Methysergide, sold under the brand names Deseril and Sansert, is a monoaminergic medication of the ergoline and lysergamide groups which is used in the prophylaxis and treatment of migraine and cluster headaches.

[11] Ergot-based medications like methysergide fell out of favor for treatment of migraine with the introduction of the triptans in the 1980s.

A 2016 investigation by the European Medicines Agency due to long-held questions about safety concerns was performed.

To assess the need for continuing availability of methysergide, the International Headache Society performed an electronic survey among their professional members.

The European Medicines Agency concluded "that the vast majority of headache experts in this survey regarded methysergide a unique treatment option for specific populations for which there are no alternatives, with an urgent need to continue its availability."

[19] It does not have significant affinity for human 5-HT3, dopamine, α1-adrenergic, β-adrenergic, acetylcholine, GABA, glutamate, cannabinoid, or histamine receptors, nor for the monoamine transporters.

[26] Methysergide antagonizes the effects of serotonin in blood vessels and gastrointestinal smooth muscle, but has few of the properties of other ergot alkaloids.

Less known is his search for a perivascular factor that would damage local tissues and increase pain sensitivity during migraine attacks.

The clinical effect was often excellent, but 5 years later it was found to cause retroperitoneal fibrosis after chronic intake.

In 1974 Saxena showed that methysergide had a selective vasoconstrictor effect in the carotid bed and in 1984 he found an atypical receptor.

Sansert had previously been produced by Sandoz, which merged with Ciba-Geigy in 1996, and led to the creation of Novartis.

Morning glory: Argyreia nervosa (Hawaiian Baby Woodrose), Ipomoea spp.