Expert Opinion

Daily Triptans for

Case History Submitted by Randolph W. Evans, MD Expert Opinion by Lawrence Robbins, MD

Key words: headache, triptans Abbreviations: CDH chronic daily headache (Headache 2001;41:907-909)

Will a triptan a day keep the headache away? I advised the patient that the increased frequency of the could be rebound due to CLINICAL HISTORY and that the headaches might decrease by restricting This 47-year-old woman has a history of the sumatriptan to no more than 2 days per week and since aged 4 years. Until 1 year ago, the headaches oc- starting another preventative such as sodium valpro- curred one to two times per week, lasted all day, re- ate. She is concerned about the possible side effects sulted in functional incapacity, and were not relieved of sodium , which she has read can make you by over-the-counter or nonsteroidal anti- fat and bald. She also stated that the headaches were inflammatory drugs. About 10 years ago, she was tak- quite tolerable with the daily sumatriptan and she ing Fiorinal #3 but stopped when she developed could not see the difference between taking daily rebound headaches. She has been on multiple preven- sumatriptan as compared to a preventative which may tative medications including , -blockers, or may not work and may have significant side effects. , , and which were ei- Questions.—Is there evidence to support daily ther not effective or stopped due to side effects. triptan use for migraine? What would you recom- One year ago, she saw another neurologist and mend in this case? had an MRI scan of the brain with normal findings. She was started on oral sumatriptan, 50 mg, which EXPERT COMMENTARY completely relieved the headaches. This patient is probably suffering from rebound However, the headaches increased in frequency due to sumatriptan. It is crucial with most patients to and now occur every day. The headaches are the limit triptan use to 2 or 3 days per week, at most. same as prior to a year ago. She reports a right or left Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications can be temporal and retro-orbital sharp pressure associated used as frequent symptomatic treatment although, with nausea, and light and noise sensitivity but no occasionally, rebound can also result. Preventative aura. The headaches are relieved within an hour after medications that may be effective for her include so- taking oral sumatriptan, which she is taking on a daily dium valproate, gabapentin, , or tizani- basis. Past medical history is negative. Neurologic ex- dine. Initially, several days of intravenous dihydroer- amination was normal. gotamine, inpatient or in the office, may help to break the daily pattern.1 A short course of other med- ications, such as dexamethasone and valproate, might Address correspondence to Dr. Randolph W. Evans, Suite also be worthwhile. 1370, 1200 Binz, Houston, TX 77004 or Dr. Lawrence Robbins, Robbins Headache Clinic, 1535 Lake Cook Road, Suite 506, Chronic daily headache (CDH) is a major prob- Northbrook, IL 60062. lem, with approximately 4% of the population expe-

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908 October 2001 riencing daily or near-daily headache.2 Preventative follow-up, routine blood tests, electrocardiograms, and medications for CDH are often ineffective. In our echocardiograms have not revealed any abnormality at- study of 540 patients with CDH, only 46% achieved tributable to triptans. long-term success with any preventative regimen.3 As In addition to cost, the issue with frequent triptan this patient noted, many patients do have significant use is long-term side effects. Cardiac ischemia is side effects from preventative agents. When the usual the biggest concern. A review of the cardiovascular preventative medications for severe CDH are inef- safety of triptans concluded that cardiac ischemia due fective, the choices include (among oth- to these medications is rare.7 The chest and throat ers): daily long-acting opioids,4 monoamine oxidase symptoms are, with very rare exceptions, not of car- inhibitors,5 stimulants, or daily triptans.6 A small diovascular origin. While the triptans do mildly con- number of patients with refractory CDH will respond strict human coronary vessels, it is a short-lived ef- to each of these regimens. fect. Considering the widespread use of sumatriptan, The use of triptans on a daily or near-daily basis the number of adverse cardiac events has been very is controversial. In our previous study, 59 patients small.7 Electrocardiograms and echocardiograms have with refractory CDH utilized daily triptans for an av- generally been normal after triptan use, even when erage of 1.5 years (range, 6 months to 3 years).6 The chest symptoms have been present.8 Cardiac evalua- diagnosis in the majority of patients was transformed tion, as appropriate depending upon the patient’s age, migraine, or chronic tension-type headache with con- risk factors, and family history, should be considered current migraine. For those with CDH with no mi- in patients with frequent triptan use. graine or migraine features, daily triptans are usually While concern about the potential risk of daily not effective. These patients had self-discovered that triptans is certainly justified, consider also that many one dose of sumatriptan or would render patients with CDH are overusing over-the-counter them headache-free for the remainder of the day. and prescription analgesics.9 The long-term side ef- The other triptans, such as or zolmitrip- fects of analgesic abuse are well known, including gas- tan, would also most likely be effective for these pa- trointestinal bleeding, renal insufficiency, liver dys- tients. Once patients discover that a limited amount function, and addiction. of daily triptan use greatly improves their daily head- aches and quality of life, it is very difficult to convince them to not utilize the medication in this fashion. REFERENCES All of the patients had failed at least three pre- 1. Robbins L, Remmes A. Outpatient repetitive in- ventative medications. None of the patients were felt travenous . Headache. 1992;32: to be experiencing rebound due to the triptans. If re- 455-458. bound was suspected, the triptan was discontinued. 2. Guitera V, Munoz P, Pascual J, et al. Prevalence and Sixty-nine percent of the patients were concurrently diagnostic distribution of chronic daily headache in on other daily preventatives (usually antidepressants the general population. Cephalalgia. 1997;17:283. or sodium valproate). 3. Robbins L, Maides J. Efficacy of preventive medica- Doses were usually minimal, with the majority of tions for chronic daily headache. Am J Manage. 1999;9:130-133. patients using 50 mg of sumatriptan each day, and a 4. Robbins L. Long-acting opioids for severe chronic minority on 2.5 mg of naratriptan. Although toler- daily headache. Headache Q. 1999;10:135-139. ance was noted in 15 patients (25%), only 4 patients 5. Robbins L. preventive medication. increased the dose. Strategies for combating toler- In: Robbins L, ed. Management of Headache and ance included taking a drug holiday from the triptan, Headache Medications. New York, NY: Springer- or increasing concurrent preventative medication. Verlag; 2000:127-128. Side effects were minimal. Naturally, the patients 6. Robbins L, Maides J. Long-term triptan use: 59 pa- who experienced significant side effects did not con- tients. Headache Q. 2000;11:127-131. tinue on the triptan. During this study, and poststudy 7. Dahlof CG, Mathew N. Cardiovascular safety of

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5HT1B/1D —is there cause for concern? Ceph- tightness, and/or pain in the chest, neck, and/or throat alalgia. 1998;18:539-545. following sumatriptan. Cephalalgia. 1998;18:546-551. 8. Dahlof CG, Falk L, Risenfors M, Lewis CP. Safety trial 9. Mathew NT, Kurman R, Perez F. Drug induced re-

with the 5HT1B/1D (BMS-180048) in fractory headache—clinical features and manage- patients with migraine who have experienced pressure, ment. Headache. 1990;30:634-638.