A type of medicine for migraine — the very bad headache that comes with a throbbing pain on one side, often with feeling sick and hating light and noise. Triptans are not ordinary painkillers. A painkiller just dulls the pain; a triptan works on the blood vessels and nerve signals in the head, so it goes after the migraine itself. That is why it can stop an attack rather than only soften it, and why doctors tell people to take it early, when the headache is starting. It is a group name, not one drug: sumatriptan, rizatriptan, zolmitriptan and others all end in -triptan, which is how you can spot them on a box. They are prescription medicines in most places, they are for migraine and not for a normal headache, and they are not suitable for everyone — people with certain heart problems are told to avoid them. The word is used mostly by doctors, pharmacists, and people who live with migraine.

翠普登類藥物／曲普坦類藥物（偏頭痛專用藥，例如舒馬曲坦 sumatriptan；台灣醫師口頭常直接說英文「triptan」）