For those of us with frequent headaches or Migraine attacks, preventive medications are often a good option. Amazingly, the medications used for this purpose were all originally developed for other conditions then found to be effective as headache and / or Migraine preventives. The discovery is often made when patients taking the medications for their original purpose notice a reduction in the frequency of their headaches or Migraines. The list is ever-evolving. Even as I publish this list of medications that I've compiled, there are bound to be some that I've not read or heard about yet.
When you consider the list below and the nearly endless possible combinations of these medications, it's easier to see how headache and Migraine specialists can tell us that effective preventive regimens can now be found for 95-98% of patients.
The vast majority of medications prescribed as preventives are prescribed off-label. That means that although they have been approved by the FDA, they have not been approved specifically for Migraine and headache prevention. Only four medications have been approved specifically for this purpose:
The following medications are being used successfully by some headache and Migraine patients as preventive medications. They're listed first by their generic names, followed by some of their brand names.
ANTIHYPERTENSIVES (blood pressure meds)
Alpha-2 agonists:
- clonidine, aka Catapres
- guanfacine, aka Tenex
ACE Inhibitors:
- benazepril, aka Lotensin
- captopril, aka Capoten
- enalapril, aka Vasotec
- fosinopril, aka Monopril
- lisinopril, aka Zestril, Prinivil
- moexipril, aka Univasc
- perindopril, aka Aceon
- quinapril, aka Accupril
- ramipril, aka Altace
- trandolapril, aka Mavik
Angiotensin II Inhibitors:
- candesartan, aka Atacand
- eprosartan, aka Teveten
- irbesartan, aka Avapro
- losartan, aka Cozaar
- olmesartan, aka Benicar
- telmisartan, aka Micardis
- valsartan, aka Diovan
Beta Blockers:
- acebutolol, aka Secral
- atenolol, aka Tenormin
- betaxolol, aka Kerlone
- bisoprolol, aka Zebeta, Emconcor
- cartelol, aka Cartrol
- carvedilol, aka Coreg
- esmolol, aka Brevibloc
- labetalol, aka Normodyne, Trandate
- metoprolol, aka Lopressor
- nadolol, aka Corgard
- penbutololm aka Levatol
- pindolol, aka Visken, Syn-Pindolol
- propranolol, aka Inderal
- sotalol, aka Betapace
- timolol, aka Blocadren
