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Postictal Headache Treatment

Everyone experiences the pain of an occasional headache. People with epilepsy usually experience headaches before, during, and after a seizure. For those who experience headaches classified as postictal, there are several treatment options available.

  1. The Facts

    • Postictal headaches are the most common type of headaches experienced by patients with epilepsy. They occur just after a seizure ends and can last from 6 to 24 hours. The pain they cause can throb with the pulse or be steady with the degree of pain varying from moderate to so severe as to be incapacitating. Up to 45 percent of epilepsy patients experience them after most seizures. Postictal headache treatments either focus on relieving the pain once a headache has set in or preventing the headache from happening.

    Over-the-Counter

    • One treatment option for postictal headaches is to take an over-the-counter headache pain reliever. Acetaminophen, aspirin, and ibuprofen are all available without a prescription. Easily accessible and relatively inexpensive, they are a solution for people who experience less severe postictal headaches that do not last for several hours.

    Prescription

    • For those who experience more intense postictal headaches than over-the-counter pain medication can handle, there are prescription medications that might help. Like over-the-counter pain relievers, they are taken after the headache has set in. They include naproxen and a combination of butalbital and aspirin. A person with epilepsy can work with her doctor to find the one that provides the most effective treatment for her postictal headaches.

    Migraine Medication

    • Postictal headaches are often indistinguishable from migraine headaches and some patients benefit from using treatments originally designed to provide relief for migraine sufferers. Sumatriptan is one of the most commonly prescribed drug treatments for migraine headaches. The triptan family of drugs is available in a variety of forms, giving a patient suffering from postictal headaches and his doctor options when it comes to finding the one that best suits his needs.

    Preventative

    • Some people choose to treat postictal headaches by stopping them before they start. This usually means a person must take medication every day, keeping a level amount of the medicine in her system. Some people take the seizure medication valproate. Antidepressants, beta blockers, and calcium channel blockers are also prescribed to prevent the onset of postictal headaches.

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