Migraine
Recurrent disabling headache with nausea and sensitivity to light and sound.
About this condition
Migraine is a neurological condition, not simply a bad headache. Attacks bring moderate to severe head pain, often one sided and throbbing, with nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light, sound and smell. Some people experience aura beforehand. Attacks can last from hours to 3 days and leave people wiped out afterwards.
Care has 2 parts: treating attacks quickly and reducing how often they happen. Overuse of acute painkillers can itself cause medication overuse headache, which is a common and reversible trap. Newer preventive options including CGRP treatments have changed outcomes for many people. Chronic migraine means headache on 15 or more days a month.
Treatments people usually try first
These are the treatments commonly offered in the UK for this condition. A specialist doctor will want to know which of them you have tried, and what happened.
- Triptans for acute attacks, with anti sickness medicines
- Preventive medicines such as propranolol, candesartan or amitriptyline
- Topiramate under specialist advice
- CGRP monoclonal antibodies or gepants
- Botulinum toxin injections for chronic migraine
- Headache diary, trigger review and lifestyle work
Could medical cannabis be appropriate?
People with this condition sometimes ask whether medical cannabis could be appropriate for them. That is a question for a specialist doctor, who will look at your diagnosis, your history and everything you have already tried before saying anything either way.
Medical cannabis is an unlicensed prescription only medicine in the UK. It is considered only where a diagnosed condition has not responded adequately to conventional treatment, and it is never a first step. We cannot tell you in advance what might be prescribed, and UK law does not allow us to describe or advertise any medicine on this website.
What we can do is assess you properly and be honest with you. If a specialist doctor does not think this route is right for you, they will say so, and they will explain why.
All treatment is subject to clinical assessment and eligibility.
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