medications

Last month a new option was made available to people with migraine in Canada.  That option is another triptan drug - frovatriptan succinate, to be exact, or Frova.

Frova has had its ups and downs.  It has showed some promise particularly for menstrually related migraine.  It was heavily promoted (in a round about way) for menstrual migraine, and so it was quite a blow when, late last year, the American FDA refused to allow it to be labelled as a short term prevention for menstrual migraine.

Still, I take it as a good sign that it’s available in Canada.  In that category of drugs you take when a migraine is coming on (abortives), the triptan drugs have been very helpful.  Not only can they help with headache, they can help with symptoms like nausea.  And not every triptan is helpful for everyone - so the more options available, the better.  If you’ve tried one triptan and haven’t found relief, it’s worth it to try something else.

For more, read the press release about Frova in Canada here.

Popularity: 36% [?]

In a recent article, Dr Brent Bauer (director of the Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program at the Mayo Clinic) noted that more and more supplements are being marketed to target specific health problems.  As you know, it’s not just supplements, but the mainstream painkillers as well.  Is this good or bad?

Well, it’s helpful to target the exact condition you have - the medication is likely to be more effective.  You don’t want to take medicine for something you don’t have.

But sometimes that can be the problem.  Trisha Brandon, a Consumer Reports tester in the US, was quoted in a recent article:  A lot of over-the-counter medicines often have multiple ingredients to treat several symptoms at once, but you may not need all of those ingredients.

Ok, so it’s important to know what you’re taking and why.  Brandon also says: People are self-diagnosing and they’re sometimes getting it wrong.  Or, they may be taking something that’s too strong for them.

For example, some people may think they have a migraine just because they have a bad headache.  Or, they may take something like Excedrin Migraine for a migraine attack, not realizing it’s specifically targeted to treat headaches from migraine, and not other symptoms.

So it pays to learn about these painkillers - stop and read this recent article about Excedrin Migraine.

Popularity: 51% [?]

Novartis is the company, and Excedrin Tension Headache is the brand.  More and more often, companies are trying to market to specific kinds of headaches and pain.  Novartis has also recently come out with Excedrin Back & Body, for example.  Older products such as Quick Tabs Peppermint, marketed more as a general headache treatment, have been discontinued (this is no doubt in part because the Excedrin brand changed hands in 2005; it was formerly owned by Bristol-Myers Squibb).

In light of these changes, and in light of the tremendous popularity of Excedrin products, it’s worth taking a closer look every once in a while.  Although Excedrin Tension Headache and similar products (acetaminophen (paracetamol) and caffeine) are generally considered safe for temporary use with the proper dosage, you do need to be cautious about taking other things at the same time, or if you have certain medical conditions.  The topic of caffeine and painkiller has again been brought up (thanks to Somebody Heal Me and The Daily Headache) for example.

Find out more about Excedrin Tension Headache here.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Pregabalin, sold as Lyrica, is a relatively new drug.  It was approved in the EU in 2004, and in the US in 2005.  Pregabalin has been used to treat nerve pain, such as diabetic nerve pain and pain after shingles.  It has also been used to treat partial onset seizures.

But pregabalin has been popping up in the news lately because of studies indicating its usefulness for other pain-related problems, particularly chronic ones.  Earlier this month the European Neurological Society (ENS) heard a report about the drug’s impact on chronic tension-type headache.  Pregabalin was used as a preventative, and patients had a small but noticeable improvement, as well as some reduction in "comorbid anxiety", the anxiety that seems to go along with chronic tension headache.

Last year the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) heard a report on the use of pregabalin in treating sleep problems related to chronic pain.  It’s also been used for spinal cord injury pain.  Most recently, in the US the FDA approved its use for fibromyalgia, a disease that often goes along with migraine.  In the EU it has been approved for treatment of generalized anxiety disorder.

Pregabalin is certainly helping some patients, but more studies will show exactly whether or not it will be a good choice for chronic pain.  It is interesting to watch more studies being done on neuropathic pain, and how these many diseases may have commonalities and common treatments.

There are concerns about dependancy on drugs like Lyrica, and some patients do experience side effects, such as vision problems, dizziness and chest tightness.  It’s probably still a long way down the list of things to try for most types of chronic pain.  But it’s worth keeping an eye on Lyrica and related drugs.

Popularity: 14% [?]