Depending on the frequency and severity of your headaches, any headache treatment and drug plans prescribed by doctors are going to differ from person to person. The main focus of the medications is to stop the pain associated with headaches or at least eliminate the symptoms.
Sore Throat Headache Earache
Medications prescribed for headache treatment are taken either prophylactically or abortively. People who suffer from the odd headache will be asked to take their medication abortively - once the headache begins. And those who have several headaches per month are advised to take them prophylactically every day in order to reduce the severity and frequency of attacks, usually starting with low doses and then increasing.
There's no set schedule for prophylactic therapy but most headaches treated in this way are usually controlled in under 6 months. Because of the frequency with which the patient has to take the medication, doctors are always on the look out for side effects that may be experienced such as water retention, weight gain, lethargy, hallucinations and memory impairment.
Prophylactic headache treatment is often used specifically for tension, migraine, and sometimes cluster headaches. Calcium channel blockers (Cardizem, Dilacor, and Procardia) and antidepressants (Elavil, Zoloft, etc) are just some of the prescription medications that are normally administered in this way.
Tension-type Headaches
Stress management and relaxation techniques including exercise, yoga and massage can be used to treat tension headaches without the need to resort to medication. However, painkillers such as paracetamol, ibrupofen and narcotics such as codeine have been known to work just as effectively in treating tension-type headaches. Codeine, if used as a headache treatment, should be administered with caution and in low doses because it's easily addictive and can trigger medication-overuse headaches.
Cluster Headaches
Over-the-counter medications such as paracetamol and ibrupofen do not really help when it comes to cluster headaches. A drug called Sumatriptan (from the class of compounds called Triptans) is commonly prescribed to treat cluster headaches. Sumatriptan works by targeting a brain chemical called 5HT and is administered with an injenction or nasally rather than orally. They can only be taken twice in a 24 hour period and at least an hour apart. Sumatriptan drugs should never be prescribed as a headcahe treatment to anyone with heart disease or anyone that may have suffered from a stroke in the past.
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Other medicines commonly prescribed for cluster headache treatment are verapamil, lithium carbonate, ergotamine, methysergide and corticosteroid drugs.
Migraine Headache Treatment
Treatments for migraine headaches can either be analgesics and analgesic combinations or migraine-specific therapies, such as triptans, ergotamine and dihydroergotamine. Preferably, the treatment should be taken even before the onset of the migraine.
Other medications commonly prescribed for migraines include Sumatriptan, Zolmitriptan, Naratriptan, Rizatriptan, Eletriptan, Frovatriptan, Ergotamine, Dihydroergotamine (Migranal), Prophylactic therapies, Beta-blockers, Pizotifen: (Sanomigran), Methysergide (Deseril) and Herbal & Dietary Additives.
When treating headaches in children, the dosing and directions on the labels must be followed exactly whether you're using a prescription or nonprescription headache treatment. However, children below the age of 2 should not be given any nonprescription pain killers without consulting a physician. Even with children over the age of 2, a visit to the doctor is still advisable.
The above information thankfully comes from theheadacheinfosite.com at the following link.