Lasmiditan – another new drug for acute treatment of migraines.
Lasmiditan (Rayvow) is the first (and probably the last) drug in the class of ditans. Just like the triptans (sumatriptan or Imitrex and other), it works through the serotonin system. However, it activates 5-HT1F serotonin receptor, while triptans activate 5-HT1B and 5-HT1D receptors. This confers an advantage in that lasmiditan does not cause constriction of coronary arteries, which can happen with triptans . So patients with a history of a heart attack, angina or multiple risk factors for vascular disease who could not take triptans, now have another drug that is safe to use. The first acute migraine drug for this at-risk population, ubrogepant (Ubrelvy) became available a week ago. Lasmiditan will reach pharmacies in the next few days.
I will also prescribe lasmiditan to patients for whom triptans and ubrogepant are ineffective, partially effective, or cause side effects, which constitutes a sizable minority of my patients. .
Results of two large double-blind trials showed that 28-39% of patients achieved fast and complete elimination of migraine pain at two hours with lasmiditan as compared to 15% and 21% with placebo. 41-49% of patients achieved freedom from their most bothersome symptom of sensitivity to light, sensitivity to sound, or nausea at two hours with lasmiditan compared to 30% and 33% with placebo.
Lasmiditan is available in 50 mg and 100 mg tablets and the recommended dose is 50, 100, or 200 mg taken once a day.
Side effects were generally mild to moderate and the most frequent ones included dizziness, fatigue, tingling, drowsiness, nausea, and muscle weakness. Two driving studies showed that lasmiditan may cause significant driving impairment.
Lasmiditan is a non-narcotic medication, has low abuse potential and no evidence of physical dependence. It is a controlled substance but is in category 5, which indicates the lowest level of potential risk of abuse.
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