Clusterheadaches.com Message Board


    
      
        Clusterheadaches.com Message Board
        (http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi)
      

        Cluster Headache Help and Support >> Cluster Headache Specific >> Zomig
        
(Message started by: Karen13 on Sep 24^th, 2007, 9:19pm)

Title: Zomig
Post by Karen13 on Sep 24^th, 2007, 9:19pm

I've been reading these boards for some time now and I haven't really seen anyone talk about Zomig. I've been getting CH's for 28 years now - cycle high, cycle low - and nothing has ever stopped one of these within minutes for me other than Zomig - at least this episode. This one has gone for almost 4 months now and I was 3 months into it when I tried the Zomig and now a month later I haven't had a CH in 3 days. Has anyone else tried this with any luck? Just curious.

Title: Re: Zomig
Post by UN solved on Sep 24^th, 2007, 10:16pm

Yes, there are some here that use Zomig. It's one of our Triptans :P Glad you found something that is helping !

Pain free wishes

UNsolved 8)

Title: Re: Zomig
Post by Mr. Happy on Sep 24^th, 2007, 10:49pm

I'd be one of the ones voting for Zomig 5 mg nasal.

Just one.
RJ

Title: Re: Zomig
Post by Kevin_M on Sep 24^th, 2007, 11:37pm

I'd rather use it than Imitrex from what I've heard but insurance had previously ok'd Imitrex in better quantity back when. Using far less now but haven't rocked the boat since chronic and its needed for work at times of year, short supply not an option those times.

Title: Re: Zomig
Post by sandie99 on Sep 25^th, 2007, 3:42am

Karen,

I'm glad that you've found a med which helps you. :)

My experiences with zomig was not that successful. I tried it back in spring 2004. I had zomig nasal spray and it did absolutely nothing to my ch, but I did get painful side effects for several hours - and they begun within minutes after I took it. (I am aware that my body does react badly with many meds and more than that, quickly.)

Wishing us all PF days,
Sanna

Title: Re: Zomig
Post by thomas on Sep 26^th, 2007, 11:17am

Zomig is my number one choice of triptans.

Title: Re: Zomig
Post by Racer1_NC on Sep 26^th, 2007, 11:49am

on 09/26/07 at 11:17:49, thomas wrote:

Zomig is my number one choice of triptans.

It's mine as well.

Title: Re: Zomig
Post by Bob_Johnson on Sep 27^th, 2007, 8:51am

"CHICAGO, IL -- September 12, 2006 -- Zolmitriptan nasal spray, used to treat migraine headaches, also may be safe and effective in treating painful cluster headaches, according to an article posted online today that will appear in the November 2006 print issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

"Because some patients dropped out of the study or did not have enough headaches during the study period, 69 patients were included in the final analysis, which was based on 65 attacks treated with 5 milligrams of zolmitriptan nasal spray, 63 attacks treated with a 10-milligram dose and 61 attacks treated with placebo. Patients reported headache relief after 30 minutes in 38 (61%) of the attacks treated with the 10-milligram dose, 27 (42%) of those treated with the 5-milligram dose and 14 (23%) of those treated with placebo. Thirty-one patients (50%) taking 10 milligrams of the nasal spray were pain-free at 30 minutes, compared with 18 (28%) of those taking the 5-milligram dose and 10 (16%) who took placebo."

(Doc Guide)
=========
Neurology. 2007 Aug 28;69(9):821-6. Related Articles, Links

Zolmitriptan nasal spray in the acute treatment of cluster headache: a double-blind study.

Rapoport AM, Mathew NT, Silberstein SD, Dodick D, Tepper SJ, Sheftell FD, Bigal ME.

Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA. alanrapoport@gmail.com

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of zolmitriptan 5 mg and 10 mg nasal spray (ZNS) vs placebo in the acute treatment of cluster headache. Design/ METHODS: We conducted a multicenter, double-blind, randomized, three-period crossover study using ZNS 5 mg, ZNS 10 mg, and placebo. Headache intensity was rated by a 5-point scale: none, mild, moderate, severe, or very severe. The primary efficacy measure was headache response (pain reduced from moderate, severe, or very severe at baseline, to mild or none) at 30 minutes. Logistic regression was used to account for treatment period effect as well as for cluster headache subtype effect. RESULTS: A total of 52 adult patients treated 151 attacks. For the primary endpoint, both doses reached significance at 30 minutes (placebo = 30%, ZNS 5 mg = 50%, ZNS 10 mg = 63.3%). For headache relief, ZNS 10 mg separated from placebo at 10 minutes (24.5% vs 10%). Zolmitriptan 5 mg separated from placebo at 20 minutes (38.5% vs 20%). For pain-free status, ZNS 10 mg was superior to placebo at 15 minutes (22.0% vs 6%). Both doses had higher pain-free rates than placebo at 30 minutes (placebo = 20%, ZNS 5 mg = 38.5%, ZNS 10 mg = 46.9%). Side effects were mild and seen in 16% of those attacks treated with placebo, 25% of attacks treated with ZNS 5 mg, and 32.7% treated with ZNS 10 mg. Conclusions/Relevance: Zolmitriptan nasal spray, at doses of 5 and 10 mg, is effective and tolerable for the acute treatment of cluster headache.

Publication Types:
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

PMID: 17724283 [PubMed ]

Title: Re: Zomig
Post by DennisM1045 on Nov 9^th, 2007, 11:49am

This is probably from the same study Bob highlighted but it is backfilled with comments from some notable Drs.

Here is a link to the original article: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_54226.html

-Dennis-
----------------------------------------------

THURSDAY, Aug. 30 (HealthDay News) -- The severely painful type of headache called cluster headaches respond to a medication frequently used for migraines, a new study found.

The research shows that zolmitriptan nasal spray -- part of a family of migraine drugs called triptans -- can reduce pain within 10 minutes to 30 minutes, depending upon the dosage, according to Dr. Alan M. Rapoport, the study's lead author.

"People with cluster headaches have such severe headaches they can't stand it. It's the worse type of headache that we know of. It comes on very quickly, so you need to have a medication that works quickly and is easy to use," said Rapoport, who conducted the research when he was director of The New England Center for Headache in Stamford, Conn.

With a spray of zolmitriptan in one nostril (5 milligrams) or two nostrils (10 milligrams), "We've shown [it] will rapidly relieve cluster headaches in a significant number of people," Rapoport said.

The study found that 50 percent of the patients using the lower dose and 63 percent using the higher dose experienced pain reduction within 30 minutes. That compared to only 30 percent of the study participants receiving placebos. At 30 minutes, 46.9 percent of the patients using the high dose and 38.5 percent using the low dose were pain-free.

The new findings were published in the Aug. 28 issue of the journal Neurology. They confirm similar findings in a European study published last year in the Archives of Neurology. Both studies were funded by AstraZeneca, the maker of the zolmitriptan nasal spray.

Cluster headaches are "one-sided" with pain that can "peak" in five minutes and remain severe for 30 minutes to 180 minutes. While they affect less than 1 percent of the U.S. population, they occur much more frequently in men than women, the study authors said.

The most common form of cluster headaches is marked by sudden attacks over periods of one to two months, during which time a person may experience between one and three attacks a day, said Rapoport, now a clinical professor of neurology at the University of California, Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine. About 14 percent of people with cluster headaches have an inherited form that runs in families, he added.

Dr. Charles Flippen, of the UCLA Headache Research and Treatment Program, said the new research "gives us another bow in the quiver, so to speak. It's been established that triptans are effective medication for cluster headaches. Right now, the gold standard is subcutaneous sumatriptan. Because of the delivery method for that medication, there is a relative limit on how many doses you have within a day or week's period of time," he said.

"The [zolmitriptan] nasal spray will allow a little more dosing within that period of time," Flippen said, although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not yet approved this usage or a standard for dosages. The spray is "another method of helping a small but significantly comprised group of patients that suffer from a disorder than has a limited number of therapeutic options," he added.

Rapoport said the 52 study participants, aged 23 to 65, used the zolmitriptan nasal spray at most to manage only three attacks of individual episodes. The study didn't show what side effects might occur with more frequent usage, he added. Before the FDA will consider approval of the drug for cluster headaches, a longer-term study is likely needed, he said.

Dr. Seymour Diamond, executive chairman of the National Headache Foundation, said he is concerned about the use of triptans such as zolmitriptan. He said he'd be "very cautious" about using triptans in anyone over age 55 because of the potential cardiovascular effects.

"I wouldn't mind if a patient took it for one attack, but I would be very hesitant to use it in my practice prophylatically, on a daily basis," Diamond said.

HealthDay

Title: Re: Zomig
Post by sldrswyfe on Nov 9^th, 2007, 4:18pm

I tried Zomig capsules...I don't remember the mg..they were yellow capsules (?)

I was directed to take one at bedtime.

They did nothing other than me fall into a restless sleep and have very vivid, strange dreams...

I've also heard of "zomig sub-lingual tabs"...has anyone ever tried them? If so...how did they work?