Medications are prescribed with the intention to either prevent migraines or the abort migraines. Hence the reason why some are called preventative medication, or abortive medication. 

Keep in mind that if you are an individual that gets infrequent migraines, then it is often usually recommended to take over the counter migraine medication, such as Excedrin.

However, if migraines are affecting your livelihood, if you are on birth control pills, or have another health condition, then it is time to go to the doctors asap.

 If your migraines are frequent enough then your doctor may prescribe you abortive medication and/or preventative medication. 

Abortive medication is medicine that you take at the first sign of a migraine in order to stop or lessen the effects of a migraine. 

• Abortive migraine medication comes from the Triptan family , with Sumatriptan being the most common. 

If you have very frequent migraines, then your doctor might prescribe you preventative medication. This medicine would be something that you take everyday in order to prevent the frequency and intensity of the migraines, in other words, to make them some what manageable. Often, doctors will prescribe both abortive and preventative for chronic migrainers.

• Common preventative medication includes antidepressants, beta-blockers, and anti-convulsants.