This week’s #MigraineChatAMA covered acute CGRPs (gepants). There weren’t a lot of questions, so I threw in a few extra resources. There are Qs for the #MigraineChat community at the end.
Nothing here is medical advice. Talk to your doc before making changes. #MigraineChatAMA /1
Do acute gepants work for those w/chronic migraine (CM)?
Clinical trials typically look at ppl w/episodic migraine first: either excluding ppl w/CM or not enrolling enough to obtain reliable results for the CM subgroup. #MigraineChatAMA
/2
I couldn’t find studies of gepants for acute use in CM. Anecdotally, though, yes! The #MigraineChat community has shared experiences w/Ubrelvy & Nurtec as acute treatments even for those with chronic migraine. #MigraineChatAMA /3
Search “gepant” or med names (brand or generic) + #MigraineChat to see prior Qs.
FWIW I have CM. The acute gepants help & might hold off my next big attack longer than my other acute meds. Not 100%, but I have more success w/gepants if I catch attacks early. #MigraineChatAMA /4
.@HemingwayMuse wrote about her Nurtec experience. While it wasn’t successful for her, it is a good discussion of the pros, cons, and getting access. #MigraineChatAMA /5
Worth mentioning, many of us with CM have tried other acute treatments. At least Ubrelvy appears to be effective in those who’ve had other treatments fail them. neurologylive.com/view/ubrogepan… #MigraineChatAMA /6
Other info on gepant side effects & contraindications:
SEs (in trials): Ubrelvy - nausea, drowsiness, dry mouth, upper respiratory infection, often more frequent at 100 mg ubrogepant group, but all < 5%. Nurtec - urinary tract infection, nausea (both < 2%) #MigraineChatAMA /7
Like the preventive CGRPs, real-world use of the gepants seems to have revealed a few additional side effects through anecdotes. Questions come up regularly in #MigraineChat spaces. Always feel free to ask. #MigraineChatAMA /8
Contraindications. Ubrevy seems safe in those w/cardiovascular conditions. However, it shouldn’t be used in people with end-stage renal disease and dose adjustments made for those with severe liver disease/failure. #MigraineChatAMA /9
Other notes:
(+) Nurtec *might* be safe during lactation as <1% of the parent dose is passed to the infant (talk w/your doc!).
(-) Taking gepants w/high fat meal can delay effectiveness. Grapefruit (or taking other CY3A4 inhibitors) should be avoided. #MigraineChatAMA /10
Real-world evidence supports the safety and effectiveness of using an acute gepant with a preventive monoclonal antibody. Most of the studies on saftey of a mAb + gepant are small, though. See last week’s thread for details. #MigraineChatAMA /11
On effectiveness: “The analysis of the ubrogepant plus mAb group revealed that 64.2% of patients reported meaningful pain relief at 2 hours, and 84.5% had meaningful pain relief 4 hours after taking ubrogepant.” #MigraineChatAMA /12
Please do not use thread reader apps to unroll these #MigraineChatAMA threads. They take a lot of research. I don't want others to post/profit off my work. /15
Find these threads helpful? Here are some waays to support #MigraineChat (aside from now accepting tips in my profile) ⬇️ #MigraineChatAMA /16
Friends, I’m going to do an impromptu #MigraineChat office hour to help anyone who wants to get started with - or learn more about - the MigraineChat Discord group. I’ll be online at 1:30p ET.
If you want to join, please DM me and I will share the Google meet link.
I’ve done no planning & will do a more formal tutorial later, so this might be a little chaotic. Right now, Discord is the next most organized place to join #MigraineChat besides Twitter.
New people have joined in the past few days, but I worry the “accept rules to enter” thing is throwing people off. Discord can be overwhelming at first, too.
I want to make it as accessible as possible, but understand it isn’t ever going to be for everyone. #MigraineChat
This week’s #MigraineChatAMA invited Qs about the relationship between sleep disorders and #migraine.
Nothing shared is medical advice. Please talk to an HCP before making changes to your migraine treatment. Errors are mine. #MigraineChat /1
What is the relationship between sleep and #migraine? “[T]he exact nature and direction of the association remains enigmatic; migraine may be the result of sleep disruption, but also sleep disruption may trigger migraine,... [cont.] #MigraineChatAMA /2
This week’s #MigraineChatAMA invited Qs abt rebound headache: a topic I wish was more rigorously studied for lots of reasons. The research in this thread is not w/o limitations or issues.
Nothing shared is medical advice. Talk to an HCP before making changes. #MigraineChat /1
Medication overuse headache is the ICHD-3 term. Unofficially, it is often referred to as “rebound” headache. Some organizations are trying to get the name updated to medication adaptation headache (to avoid the stigma of blame). For space, I’ll use rebound. /2 #MigraineChatAMA
How common is rebound headache (HA)? A “true prevalence that is unknown, partly resulting from various changes in diagnostic criteria, but estimates are in the range of 0.5 to 2.6%.” /3 #MigraineChatAMA ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK53815…
Two weeks ago, I posted the #MigraineChatAMA topic: #CGRP preventives. You had great questions. Some I couldn’t answer satisfactorily, others too big to summarize adequately in a thread (i.e., I’ve give an example study for one CGRP, but other research exists). /1
Quick notes: This is not medical advice, just meant to get you pointed in the direction of things to discuss with your doctor. Also, due to space, terms are defined then abbreviations used. Studies may not use brand names (e.g., erenumab, not Aimovig). #MigraineChatAMA /2
Is it worth ⬆️ Aimovig from 70mg to 140mg if you’ve seen severity ⬇️ but not frequency?
This Q is a little tough to answer because so many of the original studies looked at reduction in monthly migraine days (MMDs) as their main outcome (freq, not severity). #MigraineChatAMA /3
Week 2 #MigraineChatAMA - #migraine types: You had some tough Qs & I don’t have all the answers. Just because I didn’t find them in my search, doesn’t mean they don’t exist. If you have reliable sources of information, please share. Errors are mine. For more info, click links. /1
Types: 2 main types are migraine without aura (MwoA) & migraine with aura (MwA). Under MwA are migraine w/: typical aura*, brainstem aura, hemiplegic & retinal migraine. *Migraine w/typical aura also incls migraine without headache. migraineagain.com/10-types-of-mi… #MigraineChatAMA /2
Types, cont: menstrual migraine (MM) is a subtype under either MwoA or MwA. If attacks happen only during menses = pure MM. Migraine attacks during menses and other times = mensturally-related migraine.
HAS are healthcare providers who completed a year fellowship in headache medicine and become board-certified through an accreditation organization (@UCNSorg). (ucns.org/Online/Online/…). /1
Others might call themselves HAS if they complete add’l qualifications like the @NHF Added Qualification in Headache (headaches.org/aqh/). Other healthcare professionals might regularly attend edu/prof meetings on headache treatment to improve knowledge. #MigraineChatAMA /2
DYK - HAS are not all neurologists *and* not all neurologists are HAS? A neurologist’s training in headaches or migraine is pretty minimal. Neurology encompasses a broad range of neuro conditions; they may specialize in ones other than headache/migraine. #MigraineChatAMA /3