Hey there,
Here is an abstract (I have the whole article if you're interested PM me - it is 10 pages) of one prescribed treatment for pregnant women - topiramate is def out of the picture, but a few of the other drugs - verap, sumatriptan, seem to be ok for use according to these folks?? with O2 as the Preferred abortive- I have another short article about a woman that O2 didn't work for in her last few weeks who used nasal lidocaine.
Treatment of cluster headache in pregnancy and lactation.
TP Jurgens, C. Schaefer, A. May.
Cephalalgia. April 2009 v29 i4 p391(10).Byline: TP Jurgens (1,3), C Schaefer (2), A May (3)
Keywords:Cluster headache; pregnancy; lactation; triptan; treatment
Abstract:Cluster headache is a rare disorder in women, but has a serious impact on the affected woman's life,especially on family planning. Women with cluster headache who are pregnant need special support, including the expertise of an experienced headache centre, an experienced gynaecologist and possibly a teratology information centre. The patient should be seen through all stages of the pregnancy. A detailed briefing about the risks and safety of various treatment options is mandatory. In general, both the number of medications and the dosage should be kept as low as possible. Preferred treatments include oxygen, subcutaneous or intranasal sumatriptan for acute pain and verapamil and prednisone/ prednisolone as preventatives. If there is a compelling reason to treat the patient with another preventative, gabapentin is the drug of choice. While breastfeeding, oxygen, sumatriptan and lidocaine for acute pain and prednisone/prednisolone, verapamil, and lithium as preventatives are the drugs of choice. As the individual pharmacokinetics differ substantially, adverse drug effects should be
considered if unexplained symptoms occur in the newborn.
Author Affiliation: (1)Department of Neurology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg,(2)Berlin Institute of Clinical Teratology, Pharmakovigilanz- und Beratungszentrum Embryonaltoxikologie, Berlin, and (3)Department of Systems Neuroscience, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Article History: Received 14 January 2008, accepted 9 August 2008
Article note:Arne May MD, Assistant Professor of Neurology, Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Clinic Hamburg Eppendorf (UKE), Martinistr. 52, D-20246 Hamburg. Tel. + 49-40-42803 9189, fax + 49-40-42803 9955, e-mail: a.may@uke.uni-hamburg.de