Melatonin does seem to help prevent migraine headaches according to a new study by Brazilian researchers just presented at the annual scientific meeting of the American Academy of Neurology. In my previous post over two years ago I wrote about a negative study that showed no benefit from 2 mg of extended release melatonin given to 46 migraine sufferers. This new study was also blinded and it compared 3 mg of immediate release melatonin with placebo and with 25 mg of amitriptyline, which is one of the oldest preventive drugs for migraines.
This was a larger study – it involved 196 patients who suffered from 2-8 attacks of migraine with or without aura each month. The number of headache days dropped by 2.7 days in the melatonin group, 2.18 for amitriptyline, and 1.18 for placebo. Melatonin significantly reduced headache frequency compared to placebo, but not to amitriptyline. Not surprisingly, melatonin was better tolerated then amitriptyline. Considering its safety and very low cost, it is worth considering a trial of 3 mg of melatonin for the prevention of migraine headaches. Some studies have suggested that taking a much smaller dose of 0.3 mg (300 mcg) of melatonin may be more effective for insomnia than taking a much larger dose. It would be interesting to see if this also applies to the treatment of migraine headaches.
