What Are the Treatments for Migraine Headaches With Demerol?

Because Demerol is an opiate narcotic--albeit a synthetic one--it is not used as an ongoing treatment medication for migraines due to its addictive qualities. Migraine sufferers are much more likely to be treated with Demerol if they find themselves in the emergency room due to the acute pain caused by a migraine. Demerol is the emergency room drug of choice because it is fast acting and powerful. It is usually coupled with an antinausea medication when administered, because often migraines bring on nausea from pain. Some may recognize this drug by the name Meperidine or Meperidine hydrochloride, because Demerol is actually a brand of Meperidine.

Demerol Treatment Types

• Demerol can be administered in several different ways: orally (through pill form and via the digestive tract), an intramuscular injection (in the arm, leg or buttocks) or intravenously (through an IV). Each type has differing analgesic onset time frames and varying peak effect times as well, making one type more preferential to another when pain has been continuing for some time, and relief is needed immediately.

Orally Administered Demerol

• Because orally administered Demerol is not as effective in reducing migraine pain (less than half, actually), this form of Demerol is generally not the recommended treatment for those in the throes of a migraine, particularly if migraine pain is severe enough to result in an emergency room visit. Although analgesic effects begin within 15 minutes, peak effects aren't felt for up to an hour and a half, long past an acceptable time for some suffering excruciating migraine pain and nausea.

Intramuscular-Administered Demerol

• The analgesic effect for Demerol that is injected intramuscularly occurs within 15 minutes, with the peak effect occurring in about an hour. Although peak effect is somewhat better (by possibly 30 minutes) than orally administered Demerol, this method isn't the best for reducing migraine headache immediately.

Intravenously Administered Demerol

• Providing considerable relief as fast as one minute after being administered intravenously, intravenously administered Demerol is the preferred choice in emergency room situations by doctors and patients alike. After the analgesic effect takes place within one minute of introduction into the IV, it is a mere five to seven minutes later that the medication then reaches its peak effect and can maintain that level for up to four hours. Needless to say, for those suffering excruciating migraines, time is the most important element in the treatment option chosen.

Warnings

• Demerol requires a medical prescription from a doctor. As with any narcotic, overuse can lead to addiction.