Pharmacist

Acetaminophen

Acetaminophen may be better for headaches compared with NSAIDs or other pain relief medicines.

Combine it with caffeine to help boost its effectiveness.

A good advantage is that it won't tear up your stomach as with NSAIDs. Usually, when you have a headache, you just want to lie down somewhere. Doing this can cause heartburn after taking something like ibuprofen. If you are prone to heartburn, go with acetaminophen.

NSAIDs

NSAIDS are anti-inflammatory pain relievers used for headaches and other pain relief.

First choice:

Ibuprofen or buffered aspirin. Choose this if you can take it.

Others:

Naproxen

Caffeine + Pain reliever

Acetaminophen + caffeine

Provides quick relief for head, neck and shoulder pain associated with most tension headaches.

Caffeine helps boost the effectiveness of acetaminophen when used for headaches.

Try not to take this late at night because of the caffeine. The amount in 2 capsules is equivalent to a cup of coffee.

Pain reliever + PM

Acetaminophen PM

This is a good choice for late night or at bedtime headaches.

They contain diphenhydramine (Benadryl®). The goal is to ease your headache while getting you some sleep.

Ibuprofen PM

This is a good choice if you also have body aches and other sore muscles with this headache.

But do not take this if you get frequent heartburn or other stomach irritation problems. You will wake up bloated in the morning with a headache coming back soon after.

Worth doing

1. If you are prone to tension headaches and anticipate coming down with one due to a stressful day or hectic activity, take acetaminophen or an NSAID beforehand.

2. If your tension headache is due to stress or anxiety. Take valerian with the headache medication before you go to sleep.

3. Remember to rest with an ice bag over your forehead.

Acetaminophen

Acetaminophen is a non-specific medication for migraines. It works on all kinds of headaches.

You may want to take this in a combination form. Possibly combined with caffeine and aspirin.

NSAIDS

These are anti-inflammatory pain relievers. They are effective for headaches in general and are worth a try in migraine headaches.

Ibuprofen and naproxen are good examples.

Remember, over-the-counter medicines are no substitute for prescription migraine medicines. Those are more specific and work much better. You should only use OTC medicines in the absence of prescription migraine medicines. You must treat your migraine immediately with the medicine prescribed by your physician.

Worth Doing

We assume you know what your triggers are by now. If not, this is the first thing to do. Try including these in your migraine therapy. They should help.

1. You must see a doctor for migraine headaches. Make sure you always have enough supply of your doctor's recommended medication on hand. It is hard enough to find which prescription medicine will work for you, when you find one, do your best to have it with you. Just a reminder, if a medicine prescribed is not working for you, call the doctor to try something else. Taking more won't make any difference.

2. Keep a headache journal. It is important you know how you respond to migraine medicines. Which one worked best for you? What triggered it? How bad is this migraine? These are questions you need to know as time goes on.

3. Know your triggers. Prevention is better than cure. Moreover, prescription migraine medications are not cheap. You need to be more focused on prevention and use those medicines only when you need them.

NSAIDS

Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDS) include ibuprofen, naproxen, aspirin. We recommend this for sinus pain and pressure. Most of the time, inflammation of the sinuses will lead to a headache. NSAIDS help with the inflammation while working on the head pain.

If this headache also include severe sinus pressure, you will be better off adding pseudoephedrine to relieve the pressure. Good combinations available behind the pharmacy counter are Ibuprofen + pseudoephedrine;  Naproxen + pseudoephedrine.

If the pharmacy is closed, a nasal spray with oxymetazoline will help. But use this as a last resort.

Acetaminophen

We recommend acetaminophen if you can't take NSAIDS. If all you have is a headache, acetaminophen will be better. For instance a lingering headache after a sinus infection. In this case, acetaminophen will be appropriate.

If you cannot take NSAIDS and think acetaminophen will work better for you, we encourage you to combine it with pseudoephedrine which is available behind the pharmacy counter. This combination will be useful in a case of headache with sinus pain and pressure.