Migraines

REAL RELIEF, TAKEN SERIOUSLY

Migraine is far more than a bad headache, and the right treatment taken at the right moment changes everything. Explore pharmacy options including migraine-specific treatment, with prescription routes for frequent attacks, all checked by our pharmacy team and delivered to your door.

Check eligiblity Supply of pharmacy medicines is subject to approval by our pharmacist.
  • Choose your products
  • Checked by our pharmacist
  • Delivered to your door
  • GPhC-registered pharmacy
  • Confidential plain packaging

The condition

Understanding migraine

Migraine is a neurological condition, not simply a bad headache. Attacks typically bring intense throbbing pain on one side of the head, sensitivity to light and sound, and often nausea, and they can last from hours to days. Around one in seven people are affected, women around three times as often as men, and anyone who lives with it knows how much it steals.

Common triggers include stress and the relaxation after it, disturbed sleep, skipped meals, dehydration, hormonal changes, bright light and certain foods or alcohol. Some people get warning signs hours before, and about a third experience aura, such as zigzag lines or blind spots, shortly before the pain. Treatment works best taken early, which makes having it ready at home half the battle.

Know the signs

Symptoms and when to seek help

A migraine attack often moves through phases, and learning yours helps you treat it early.

  • Warning signs hours before, such as yawning, cravings or mood change
  • Aura for some people, like zigzag lines, flashing lights or blind spots
  • Throbbing, one-sided head pain with sensitivity to light and sound, often with nausea
  • A washed-out, foggy day or two afterwards

When to see a doctor

Some headaches are not migraine and need urgent care. Know these signs and act on them.

  • A sudden, explosive headache reaching its worst within seconds or minutes
  • Headache with fever, a stiff neck, a rash, or confusion
  • Sudden weakness, slurred speech, or loss of vision, especially if new to you
  • A headache following a head injury
  • New or changing headaches if you are over 50

Call 999 for any of the first three, as they can signal bleeding, meningitis or stroke. Even experienced migraine sufferers should treat a headache that feels completely different from their usual pattern as new until proven otherwise. For urgent advice that is not an emergency, call NHS 111.

Our clinic model

How it works at Medicosmetic

Choose your products

Browse the range and pick what suits your attacks. Migraine-specific pharmacy treatment involves a short questionnaire at checkout, which our pharmacist reviews.

Checked by our pharmacist

Our pharmacist at Erdington Community Pharmacy reviews your answers and approves supply only if the treatment is right for you. Frequent or severe attacks can be referred into a prescriber consultation for prescription options.

Delivered to your door

Your order is packed at our pharmacy and posted with tracking, so your treatment is ready at home before the next attack. Questions? Call us on 0121 382 7477.

Using acute migraine treatments on too many days each month can itself cause daily headaches, so if you are treating attacks more than a couple of days a week, tell our pharmacist or your GP. Prevention options exist, and you are not charged for anything that is not supplied.

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Evidence-based options

Treatment approaches

Act early, that is the golden rule. Simple pain relief such as soluble aspirin or ibuprofen taken at the very first sign works far better than the same tablet taken an hour in. For attacks that laugh at painkillers, a migraine-specific pharmacy treatment is available after a short pharmacist questionnaire, taken once the headache phase begins. It targets the migraine process itself rather than just the pain. Anti-sickness treatment helps when nausea stops tablets staying down, and for frequent attacks, prescription options exist, including daily preventive treatments, through a consultation reviewed by a UK-registered prescriber.

Between attacks, regularity is protective. Consistent sleep, regular meals, steady hydration and managing stress all reduce attack frequency, and a simple diary often reveals your personal triggers within a couple of months. If you are having four or more attacks a month, ask about prevention, because nobody should simply endure that.

Compare your options

Choosing your migraine treatment

The main differences between migraine treatments are what they target and when to take them. Our pharmacist checks every order of pharmacy medicines, and prescription routes exist for attacks that need more.

Early pain relief (aspirin, ibuprofen, paracetamol)

From £X including delivery

  • How it's takenTaken at the very first sign of an attack
  • Starts workingFaster when taken early, soluble forms fastest
  • LastsPer attack, not for regular daily use

Simple but genuinely effective when taken immediately. Soluble aspirin is a well-evidenced first move for many adults.

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Migraine-specific treatment (sumatriptan)

From £X including delivery

  • How it's takenOne tablet as the headache phase begins
  • Starts workingTypically within 30 to 60 minutes
  • LastsA second dose may be taken if the migraine returns

A pharmacy medicine after a short questionnaire our pharmacist reviews. Targets the migraine process itself. Not suitable for everyone.

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Anti-sickness & prescription options

From £X including delivery

  • How it's takenAnti-sickness treatment dissolves between gum and lip
  • Starts workingHelps tablets stay down and work
  • LastsPrescription routes reviewed by a UK prescriber

Nausea relief for attacks, plus consultation routes for other migraine treatments and daily prevention when attacks are frequent.

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Supply of pharmacy medicines is subject to approval by our pharmacist following your answers at checkout. Prescription options require a consultation reviewed by a UK-registered prescriber, and supply is never guaranteed. Acute treatments are for use during attacks, not on most days of the month. Information above is factual and does not replace clinical advice.

Trusted care

Why Medicosmetic

GPhC-registered pharmacy

Medicosmetic is a trading name of Erdington Community Pharmacy (Premises No. 1107990). Verify on the GPhC register.

Named Superintendent Pharmacist

Mohammad Luqman Ghani (GPhC 2220694) oversees our pharmacy services.

UK-registered prescribers

Every form is reviewed by a clinician registered to prescribe in the UK.

Genuine UK-sourced medicines

Dispensed by our own pharmacy, never third-party marketplaces.

Discreet by design

Plain packaging, tracked delivery, and confidential handling of your information.

Straightforward next steps

If treatment is not suitable, we explain why and signpost you to the right care, usually your GP.

Common questions

Migraine FAQs

How is a migraine different from a headache?
A tension headache is a dull, both-sides pressure that lets you carry on. Migraine is a neurological event, typically one-sided, throbbing, worse with movement, with sensitivity to light and sound and often nausea, lasting hours to days. If head pain regularly sends you to a dark room, that is migraine territory, and it deserves proper treatment rather than soldiering on.
What triggers migraines?
Triggers vary by person, but the usual suspects are stress and the let-down after it, broken sleep, skipped meals, dehydration, hormonal changes around periods, bright or flickering light, alcohol and certain foods. A simple diary noting attacks, sleep, meals and stress usually reveals your pattern within a couple of months, and knowing your triggers is genuinely powerful.
Can I buy migraine treatment without a prescription?
Yes. Alongside ordinary pain relief, a migraine-specific treatment called sumatriptan is available as a pharmacy medicine after a short questionnaire, which our pharmacist reviews before supply. It suits many adults with an established pattern of migraine, but not everyone, which is exactly what the questions check. Other options and doses remain prescription-only via consultation.
What is a migraine aura, and does it matter?
Aura is a wave of neurological symptoms before the headache, most often visual, like zigzag lines, shimmering or blind spots, lasting up to an hour. It matters medically. If you have migraine with aura, the combined contraceptive pill is generally not recommended because of a raised clot risk, so tell any prescriber about your aura, including for contraception.
Can taking painkillers cause more headaches?
Yes, and it catches many migraine sufferers out. Using acute treatments, painkillers or migraine-specific tablets, on ten or more days a month can cause medication overuse headache, a dull daily headache that only lifts when the pattern is broken. If you are treating headaches more than two days a week most weeks, speak to our pharmacist or your GP about prevention instead.
When should I see a GP about migraines?
If attacks are frequent, roughly four or more a month, if they are not responding to treatment taken correctly, if aura is new to you, or if attacks are changing character. Daily preventive treatments exist and are underused, and nobody should simply endure frequent migraines. A prescriber consultation with us can also review your options.
When is a headache an emergency?
Call 999 for a sudden explosive headache reaching its worst within minutes, a headache with fever, stiff neck, rash or confusion, or sudden weakness, slurred speech or vision loss. These can signal bleeding, meningitis or stroke, and even lifelong migraine sufferers should treat a headache that feels completely unlike their usual pattern as new until checked.

Be ready before the next attack

Migraine treatment works best taken early, which means having it at home before you need it. Choose your treatment, let our pharmacist check your order, and be prepared. Frequent attacks? A prescriber consultation is available too.

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