Does CoQ10 help with migraine? What the research does and doesn't show

The evidence doesn't support CoQ10 as a treatment for migraine. Small trials at 300 to 400 mg a day reported fewer attacks than placebo, but pooled analyses found no significant change in severity, the trials were small, and none compared forms. Here is who was studied, at what dose.

What the evidence doesn't support

It doesn't support CoQ10 as a treatment for migraine, or as a replacement for a preventive plan from a clinician. It doesn't show it makes attacks less severe: both pooled analyses found no significant change in severity. It doesn't give a dose below 300 mg: the adult trials whose abstracts state a dose used 300 or 400 mg a day. It doesn't tell us which form works, since no trial compared forms. And it doesn't apply to people without migraine: every trial enrolled people diagnosed with it.

What the trials found

A 42-person trial, 300 mg. A double-blind placebo-controlled trial of 100 mg three times a day (300 mg a day) in 42 people with migraine found CoQ10 superior to placebo for attack frequency, headache days and days with nausea in the third treatment month. The 50% responder rate (at least half as many attacks) was 47.6% on CoQ10 and 14.4% on placebo, and CoQ10 was well tolerated. The abstract does not state the form (Sandor 2005).

A 45-woman trial, 400 mg. In a placebo-controlled trial of 45 non-menopausal women aged 18 to 50 with episodic migraine, 400 mg a day for three months improved attack frequency (p = 0.018), severity (p = 0.001) and duration (p = 0.012) compared with placebo, and lowered two blood markers, CGRP and TNF-alpha. Everyone in the trial was also taking preventive medication, so it measured CoQ10 on top of that (Dahri 2019).

Pooled analyses. A 2020 meta-analysis of four randomised trials (221 people) found 1.87 fewer attacks a month (95% CI -2.69 to -1.05) and no significant change in severity or in duration (-6.14 hours, 95% CI -13.14 to 0.87) (Parohan 2020). A 2021 meta-analysis of six placebo-controlled trials in adults (371 people) found no significant reduction in severity, with shorter attack duration (mean difference -0.19, 95% CI -0.27 to -0.11) and lower frequency (-1.52, 95% CI -2.40 to -0.65). Neither abstract states a dose (Sazali 2021). The two analyses disagree on duration, and both are built on a handful of small trials. We left out trials in children, which this page doesn't cover.

Questions people ask

Is CoQ10 good for migraines, and how does it help?

Small trials found fewer attacks than placebo, and pooled analyses found no significant change in severity. None of the abstracts we read establishes how it might work; the 45-woman trial measured two blood markers but that doesn't show a mechanism.

What dose of CoQ10 is used for migraines, or for prevention?

The adult trials whose abstracts state a dose used 300 mg a day (as three 100 mg doses) and 400 mg a day, each for three months. That is what was studied, not a recommendation, and the abstracts we read report no lower dose. See CoQ10 dosage.

Which CoQ10 is best for migraines?

No trial we read compared forms, and the abstracts don't state which form was used.

Can CoQ10 supplements be taken with migraine medicine?

The 45-woman trial gave CoQ10 alongside preventive medication and reported its outcomes versus placebo, but it wasn't an interaction study. Ask your prescriber or pharmacist; see CoQ10 and medications.

When to talk to a doctor

Frequent or disabling headaches need a diagnosis; a clinician can rule out other causes and discuss preventive options with a larger evidence base. A sudden severe headache, a headache with weakness, confusion, vision loss or fever, or a new pattern after age 50 needs urgent care. CoQ10 is not a treatment for migraine. If you take any prescription, ask your prescriber before adding a supplement.

Related reading: CoQ10 dosage, CoQ10 side effects, CoQ10 benefits: what the research does and doesn't show.