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        New Message Board Archives >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies 2002 >> Zyprexa (olanzapine)--for Chronic headache
        
(Message started by: Bob_Johnson on Sep 2^nd, 2002, 8:37am)

Title: Zyprexa (olanzapine)--for Chronic headache
Post by Bob_Johnson on Sep 2^nd, 2002, 8:37am

Title: Olanzapine Effective For Chronic Headache But Should Be Used With Caution

Journal of Head and Face Pain 20022 vol42 No 6 pp 515-518 "Olanzapine in the Treatment of Refractory Migraine and Chronic Daily Headache"
08/30/2002 11:45:43 AM
By Veronica Rose

Patients with refractory headache, including those who failed to benefit from other prophylactic agents, may be effectively treated with olanzapine. Caution is advised, however, for its use among patients who also have mania, bipolar disorder, psychotic depression or those previously treated successfully with other neuroleptic medications. This new antipsychotic drug, has pharmacologic properties suggesting it might be an effective therapy for headaches. In addition, it has a low propensity for the induction of extrapyramidal reactions or tardive dyskinesia. Subsequently, American researchers at the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, assessed the therapeutic value of olanzapine for chronic refractory headache in 50 patients for the minimum of three months. They had all received at least four preventive medications, which failed. Patients were given olanzapine at varying doses from 2.5 to 35 mg daily. Nineteen were given 5mg daily while 17 received 10mg. Response from this therapy provided a statistically significant decrease in the number of headache days relative to baseline. This ranged from 27.5 ± 4.9 before treatment, to 21.1 ± 10.7 after therapy. Researchers also established that the degree of headache severity differed significantly from pretreatment levels (8.7 ± 1.6) and post therapy (2.2 ± 2.1).