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Naltrexone is similar to naloxone, a drug used to reverse the effect of narcotic (opioid) overdose. Naltrexone is not used to reverse the effect of an overdose, but to treat opioid and alcohol dependence. (LDN) and is given as a monthly...

Sumatriptan (Imitrex, Imigran) is by far the most popular triptan because it was the first one on the market. Because it came out a long time ago, many manufacturers make generic copies of this drug. This has reduced its price...

Having given Botox injections to thousands of patients, I know that some patients tolerate pain better if they curse during the procedure. A British psychologist Richard Stephens seems to have made a career out of studying...

Rizatriptan (Maxalt, Maxalt MLT) is one of the seven triptans approved in the US. Along with zolmitriptan, it is one of the two triptans available in an orally disintegrating form – it melts in your mouth and does not require water to...

Lisinopril (Prinivil, Zestril) is a blood pressure medicine in the family of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI). At 20 mg a day it was effective in the prevention of migraine headaches, according to a double-blind...

Two patients treated at MD Anderson Cancer Center for brain tumors were given Botox injections for their tumor-related headaches. The report at the recent meeting of the American Headache Society describes two patients...

Lamotrigine (Lamictal) is an epilepsy drug that is also approved as a mood stabilizer in bipolar disorders. Its exact mechanism of action is not well understood. There are no good controlled trials of lamotrigine in migraines...

Promethazine (Phenergan) is a phenothiazine drug that can be very effective for the treatment of migraine-induced nausea and vomiting. Like other phenothiazine drugs, it can have some direct effect on pain of migraine although...

Prochlorperazine (Compazine) belongs to the category of phenothiazine drugs. Chlorpromazine (Thorazine) was the first drug in this family and it was approved for the treatment of schizophrenia in 1950. Phenothiazine drugs...

Protriptyline (Vivactil) is one of the tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs). It is rarely used, compared to amitriptyline and nortriptyline. This is probably because protriptyline has never been subjected to a controlled trial in migraines...

Pregabalin (Lyrica) is an epilepsy drug that is also approved by the FDA for the treatment of neuropathic (nerve) pain associated with diabetes, spinal cord injury, shingles (herpes zoster), and fibromyalgia. It is a controlled drug with...

A large population-based 11-year long study just published by Norwegian researchers confirmed that an elevated level of an inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP) is associated with an increased risk of developing...

Propranolol (Inderal) belongs to the beta-blocker family of medications and it was approved by the FDA in 1967 for the treatment of high blood pressure. About a decade later it became the first drug to be approved by the...

If you’ve ever tried doing yoga as I have (I love hot yoga, but it’s not for everyone), you will not need convincing that it may very well help prevent migraine headaches along with giving you many other benefits. A study just published...

Propofol (Diprivan) was originally developed for general anesthesia during surgery. Smaller amounts were found to work well for “conscious sedation” to induce a semiconscious state for minor procedures such as...

My migraines respond very well to sumatriptan, but I do like to try new treatments that I recommend to my patients. A few months ago two new abortive drugs to treat acute migraine attacks were approved by the FDA. Ubrelvy...

We recently started using RightEye eye-tracking equipment which can help our patients who are suffering from visual difficulties due to migraines, concussion, or traumatic brain injury (TBI). Many brain disorders can impair the control...

The evidence is growing that those with low vitamin D levels are at a higher risk for respiratory infections, including COVID-19. However, purists argue that we need more evidence and better evidence from randomized...

Phenelzine (Nardil) is an antidepressant which was approved by the FDA for the treatment of depression in 1961. It belongs to the family of monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors and it is a very effective antidepressant...

Ondansetron (Zofran) is not a migraine drug per se, but it is used for the treatment of nausea that often accompanies a migraine attack. It belongs to a different class of nausea drugs than the older drugs such as prochlorperazine...

Tonight at 6 PM (EST), Dr. Mauskop will speak at the Weekly Wellness with the American Migraine Foundation. He will discuss the role of exercise in the management of migraine headaches and the results of scientific clinical trials...

Metoclopramide (Reglan) is an anti-nausea drug that has been in use since 1979. Controlled studies have shown that metoclopramide stops not only nausea and vomiting...

It is hard to think or write about anything other than Covid-19, so here is some information on Covid-19 and headaches. The bad news is that the long-suffering headache patients are suffering more. Most hospitals...

Nerivio is a smartphone-controlled wireless device that provides electrical stimulation of the type that is similar to TENS units widely used in physical therapy for musculoskeletal disorders. It was approved by the FDA last year for...

Vitamin C or ascorbic acid (AA) was discovered by Albert von Szent-Györgyi for which he received the 1937 Nobel Prize in Medicine. Linus Poling, one of only 4 people to win the Nobel prize twice, devoted many years of his life...

Vitamin D level testing is no longer covered by many insurers and many doctors, NY Times, and other media consider taking vitamin D supplements of unproven benefit. I’ve written 10 blog posts over the past 12 years on...

OnabotulinumtoxinA (Botox) is a most remarkable medicine. It was first approved by the FDA in 1989 for two eye conditions and since then it received approval for another dozen conditions as varied as excessive sweating, very frequent...

Sarah Hiner, President of BottomLineInc interviews me for The Bottom Line Advocator podcast – 7 New Treatments for Migraines Just Released — with Alexander Mauskop, MD...

Galcanezumab (Emgality) is one of the three injectable monoclonal antibodies approved for the prevention of migraines. Pharmacological studies show that it takes up to a week for these drugs to reach their highest concentration...

Rimegepant (NURTEC ODT) is the second gepant approved for the acute treatment of migraine headaches. It blocks the same CGRP pathway as the injectable monoclonal antibodies that are used for the prevention of...