How Fast Does an Infusion Work for a Severe Migraine?

Migraines are one of the most common medical conditions worldwide. In the United States alone, nearly 40 million children and adults suffer from these excruciatingly painful headaches. Worse, while migraines can be infrequent for some sufferers, others have chronic migraines, with attacks occurring eight days per month or more.

While some migraine sufferers may find relief through medication, this traditional approach to treatment is often ineffective in providing meaningful — and rapid — symptom relief. In this post, the team at IV Replenish Bar explains how IV infusions can provide fast migraine relief, even when traditional treatments have failed.

Migraine basics

A migraine is a complex neurological condition involving multiple underlying factors and a variety of uncomfortable symptoms, making them challenging to treat and prevent. While intense headaches are a characteristic symptom, many people experience other symptoms, too, such as nausea, vomiting, and extreme sensitivity to lights, sounds, or smells.

Migraines can occur in four stages involving a prodrome, aura, attack and postdrome. Different stages may involve a variety of symptoms, including:

• Constipation or diarrhea
• Mood changes
• Food cravings
• Bloating
• Numbness in a limb
• Visual changes, like tunnel vision or flashing lights
• Extreme fatigue

While the prodromal phase happens a day or two before a migraine attack, the aura can occur before an attack or during it. In fact, some people have visual symptoms without experiencing headache, a type of migraine once referred to as an ocular migraine.

Migraines can happen without warning, but they’re often associated with triggers, like stress, hormonal fluctuations, or environmental factors. Some people turn to over-the-counter or prescription medications to help relieve symptoms. But because migraines are unpredictable, these methods are often ineffective, particularly for those with chronic or frequent migraines.

Infusion therapy for migraines

Infusion therapy delivers medication, nutrients, and fluids directly to your bloodstream using an IV needle inserted into a vein. This method bypasses your digestive system, avoiding the slow process of being absorbed through your gut wall. For migraines, faster delivery also means more rapid relief for most people.

IV infusion is completely customizable, making it an ideal therapy for many medical issues that don’t respond to traditional treatments. For migraines, many people benefit from added hydration combined with:

• Anti-inflammatory medication to target underlying and pain
• Corticosteroids to reduce inflammation
• Anti-nausea medication to prevent vomiting and dehydration
• Magnesium and vitamin B2, both of which have been shown to reduce migraine severity

Your therapy can be tailored to suit your symptoms and your migraine history for optimal relief and even to help reduce the frequency, duration, and severity of future attacks.

Infusion supports speedy migraine relief

Now to the heart of the matter: How quickly can IV infusion provide relief, especially when migraines are severe? 

For most patients, relief happens quickly — far more rapidly than with traditional medications that need to be absorbed and disseminated through your bloodstream before they can provide any level of benefit. Direct delivery avoids dilution, which means more of the beneficial effects reach migraine pathways at full strength for greater, and more rapid, effects.

Most patients also benefit immediately from the added fluids. Even mild dehydration can trigger migraines and worsen symptoms. Receiving additional fluids directly to your bloodstream immediately counteracts the negative effects of dehydration. IV infusions can also put an immediate end to nausea and vomiting. 

Many symptoms improve within an hour — sometimes even during treatment. The lasting benefits of therapy support ongoing improvement for hours after treatment ends as anti-inflammatory medications help calm irritated and overactive nerve pathways involved in migraine symptoms.

Manage your severe migraines with IV infusions

Migraines can take a toll on your physical health, your emotional wellness, and your overall quality of life. If traditional treatments haven’t helped relieve your migraine symptoms, IV infusions might be the answer you’re looking for. To learn more, request an appointment online or over the phone with the team at IV Replenish Bar in downtown Brooklyn, New York, today.