Three times as many women are afflicted by migraines as men, according to many large studies. However, 6% of men do suffer from migraines and that means 9 million American men. However, in our clinic, instead of 75%, over 90% of patients are women. Men are often dragged into the office by their wife, girlfriend, or mother.

A new study presented at the recent meeting of the American Headache Society confirms this observation. Dr. Anne Scher and her colleagues established that men are less likely to see a doctor and when they do see one, they are less likely than women to be given the diagnosis of migraine. Only 59% of men with migraines were given the correct diagnosis, while this number was 77% for women. This is probably due to the perception of migraine as a disease of women. The reasons for misdiagnosis in both sexes include the notion that every migraine sufferer has to have a visual aura (it is present only in about 20%), or that the headache has to be one-sided, or the person has to have nausea. In fact, all of the typical migraine features do not have to be present. It is sufficient to have nausea and throbbing pain or light sensitivity and inability to function normally, or light and noise sensitivity and one-sided throbbing pain, etc.

Migraines are often misdiagnosed as sinus headaches because in some people migraine is accompanied by a clear nasal discharge or because the pain is localized in the area of sinuses. True sinus headaches are usually accompanied by yellow or green nasal discharge.

Migraines can be also mistaken for tension-type headaches, but tension-type headaches are milder and never severe, not accompanied by nausea and other symptoms, and typically respond to over-the-counter medications.

One type of headaches that is significantly more common in men, is cluster headache. Cluster headaches are also often misdiagnosed as migraine or sinus headache. The name comes from the fact that these headaches occur in clusters – every day for a month or two and then they go away for a year or longer. The pain is extremely intense, always one-sided and localized around the eye, usually accompanied by tearing and runny nose on the side of the headache. These headaches tend to wake the person from sleep, but can occur during the day and last anywhere from half an hour to a few hours. Some of the treatments for cluster headaches are different from those for migraines, so a correct diagnosis is crucial. There are many posts on this blog and an article on our site devoted to cluster headaches, so please do a search if you are interested in learning more.

Hemiplegic and basilar migraine are rare types of migraine. Hemiplegic migraine is accompanied by a paralysis of one side of the body. Basilar migraine derives its name from the basilar artery, which supplies blood to the brainstem. Symptoms of brainstem dysfunction (double vision, unsteady gait, vertigo, difficulty speaking) made doctors think that ischemia or lack of blood flow in that artery caused these symptoms. We now know that this is not the case and basilar migraine may be just another form of migraine with aura.

The FDA ruled that sumatriptan (Imitrex), other triptans, and ergotamines (DHE-45, Cafergot) are contraindicated in patients with basilar and hemiplegic migraine because of the unsubstantiated fear that these drugs may cause constriction of blood vessels that might be already constricted resulting in a stroke. There is little evidence that symptoms of hemiplegic and basilar migraine are caused by the constriction of blood vessels. It is most likely due to the dysfunction of the brain cells. In addition, constriction of blood vessels by the triptans is very mild.

A study just published in the journal Headache examined 67 patients with basilar and 13 with hemiplegic migraines who were treated with triptans and dihydroergotamine (DHE-45). None of these patients suffered a stroke or a heart attack.

This is not the first report of the safe use of triptans in the treatment of basilar and hemiplegic migraines. Although the total number of patients reported is small, it appears that triptans and ergots are probably safe in these types of migraines. Some doctors are afraid to prescribe triptans to such patients out of fear of litigation. There is a good chance that the next edition of the classification of headache disorders will no longer include basilar migraine because it is recognized as being just a form of migraine with aura. Ergots and triptans are not contraindicated in migraine with aura.

Sumatriptan (Imitrex) and similar drugs (so called triptans) are “designer” drugs that were specifically developed for the treatment of migraine headaches. They are very effective, but do not help all migraine sufferers. Anti-inflammatory pain killers, such as aspirin and ibuprofen work well for some people and sometimes these drugs are combined with triptans to achieve better relief.

Many migraineurs experience nausea and sometimes vomiting as part of their migraine, which prevents or delays the absorption of medicine, making it ineffective or less effective. To address this problem, two of the triptans, sumatriptan and zolmitriptan (Zomig) are available in a nasal spray form. Sumatriptan can be also self-administered as an injection and recently a skin patch of sumatriptan (Zecuity) became available. An anti-inflammatory pain medicine, ketorolac is also available as a nasal spray, as does a narcotic pain killer, Stadol (butorphanol). While Stadol is addictive and has other serious side effects, intranasal ketorolac (Sprix) is a very good pain medication. Sprix works much better than the ketorolac tablet, but not as well as an injection of ketorolac (Toradol).

Intranasal ketorolac was compared with intranasal sumatriptan in a study that was recently published in the journal Headache. The study showed that ketorolac and sumatriptan nasal sprays were equally effective and both were better than placebo spray. Both drugs caused nasal irritation and unpleasant taste in some patients, but these were not severe.

The main problem with intranasal ketorolac is its cost. On GoodRx.com the price of 5 vials of Sprix (with a coupon) is about $1,000. Each vial is good for one day of use; it contains 8 sprays (15 mg each) and the usual dose is one spray into each nostril, repeated every 6 hours as needed. However, there is a way around the cost of this medication. Ten 30 mg vials of generic ketorolac for injections cost $15. You just need to buy a nasal spray bottle, empty the contents of the vial into it and use it as needed.