This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Sign in
Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Migraine and calcium antagonists

Authoring team

Calcium antagonists are widely used in the treatment of migraine in other countries, but are not licensed in the UK for migraine.

Flunarizine is probably the most effective, but it is not available in the UK. Verapamil is an alternative (1).

In general, calcium antagonists may decrease the frequency of attacks but have little effect on their severity.

In the UK NICE suggest with respect to cluster headaches (2):

  • consider verapamil for prophylactic treatment during a bout of cluster headache. If unfamiliar with its use for cluster headache, seek specialist advice before starting verapamil, including advice on electrocardiogram monitoring (in November 2015, this was an off-label use of verapamil).
  • seek specialist advice for cluster headache that does not respond to verapamil.

Reference:

  1. Evidence Based Medicine 1997; 2(6): 184.
  2. NICE (May 2021). Headaches in the over 12s

Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Create a free account

Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.

The content herein is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the need to apply professional clinical judgement when diagnosing or treating any medical condition. A licensed medical practitioner should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

Connect

Copyright 2024 Oxbridge Solutions Limited, a subsidiary of OmniaMed Communications Limited. All rights reserved. Any distribution or duplication of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited. Oxbridge Solutions receives funding from advertising but maintains editorial independence.