A small number of my patients take triptan medications daily. Many doctors, including neurologists and headache specialists think that taking these drugs daily makes headaches worse, resulting in rebound, or medication overuse headaches (MOH). However, there is no evidence to support this view. Sumatriptan (Imitrex, Treximet), rizatriptan (Maxalt), zolmitriptan (Zomig), naratriptan (Amerge), eletriptan (Relpax), almotriptan (Axert), and frovatriptan (Frova) have revolutionized the treatment of migraines. I started my career in 1986, five years before the introduction of sumatriptan when treatment options were limited to ergots with and without caffeine (Cafergot), barbiturates with caffeine and acetaminophen (Fioricet), and narcotic or opioid drugs (codeine, Vicodin, Percocet). These drugs were not only ineffective for many migraine sufferers, but they also made headaches worse. Dr. Richard Lipton and his colleagues followed over 8,000 patients with migraine headaches for one year. Results of their study showed that taking barbiturates (Fioricet, Fiorinal) and narcotic pain killers increased the risk of migraines become more frequent and even daily and resulting in chronic migraines. We know from many other studies that withdrawal from caffeine and narcotics can result in headaches. However, taking triptans and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as aspirin (Migralex), naproxen (Aleve), ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) does not lead to worsening of headaches. Only those patients who were taking NSAIDs very frequently to begin with were more likely to develop even more frequent headaches at the end of the year. Aspirin, in fact, was found to have preventive properties – if you were taking aspirin for your migraines at the beginning of the year you were less likely to have worsening of your headaches by the end of the year.
There are also studies showing that NSAIDs taken daily can be effective for the prophylactic (preventive) treatment of migraine headaches. Unfortunately, no studies have been done to show that taking triptans daily can also prevent headaches.
Over the years, I have treated dozens patients with daily triptans. Prescribing sumatriptan or another triptan for daily use was never my original intent. However, most of these patients failed multiple preventive medications, Botox injections, various supplements, biofeedback and acupuncture. Because of the widespread belief that triptans cause rebound headaches most of them tried to stop taking these drugs. After a week or even several weeks, their headaches did not improve, as should be the case with rebound or MOH. In fact, most of them became unable to function and I would resume prescribing 30 and up to 60 tablets of a triptan each month. Sometimes I would prescribe 6 of one, 9 of another, and 18 tablets of the third triptan, depending on what the insurance company would allow. For some patients all triptans work equally well, for some several do, and for others only one out of seven would provide good relief without causing side effects.
The cost of these drugs, even after sumatriptan going generic, has been very high and is now the main obstacle for most patients. The original main concern we had early after the introduction of triptans was the potential serious side effects. But now, 20 years of experience strongly suggests that taking triptans daily does not cause any serious long-term side effects. I do not suggest that they cannot or do not cause serious side effects – they can and do and are contraindicated in patients with coronary artery disease and strokes, but in healthy people they are very safe. For the past several years, triptans have been available in Europe without a prescription.
In conclusion, daily triptans can be a highly effective and safe treatment for a small group of patients with chronic migraine headaches. They should not be prescribed for the prevention of migraines or for daily abortive use, unless other options (excluding barbiturate, caffeine, or narcotics) have been tried.
A recent national survey called the “Harris Poll Migraine Report Card” provides insight into the profound impact migraine has on people’s lives, especially those dealing with frequent attacks and high acute medication use. The survey compared those currently experiencing high-frequency migraine (8 or more attack days per month) and using acute medication on 10 or more days per month, to those who previously had this pattern but now have reduced attack frequency and medication use.
Most respondents were first diagnosed with migraine or headache disorders in their mid-20s. However, despite meeting criteria for migraine, one-third did not self-identify as having migraine disease. This underscores how migraine is still underrecognized and misdiagnosed, with people often being mislabeled with terms like “stress headache.”
Regardless of diagnosis, the burden was clear – over 50% reported a negative impact on their overall quality of life. What’s more, at least half had experienced anxiety or depression, with almost half to over half saying migraine negatively affected their mental/emotional health. These findings align with prior research showing a significant burden can start at just 4 monthly migraine days.
In an attempt to improve their condition, most made lifestyle changes like stress management, limiting caffeine and improving diet. However, their treatment choices differed – those with more frequent migraine were more likely to use newer acute treatments like gepants, diclofenac and dihydroergotamine compared to the other group using more NSAIDs, triptans and ergotamines. The high-frequency group was also more inclined to try non-pharmacological options like supplements, marijuana, massage and physical therapy.
The use of prophylactic medications was low in both groups – about 15%. There are several potential reasons including lack of access to neurologists or even primary care doctors, lack of efficacy and side effects of existing drugs, and clinicians not encouraging the use of preventive medications.
The difference between these two groups could at least in part relate to the older age of the previous high-frequency group (mean age, 47 years vs 41), as age-related improvement can occur over time.
Interestingly, the high-frequency group had poorer optimization of their current acute treatments compared to those who previously experienced high frequency but reduced their attack frequency.
This brings the controversial issue of acute medication overuse into focus – does the suboptimal acute treatment lead to frequent use of medications, rather than the current widely accepted dogma that postulates that frequent use leads to more frequent headaches?
There is evidence that caffeine and opioid analgesics make headaches worse. The evidence for triptans and NSAIDs is based purely on correlational studies. Yes, I occasionally see patients improve when they stop or reduce their intake of NSAIDs or triptans. More often improvement comes from instituting effective preventive therapies along with lifestyle changes. NSAIDs have been proven to be effective for the prevention of migraine attacks and I have dozens of patients whose migraines are well-controlled with daily prophylactic or acute use of triptans. The safety of triptans is greater than that of NSAIDs and most prophylactic medications such as antidepressants and epilepsy drugs.
The concept of acute medication “overuse” may be unhelpful and stigmatizing, as it suggests frequent attacks are the patient’s fault rather than a disease manifestation. Optimizing acute treatments may naturally reduce the need for frequent medication use as attacks improve.
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Sumatriptan (Imitrex) and other triptans have been available without a prescription in all European countries for over a decade. A new study by Austrian researchers published in the current issue of Headache confirms the outstanding safety of these drugs.
The study looked at 13,833 people over 50 years of age who were prescribed a triptan in 2011, the year before triptans became available over-the-counter. The comparison group included 41,400 triptan non-users. Of the 13,833, 19% were older than 65. The researchers established that 16% “overused” triptans, defined as getting more than 30 doses in a 90-day period, although the concept of “overuse” clearly lacks a scientific basis.
They discovered that those who were taking triptans did not spend more time in a hospital. They also did not have a higher frequency of heart attacks, hypertension, irregular heartbeats (arrhythmias), strokes, circulation problems in their extremities, or other vascular problems. This was true even for those who “overused” triptans.
These findings are consistent with the “Consensus Statement: Cardiovascular Safety Profile of Triptans in the Acute Treatment of Migraine” by the Triptan Cardiovascular Safety Expert Panel published in 2004. It states “The incidence of serious cardiovascular events with triptans in clinical trials and clinical practice appears to be extremely low “.
Unfortunately, in the US triptans are available only by prescription. About 15 years ago, the FDA blocked an application by the American Home Products (a company that Pfizer later acquired) to launch over-the-counter sumatriptan. This greatly restricts access to a highly effective and safe migraine drug. Many physicians remain under the impression that triptans cause heart attacks, strokes, and other dangerous side effects. My patients often tell me that this is what their previous doctor warned them about.
It is clear that triptans are safer than Excedrin, aspirin, ibuprofen, or naproxen. Several dozen of my patients have been taking triptans daily for years. They do not have medication overuse headaches, do not suffer any long-term side effects, and do enjoy disability-free life.
Read MoreIf you are “overusing” acute migraine medications, preventive migraine treatments still work very well. This was the conclusion of a study that was just published in the journal of the American Academy of Neurology, Neurology.
The concept of medication overuse headache (MOH) has remained controversial. The majority of headache specialists believe in its existence. And that is what it is, a belief. There are correlational studies showing that those who take acute migraine drugs tend to have them more often as time goes on. This obviously does not mean that the drug is responsible for the increase in frequency. It is more likely that people take drugs more often because their headaches have gotten worse. There is proof for the existence of MOH only for two drugs – caffeine and opioid (narcotic) pain drugs. Triptans and NSAIDs have no such proof and in my 30 years of experience, they rarely cause MOH.
The daily use of triptans is the topic of my most popular post in the 15 years of writing this blog. It received about 400 comments. Many people commented how relieved they are that taking triptans daily can be safe and effective. They often lament that they can’t get their doctors to prescribe a sufficient quantity of pills.
I am not suggesting that taking triptans daily is the first or second option. It is always better to try Botox and non-drug approaches. Taking a triptan daily, however, is probably safer than taking FRA-approved epilepsy drugs such as topiramate (Topamax) or divalproex (Depakote), or even an antidepressant.
The article in Neurology describes a large study with over 700 participants who were “overusing” acute migraine medications. Half of them were taken off these drugs and started on preventive therapies and the other half were given preventive therapies without stopping acute drugs. Both groups did equally well. This goes against the old dogma that preventive therapies will be ineffective if the daily abortive drugs are not stopped first. The most common preventive treatments in this study were topiramate, Botox, and amitriptyline (Elavil).
Read MoreWhen sumatriptan (Imitrex) was introduced in 1992 it was truly a breakthrough drug – the first drug specifically developed for the acute treatment of migraines. Sumatriptan and six other triptans have alleviated suffering of millions of people. Sumatriptan is considered to be the gold standard therapy for an acute migraine. Unfortunately, 27 years later many millions of migraine sufferers have not had a chance to try these drugs.
A study by R. Lipton and his colleagues presented earlier this year surveyed 15,133 migraine sufferers. Only 37% had ever used a triptan and only 16% were using them at the time of the survey. Most patients used tablets, but 11% also tried either a nasal spray or an injection. Lack of efficacy (in 38%) and side effects (in 22%) were the most common reason for stopping the drug and the most common side effects were dizziness, nausea, and fatigue.
My guess is that lack of efficacy is often due to the suboptimal dose of a triptan that is often prescribed. I see many patients who tell me that they’ve tried sumatriptan and it did not work, but many of them took 25 or 50 mg, while an effective dose for most patients is 100 mg. Most other triptans are also available in two different strengths and the lower, less effective dose is often prescribed.
Another common problem is that patients who fail one triptan due to side effects or lack of efficacy are not prescribed a different triptan. Many of my patients find that one triptan is more effective than another or if one triptan causes side effects, a different one may not. Also, if a tablet does not work, an injection or a nasal spray might, especially in patients with a quick buildup of pain or when nausea is present.
A big reason for the underutilization of triptans is misdiagnosis of headaches. Almost half of migraine sufferers are told that they have sinus or tension headaches, which means they are missing out on receiving effective treatment.
Safety of triptans is a concern of many physicians and patients. The package insert warns about strokes and heart attacks and it is true that if you have untreated hypertension, coronary artery disease or many risk factors for coronary artery disease it is better to avoid triptans. However, triptans have been available without a prescription for over 10 years in most European countries.
A panel of leading headache specialists published a “Consensus Statement: Cardiovascular Safety Profile of Triptans in the Acute Treatment of Migraine” that states “The incidence of serious cardiovascular events with triptans in both clinical trials and clinical practice appears to be extremely low “.
Another unfounded concern of many physicians is that frequent use of triptans will make migraines more frequent and severe. There is no good scientific evidence for this concern. You can read my two previous blog posts on this topic here and here. The first of these two posts is by far the most popular on this site with over 300 comments. Many patients report how relieved they are to hear that they are not risking their lives by taking triptans often or even daily and also how frustrated they are not being able to find a doctor who would prescribe a sufficient amount of this medicine.
Sumatriptan was first released in a pack of 9 tablets, but not because it was dangerous to take more, but mostly because this was the average number of tablets people used in one month in clinical trials. Cost used to be another limiting factor and some insurers still limit triptans to 6 or 9 tablets a month. However, generic sumatriptan now can be found for as little as $12-20, so patients can bypass their insurance and buy as many additional tablets as they might need.
Read MoreCaffeine and opioid (narcotic) drugs, if taken regularly, are proven to worsen headaches. This will not come as a surprise to anyone drinking large amounts of coffee – skipping your morning cup will leave you with a headache. Taking too much Excedrin, Fioricet, or Percocet will also make you want to take these drugs more and more often and with diminishing relief. However, most neurologists and headache specialists believe that triptans (sumatriptan, rizatriptan, et al.) and NSAIDs (naproxen, ibuprofen, et al.) can also cause “medication overuse headaches”. This remains a belief, rather than a scientific fact and it leads to thousands of headache sufferers being unfairly accused of causing or worsening their own headaches. They are being denied a safe and effective treatment that could relieve their suffering and reduce disability. My most popular blog post that so far has elicited 247 comments, is one on the daily use of triptans.
Drs. Ann Scher of Uniformed Services University, Paul Rizzoli and Elizabeth Loder of Brigham and Women’s Hospital have just published an article in a leading neurology journal, Neurology, entitled, Medication overuse headache. An entrenched idea in need of scrutiny. Last year I described a debate on this topic between Dr. Scher and Dr. Richard Lipton of the Montefiore Headache Clinic at the meeting of the American Headache Society. The abstract of this new article can be easily understood by the lay public, so I am including its full text.
“It is a widely accepted idea that medications taken to relieve acute headache pain can paradoxically worsen headache if used too often. This type of secondary headache is referred to as medication overuse headache (MOH); previously used terms include rebound headache and drug-induced headache. In the absence of consensus about the duration of use, amount, and type of medication needed to cause MOH, the default position is conservative. A common recommendation is to limit treatment to no more than 10 or 15 days per month (depending on medication type) to prevent headache frequency progression. Medication withdrawal is often recommended as a first step in treatment of patients with very frequent headaches. Existing evidence, however, does not provide a strong basis for such causal claims about the relationship between medication use and frequent headache. Observational studies linking treatment patterns with headache frequency are by their nature confounded by indication. Medication withdrawal studies have mostly been uncontrolled and often have high dropout rates. Evaluation of this evidence suggests that only a minority of patients required to limit the use of symptomatic medication may benefit from treatment limitation. Similarly, only a minority of patients deemed to be overusing medications may benefit from withdrawal. These findings raise serious questions about the value of withholding or withdrawing symptom-relieving medications from people with frequent headaches solely to prevent or treat MOH. The benefits of doing so are smaller, and the harms larger, than currently recognized. The concept of MOH should be viewed with more skepticism. Until the evidence is better, we should avoid dogmatism about the use of symptomatic medication. Frequent use of symptom-relieving headache medications should be viewed more neutrally, as an indicator of poorly controlled headaches, and not invariably a cause.”
Read MoreMedication overuse headache (MOH), which is sometimes called rebound headache, is included in the International Classification of Headache Disorders. However, this is one of several headache types whose existence is still debated. After years of indocrination, most neurologists and headache specialists strongly believe that every drug taken for acute treatment of headaches can cause MOH. However, we have good evidence only for caffeine and for opioid (narcotic) pain medications. It is far from proven in case of triptans (sumatriptan or Imitrex, and other) or NSAIDs (ibuprofen or Advil, naproxen or Aleve, and other).
Last week, I attended the annual scientific meeting of the American Headache Society (AHS) and was happy to see that despite an almost universal acceptance of the diagnosis of MOH, the organizers set up a debate on the existence of MOH. The debaters included two top experts in the field, Drs. Richard Lipton of Montefiore Headache Clinic in the Bronx and Ann Scher of the Uniformed Services University in Bethesda. Dr. Lipton and Scher have collaborated on many research projects and have published many important articles on headaches together, so the debate was friendly and based on facts.
Dr. Scher quoted the American Council on Headache Education, an affiliate of the AHS:
“It is important to know that intake of medications for acute treatment should be limited to less than twice a week. Some methods which can prevent the onset of medication overuse headache include following instructions on how to take medications, avoid use of opioid medications and butalbital combination medications and limit use of simple analgesics to less than 15 days a month and triptans less than 10 days a month”.
And then she posed a question: How many are being harmed vs helped by this advice?
While Dr. Lipton quoted scientific articles supporting the existence of MOH, Dr. Scher’s conclusions reflected my clinical experience that MOH is not a proven entity as it relates to triptans and NSAIDs. I see it only in those who overuse caffeine or caffeine-containing drugs (Excedrin, Fioricet, etc) or narcotic pain killers (Percocet or oxycodone, Vicodin or hydrocodone, and other).
Dr. Scher concluded that, “Since the existence of MOH has not been proven (and may be non-provable for practical purposes), one is obligated to remain agnostic about this entity. And the corollary is that there is no evidence that undertreating will prevent headache frequency progression and may harm more people than help”.
In fact, the same headache experts who limit abortive therapies to twice a week, recommend aggressive abortive therapy for migraines because undertreatment of episodic migraine can lead to its transformation into chronic migraine.
She also indicated that “Quality of evidence for medication withdrawal alone as treatment for MOH is poor” and “Medication withdrawal alone is not clearly better than doing nothing and may be worse”. Meaning that in addition to withdrawal of the acute medication, patients should be given prophylactic treatment.
Studies indicate that after one year, 60% and after two years, 70% of those with chronic migraines (15 or more headache days in a month) revert to episodic ones (less than 15 headache days a month) regardless of treatment. In 15% headaches decrease to less than one a week. This is because fortunately, migraines often improve with time on their own.
We have evidence that Botox injections and some preventive medications can make discontinuation of acute medications easier. We always try to stop Fioricet (butalbital, acetaminophen, and caffeine), Fiorinal (butalbital, aspirin, and caffeine), Excedrin (caffeine, acetaminophen, aspirin) with the help of regular aerobic exercise, biofeedback or meditation, magnesium and other supplements, Botox injections, and sometimes preventive medications.
However, we do have several dozen patients whose headaches are controlled by the daily intake of triptans. These patients have tried given prophylactic medications, Botox injections and other treatments, but find that only triptans provide good relief and eliminate migraine-related disability. The most commented on post on this blog (with 175 comments to date) is one on the daily use of triptans.
Read MoreMy most commented on blog post (over 150 comments) is on the daily use of triptans. A new report confirms the safety of long-term daily use of sumatriptan injections in cluster patients. Cluster headaches are arguably the most severe type of headaches and the name comes from the fact that they tend to occur in clusters lasting several weeks to several months. However, in some patients headaches become persistent without any remissions and then they are called chronic cluster headaches. The only FDA approved treatment for cluster headaches is injectable sumatriptan (Imitrex). Most patients have one cluster attack in 24 hours, but some have many. A report mentioned in one of my other previous blogs describes a woman (although men are more commonly affected by cluster headaches) who has been injecting sumatriptan daily on average 20 times a day for 15 years.
A recent report by Massimo Leone and Alberto Cecchini is entitled, Long-term use of daily sumatriptan injections in severe drug-resistant chronic cluster headache.
The authors investigated occurrence of serious side effects in patients with chronic cluster headaches who were using sumatriptan injections continuously at least twice daily (the official limit) for at least 2 years. They found fifty three such patients with chronic cluster headaches seen in their clinic between 2003 and 2014. During the 2-year period, all patients were carefully followed with regular visits at their center. Headaches and sumatriptan consumption were recorded in headache diaries. Patients were questioned at each visit about serious side effects and had at least two electrocardiograms. Brain MRI was normal in all patients. None of the patients had a history of stroke, TIA, ischemic heart disease, myocardial infarction, or arrhythmia, or diseases affecting systemic vessels.
In the 2-year study period, no serious side effects were observed and no patients needed to discontinue sumatriptan use. No electrocardiogram abnormalities were found. All patients needed a full dose (6 mg) of sumatriptan injection (prefilled syringes with 4 and 6 mg available). At the end of the study period, 42% noticed some reduction in the efficacy of sumatriptan injections both in terms of time of onset of effect and on pain intensity, but still considered the drug their first choice to treat the attacks.
In the study period, 36 of the 52 patients (69%) used more than 12 mg of sumatriptan in 24 hours (maximum 36 mg in 24 hours) but no increase in number or severity of side effects was observed during the course of the study. Complete loss of efficacy was not reported by any of the patients.
The authors mention that since the launch of sumatriptan injections in 1992 and until 1998, approximately 451 serious cardiac side effects have been reported to occur within 24 hours after administration of sumatriptan injections, tablets or nasal spray, but this is out of more than 236 million migraine attacks and more than 9 million patient exposures between 1992 and 1998. The majority of patients who developed serious cardiac events within 1 to 3 hours of sumatriptan administration had risk factors for coronary artery disease.
The authors concluded that their results showed that long-term daily sumatriptan use in patients free of heart disease did not cause serious side effects and this is in line with observations from previous studies.
Read More“Daily triptan use for intractable migraine” is the title of a report by Dr. Egilius Spierings published in the latest issue of the journal Headache. This is a controversial topic, which I addressed in a previous post. Dr. Spierings, who is affiliated with both Tufts Medical Center and Harvard Medical School presents a case of a 50-year-old woman who failed trials of multiple preventive medications. This woman responded well to sumatriptan, 100 mg, which she took daily and occasionally twice a day with excellent relief and no side effects. Dr. Spierings discusses the evidence for Medication Overuse Headaches (MOH), which is common with caffeine-containing drugs, butalbital (a barbiturate), and opioid drugs (narcotics). It is less clear whether triptans cause MOH and he mentions that most patients who end up taking a daily triptan do so only after they failed many preventive (prophylactic) drugs and after they discover that they can have a normal life if they take a triptan daily. This applies not only to sumatriptan, but any other similar drug, such as Amerge (naratriptan), Zomig (zolmitriptan), Maxalt (rizatriptan), Relpax (eletriptan), and other. After 20 years of being on the market, we have no evidence that these drugs have any long-term side effects. In Europe several of these drugs are sold without a prescription. The major obstacle to their daily use has been the cost. However, several of these medications are now available in a generic form and a 100 mg sumatriptan tablet costs as little as $1.50.
Read MorePregnant women are admonished not to take any medications while pregnant. Fortunately, two out of three women stop having migraines during pregnancy, especially during the second and third trimester. Unfortunately, one third of women continue having migraines and in some they get worse. Tylenol (acetaminophen), which is deemed to be the safest pain medicine in pregnancy is also the weakest pain killer and does nothing to relieve the agony of a migraine attack. Many obstetricians say that they are also “comfortable” giving drugs containing butalbital (a barbiturate) and caffeine along with acetaminophen (Fioricet) because these drugs have been around for many years. However, barbiturates are really not good for the developing brain while regular intake of caffeine can cause worsening of migraine headaches. Narcotic (opioid) analgesics are not exactly healthy either. Not taking any medications is also harmful to the mother and the fetus because severe pain causes serious distress to both and vomiting, which often accompanies migraines, can cause dehydration. Not treating migraine attacks may also lead to chronic migraines with pain present continuously. So, what is a pregnant woman to do?
At the recent annual meeting of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists several doctors expressed their preference for the use of triptans in pregnant women. Sumatriptan (Imitrex) was first introduced 20 years ago and a registry of women who took sumatriptan during pregnancy suggests that this is a safe drug. Pregnancy registry for rizatriptan (Maxalt), which is the second triptan to come to the market 15 years ago, also suggests that it is a safe drug. Of course, it cannot be said that these drugs are proven to be safe for pregnant women because some yet undetected risk may still be present. However, compared to the alternatives and considering that triptans are much more effective, it is logical to recommend their use in pregnancy.
Besides treating an acute attack with triptans we always recommend preventive measures, such as magnesium supplementation (400 mg, on top of what is in a prenatal vitamin, which is usually only 100 mg), biofeedback, regular sleep, and exercise.
Preventive drugs that can cause major problems in the fetus and are contraindicated in pregnancy include divalproex (Depakote) and topiramate (Topamax). On the other hand, Botox is probably a safe preventive treatment in pregnant women suffering from chronic migraine headaches.
Art credit: JulieMauskop.com
Daily and prolonged intake of high doses of triptan medications (sumatriptan, or Imitrex, rizatriptan, or Maxalt, eletriptan, or Relpax and 4 others) has been shown to be safe in at least three clinical reports. I also have a few patients who have good control of their headaches and no side effects after many years of taking high doses of triptans daily. (I am not suggesting that it is healthy to take any medicine daily for years, but some people have no other choice because without this treatment they are disabled). A report just published in The Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics describes a patient who also was taking high doses of triptans daily (zolmitriptan or Zomig and frovatriptan or Frova tablets and sumatriptan injections), but who developed severe depression on two occasions when the triptans were stopped suddenly. The first bout of depression was very difficult to treat despite trials of several antidepressant drugs (amitriptyline, or Elavil, mirtazapine, or Remeron, and duloxetine, or Cymbalta, with addition of quetiapine, or Seroquel). All these antidepressants work through the serotonin system. His second bout of depression responded very well to bupropion (Wellbutrin), an antidepressant that works on norepinephrine and dopamine, rather than serotonin. This report suggests that while it may be safe to take triptans daily for a long time, they can affect the serotonin mechanisms in the brain and that they should never be stopped suddenly. Another important lesson is that if depression does develop after stopping daily triptans, the preferred drug may be bupropion.
Photo credit: JulieMauskop.com
Pregnant women who take NSAIDs such as naproxen (Aleve), ibuprofen (Advil), diclofenac (Volaren, Cambia), celecoxib (Celebrex), and other are two and a half times more likely to have a miscarriage. This is a finding of Canadian researchers who examined the records of 4,705 women who had a miscarriage. Surprisingly, they did not find that the risk was higher with a higher dose of NSAIDs. NSAIDs are particularly dangerous in the third trimester, when they can also cause heart problems in the fetus. Instead of NSAIDs pregnant women can try taking acetaminophen (Tylenol), which unfortunately is not a very effective pain killer. Narcotic or opioid drugs, such as codeine, Vicodin and similar drugs are not safe in pregnancy either, but can be used occasionally, although they are not very effective for migraine headaches. Triptans, such as sumatriptan (Imitrex), rizatriptan (Maxalt), eletriptan (Relpax) and other while not approved for pregnant women, may be safer and much more effective than either NSAIDs or narcotics. If a pregnant woman has frequent headaches, prevention with intravenous magnesium, biofeedback, and Botox injections should be tried before resorting to daily preventive drugs.
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