Always be prepared

Yesterday, I went out like any other Friday night, but halfway through, I felt a migraine coming on. Normally, I carry a triptan or gepant in my coat, but that night, I had neither—no rescue medication, leaving me unprepared in a different sense. As the pain worsened, I had to cut the night short; it was ruined.

I always tell my patients to have a “migraine toolkit” ready for moments like these. Even with preventive treatments, migraines can strike without warning or an obvious trigger, and that’s okay. The toolkit is there so you can be prepared—take your medication and get back to your day. But sometimes, like me, you forget, and that’s okay too. We're all human and make mistakes.

So, what is a “migraine toolkit”? It’s not a bulky box of meds but a strategy to manage different types of migraine attacks. Not all migraines are the same—some respond to triptans, others to ibuprofen or gepants. I usually keep a triptan or gepant in my coat, but I happened to grab the one coat without any. So, always aim to have your rescue medication with you, and if you forget, it's still okay to head home and get the treatment you need. If you feel your headache toolkit is ineffective, click here to set up an evaluation.