Migraine Sufferers Could See a Double Dose of Relief

If you're a migraine sufferer familiar with that early "aura" and other symptoms that pop up before the main pain hits, the latest study may herald relief down the road. A recent clinical trial has found that ubrogepant, an approved medication for the severe, throbbing headache that can last for hours or even days, is not only more effective if consumed when those initial symptoms arise—it may also treat those symptoms as well, which include nausea, dizziness, and fatigue, per IFL Science.

The research published Monday in the journal Nature involved 438 subjects who were frequently slammed by migraines, and who experienced some of the telltale early warning signs hours before the migraine itself actually began. The experiment didn't directly pit ubrogepant, sold under the brand name Ubrelvy, against a placebo or other anti-migraine drug. Instead, each subject received two pills: once when the warning signs of a migraine started emerging, and another when the next bout of symptoms began. One pill was ubrogepant, the other a placebo, and the participants weren't clued in on which was which.

The subjects then had to rate on a five-point scale how much their activity was restricted due to the migraine. Two hours after taking the first pill in their two-pill regimen, subjects who took the ubrogepant first, then the placebo were 73% more likely to say they could go about their business normally than those who took the placebo first. Those who took ubrogepant first also saw their initial symptoms subside more quickly: For example, nearly 29% of the ubrogepant-first group reported that their neck pain died down within three hours, while only about 16% of the placebo-first group noted the same.

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"Treatment with ubrogepant may allow people ... who experience early warning signs before a migraine occurs to quickly treat migraine attacks in their earliest stages and go about their daily lives with little discomfort and disruption," Dr. Richard B. Lipton of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, who led an earlier portion of the trial, said in a 2024 statement. "This could lead to an improved quality of life for those living with migraine." (More migraines stories.)