New York Headache blog

Hydrocodone (Vicodin, Lortab, Norco) is an opioid or narcotic pain killer, which should not have much of a role to play in the treatment of migraine headaches. Opioids are much less effective for the treatment of migraines than...

The role of vitamin B12 is underappreciated by many doctors. This week, The Wall Street Journal published a full-page article on vitamin B12 deficiency, which can be of great help to many of the two million readers of this newspaper...

Migraine is rightfully considered a women’s health issue since of the more than 39 million Americans with migraines, 28 million are women. But 11 million is still a lot of men. Unfortunately, men do not seek help as often as...

Haloperidol (Haldol) is a psychiatric drug prescribed for the treatment of schizophrenia, tics in Tourette syndrome, mania in bipolar disorder, nausea and vomiting, delirium, agitation, and acute psychosis. A cases series published...

Granisetron (Kytril, Sancuso) is one of the anti-nausea medications in the family of setrons. Ondansetron (Zofran) and palonosetron (Aloxi) are the other two drugs in this family available in the US. These drugs are approved...

by Molly Rubin, a video journalist at Quartz. Quartz is a digital news site founded by the Atlantic. This is a very well done video news piece on migraines...

Patients suffering from migraine with aura (MA) are at a higher risk of strokes. It is not clear what leads to this problem. Elevated homocysteine level increases the risk of strokes and heart attacks and patients with MA...

Cluster headaches derive their name from the fact that they occur daily for a period of one to several months. It is rarely noted that these cluster periods occur in many patients at the same time. We do not see any cluster patients for...

Galcanezumab (Emgality) was the third drug in the family of CGRP monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to become approved by the FDA for the prevention of migraines. It is more similar to fremanezumab (Ajovy) in its mechanism of action...

Yet another study shows that low vitamin D level predisposes to neurological problems. A report just published in a leading neurology journal, Neurology by British and American researchers shows that low levels of vitamin D are...

Ginger is not only a popular spice, but a truly remarkable medicinal plant. Ginger’s proven anti-inflammatory properties may be responsible for its beneficial effects in migraine patients. Ginger may be effective for the treatment...

Gabapentin (Neurontin) is a drug that was originally developed for the treatment of epilepsy but now it is used for a wide variety of conditions except for epilepsy. It is just not strong enough to control epileptic seizures. Gabapentin...

To be eligible for this study you have to live in NYC or its suburbs and cannot be currently receiving Botox or a CGRP monoclonal antibody, such as Aimovig, Ajovy or Emgality...

Cefaly is a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) device designed to treat migraine headaches by stimulating supraorbital nerves. The device was cleared by the FDA in 2014 for both acute and preventive treatment...

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Several older reports have suggested an association between dry eye disease (DED) and migraine headaches. Researchers at the Univercity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill just published a large and convincing study confirming...

Frovatriptan (Frova) is one of seven drugs in the family of triptans, drugs used to abort a migraine attack. The first drug to receive approval in 1992 was sumatriptan (Imitrex) in an injection form, followed by tablets and nasal spray...

A study just published in Neurology by the MEGASTROKE project of the International Stroke Genetics Consortium found that “genetically higher serum magnesium concentrations are associated with a reduced risk of...

Fremanezumab (Ajovy) is one of the three drugs in the family of CGRP monoclonal antibodies that have been approved for the prevention of migraine headaches. Fremanezumab was approved by the FDA last September...

Having conducted and published research on magnesium and seeing dramatic improvement from magnesium in many of my patients, I try to write about magnesium at least once a year. Up to half of migraine sufferers are...

Flurbiprofen is just another nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug (NSAID), which is reflected in the name of its branded version – Ansaid. All NSAIDs can relieve acute pain of migraine and some have been proven to prevent...

Tosymra is a product that uses a novel way to deliver sumatriptan through the nasal passages. Unlike other nasal formulations of sumatriptan, Tosymra uses proprietary technology, Intravail, which enhances the absorption...

Fluvoxamine (Luvox) is one of the drugs in the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class. Unlike other SSRIs, which are approved for the treatment of anxiety and depression, it is approved for the treatment of obsessive...

Flunarizine (Sibelium) is a calcium channel blocker approved for the preventive treatment of migraines in most countries, except for the US and Japan. In many countries, flunarizine is considered to be a first-line drug for...

I’ve given myself an injection of Ajovy in November and December with some improvement and without constipation which I had from Aimovig. However, Ajovy did not prevent all of my migraines, especially those caused...

Antidepressants are widely used for the preventive treatment of migraine headaches. However, some types of antidepressants are better for this purpose than other. Fluoxetine (Prozac, Sarafem) was the first drug in the...

Red wine is a common trigger for migraines, although we still don’t know the cause or why red wine is worse than white. I was just interviewed for this article in the WSJ along with my friend Mo Levin of the UCSF headache clinic...

Estrogen can be an effective agent for the treatment of menstrual migraines. Many women report that their migraines tend to occur before or during their period and sometimes with ovulation. For some women menstruation...

Erenumab (Aimovig) was the first drug in the family of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) approved for the prevention of migraine headaches. CGRP is a substance released during a migraine...

A typical migraine aura consists of a visual disturbance (partial loss of vision, flickering lights, zigzags, etc) which lasts 15 to 60 minutes and precedes the headache. Auras can also occur without a headache. Auras occurs in 15 to 20%...