 medications and supplements that can be used for Migraine and headache prevention. The frustration of trying to find what works for us can make it seem as if we've tried it all, but with so many possible preventives, it's literally impossible to have tried them all. See Migraine preventive medications - too many options to give up! for more information.

4) Abortive medicatons. Abortive medications include the seven triptans, ergotamines such as DHE and Migranal, Midrin, and a new medication -- Treximet - that's a combination of Imitrex and naproxen sodium.

5) Rescue medications - pain medications to be used with the abortive medications fail or can't be used for some reason.

Even though you can't take Imitrex, there are six other triptans you can try -- Maxalt, Zomig, Amerge, Relpax, Axert, and Frova. Your doctor should have samples of these, and when you're allergice to one triptan, some doctors have you take the first dose in their office, whether you have a Migraine or not -- so they can see how your body reacts to them.

As mentioned above, there are now over 100 medications being used as preventives, so even without considering Depakote or antidepressants, there are still many, many options.

If your doctor isn't able to help you, it may well be time to consult a Migraine and headache specialist. It's important to note that neurologists aren't necessarily Migraine and headache specialists. Take a look at the article Migraine and Headache Specialists - What's So Special? If you need help finding a Migraine specialist, check our listing of Patient Recommended Migraine and Headache Specialists.

Hope this helps!

Teri Robert