A migraine emergency kit should live in three places: your bag, your desk or workspace, and your bedside. Each kit contains the same 12 essentials so you never lose minutes hunting for medication or supplies during the critical first 20 minutes of an attack. The cost of building three full kits is under $80. The cost of not having one, in lost time and worsened attacks, is enormous.
The single biggest predictor of how badly a migraine attack goes is whether you can treat it in the first 20 minutes. The single biggest barrier to treating it in the first 20 minutes is friction. Building three identical kits removes the friction. Here is exactly what goes in them.
The 12 essentials
1. Your acute medication
Whatever your clinician prescribed. Triptan, gepant, NSAID, or combination. Two doses, in original packaging with the prescription label, in case you need a repeat dose at the 2-hour mark.
2. A backup OTC option
For mild attacks or when your prescription has been used up: ibuprofen 200 mg tablets, naproxen sodium, or Excedrin Migraine. Cap at 10 to 14 days per month.
3. An antiemetic
Migraine nausea both causes suffering and prevents oral medication from absorbing. Options:
- Prescription: ondansetron 4 mg dissolving tablets, prochlorperazine, or metoclopramide
- OTC: ginger chews or a small ginger essential oil bottle
4. A cold pack
A reusable gel pack or a single-use instant cold pack. Cold on the forehead, temples, or back of the neck constricts blood vessels and reduces pain signaling. Specialized migraine ice headbands work too.
5. FL-41 tinted glasses
The rose-tinted lens that filters the 480 to 500 nm blue-green wavelengths that trigger migraine photophobia. Worth every dollar during an attack and during recovery. See migraine glasses FL-41.
6. Foam earplugs or noise-canceling earbuds
Phonophobia is one of the most underappreciated migraine symptoms. Cutting ambient sound by 25 to 30 dB reduces attack severity for many people. Loop-style filtering earplugs work for environments where you cannot fully block sound (open offices, transit).
7. An eye mask
Total darkness is more effective than any sunglasses. A weighted gel eye mask doubles as a cold compress. Store the bedside one in the freezer.
8. Electrolyte packets
Liquid IV, LMNT, or similar. Migraine often comes with mild dehydration that worsens absorption of medication. One packet in a full glass of water within the first 10 minutes of an attack.
9. A small snack with protein and complex carbs
Skipped meals and low blood sugar drive attacks. Almonds, a protein bar, or peanut butter crackers. Keep the snack rotating so it never expires.
10. A small notebook or your phone with voice logging set up
Capture attack onset time, severity, suspected triggers, and treatment timing. This data is what makes your neurologist visits productive and your treatment plan precise. Migraine Trail's voice logging is designed for exactly this moment, when typing on a screen is the last thing you can stand.
11. A magnesium chew or supplement
Some patients take 200 to 400 mg magnesium glycinate at the first sign of an attack. Evidence is modest but the side effect profile is low. Talk to your clinician before adding.
12. A "do not disturb" card or pre-written text
A simple card you can hand to a partner, manager, or family member. "I have a migraine. I need 2 hours of dark and quiet. I will check in at X time." Reduces social negotiation when you cannot speak.
How to organize the three kits
The bag kit
A small zippered pouch (4x6 inches). Carries items 1, 2, 3, 4 (single-use), 5, 6, 8, 9, 12. Refill weekly. This goes wherever you go.
The desk kit
Larger, includes everything plus a full-size gel cold pack in a small freezer (most offices have one), a phone charger, and a foldable cushion if you can find a quiet room.
The bedside kit
Includes a frozen gel eye mask, a glass of water already poured, your medication within arm's reach in the same drawer every night, and a flashlight or low-lumen lamp for opening packages without turning on bright lights. Bedside kits matter because morning migraines often wake you in darkness with full symptoms already underway.
Refill rules
- Check expiration dates monthly
- Refill the bag kit every Sunday
- Always replace medication immediately after use
- Keep all three kits stocked simultaneously, not opportunistically
For the rest of your treatment strategy, see how to stop a migraine fast and the migraine medication ladder.
Taking the kit away from home? Start with this guide to migraine after flying and cover medication access, sleep, meals, sensory needs, and backup care.
Sources
- American Migraine Foundation. "Building Your Migraine Toolkit." 2023.
- Lipton RB et al. "Early Treatment of Migraine Attacks with Triptans: A Strategy for Optimizing the Therapeutic Response." Headache, 2006.
- Sprenger T et al. "Evidence-Based Acute Treatment of Migraine." Cephalalgia, 2018.
- Thin-film optical notch filter spectacle coatings for the treatment of migraine and photophobia — Hoggan, Subhash, Blair, Digre, Baggaley, Gordon, Brennan, Warner, Katz & Creel, Journal of Clinical Neuroscience, 2016
- Why all migraine patients should be treated with magnesium — Mauskop & Varughese, Journal of Neural Transmission, 2012;119(5):575-579
