Nearly 40 million Americans know the nausea and throbbing pain of migraine headaches. This debilitating condition that can create one-sided head pain may make it difficult or impossible to carry on with work or everyday tasks.

There are drugs that can be used to treat migraine headaches, but the FDA recently approved the first drug specifically to prevent them. What should you know about Aimovig, the brand name for erenumab? How does it work? We’ll also discuss price and whether insurance companies are likely to pay for it.

Our guest expert describes the range of symptoms that can accompany migraine headaches. Find out about triggers such as chocolate or a change in the weather.

What are the medications used to treat migraines? We discuss their effectiveness and the limits on how often they can be used. What else can you do to prevent the onset of a migraine?

In addition, we discuss another variety of excruciating headache called a cluster headache. How do these differ from migraine headaches and what is the best way to treat them?

Jennifer S. Kriegler, MD, is director of the Headache Medicine Fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic. She is part of the Center for Neurological Restoration and the Headache Section of the Neurological Institute in the Department of Neurology of the Cleveland Clinic.

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