Talk To Your Healthcare Provider About A Better Way To Treat Migraine

Talk To Your Healthcare Provider About A Better Way To Treat Migraine

(NAPSI)—Contrary to popular belief, migraine is not just a bad headache. It’s a serious, often incapacitating, neurological disease.¹ In addition to serious pain, migraines can also cause nausea or vomiting, as well as sensitivity to light, sounds, and smell.² Nearly 40 million people in the United States live with this debilitating health problem, but since not every migraine sufferer experiences migraine in the same way, finding the right treatment approach can be challenging.^3,4 In fact, finding a fast-acting, easy-to-use treatment that does not aggravate migraine symptoms, such as nausea or vomiting, can feel like an uphill battle.

Starting a dialogue with your healthcare provider is the first step in finding a migraine treatment that works for you. Here are some questions that might help set you on the right path to finding migraine relief.

There are so many migraine treatments available. How do I know which one is right for me? 

Treatment choices for acute migraines should be based on headache severity, migraine frequency, associated symptoms, and any underlying conditions.⁵ It’s important to let your healthcare provider know if your migraine causes nausea or vomiting as it may interfere with taking an oral medication. There are several different categories of acute treatments for migraines, two of the most common being analgesics and triptans.⁶ Analgesics are considered nonspecific migraine medications as they work on pain symptoms in general, while triptans are one type of migraine medication that specifically targets migraine.⁶ Triptans are the main class of drugs used for the acute treatment of migraines and tend to work well if administered early in the course of a migraine attack.^7,8

How do I know if my migraine medication is working successfully? 

A good way to tell if your acute medication is working is to ask yourself these questions:^5,6

• Are you pain-free within two hours?
• Are you functioning normally in 3-4 hours?
• Does your migraine respond to treatment consistently at least 50% of the time?
• Are you always able to swallow or keep down your acute medication?

If you answered “no” to one or more of these questions, then you and your healthcare provider may want to reassess your treatment plan.

I experience nausea with my migraine so taking oral medicine is difficult. I need a medicine that works fast—what are some of my options? 

You’re not alone. Sometimes an oral medication is suboptimal, particularly for patients that experience migraine with nausea or vomiting. Surveys have revealed that as many as 90% of migraine sufferers experience these symptoms, and many find it more difficult to take and thus absorb oral medication.⁹ Patients who can’t take oral medication should consider asking their healthcare provider for an alternative treatment. One option for such patients is Tosymra® (sumatriptan nasal spray) 10 mg, a fast-acting, ready-to-use nasal spray with mist-like administration that allows patients to get relief quickly while avoiding the gastrointestinal tract.¹⁰ Tosymra works as quickly as an injection and can provide migraine pain relief in as few as 10 minutes for some patients (13% vs. 5% for placebo; 57% of patients had pain relief at 2 hours vs. 21% for placebo).¹⁰ Tosymra is available by prescription and is used to treat acute migraine headaches with or without aura in adults. Tosymra is not for everyone. Do not use Tosymra if you have heart problems, narrowing blood vessels (peripheral vascular disease), or uncontrolled high blood pressure. These are not all the reasons you should not take Tosymra.

With the many treatment options available for the acute treatment of migraines, it’s important to talk to your healthcare provider about which treatment is right for you.

For more information about acute migraine and Tosymra, including a link to full prescribing and patient information, visit www.mytosymra.com or talk to your healthcare provider.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

Tosymra® can cause serious side effects, including heart attack and other heart problems, which may lead to death. Stop Tosymra and get emergency medical help if you have any signs of a heart attack:

• discomfort in the center of your chest that lasts for more than a few minutes or goes away and comes back
• severe tightness, pain, pressure, or heaviness in your chest, throat, neck, or jaw
• pain or discomfort in your arms, back, neck, jaw, or stomach
• shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort
• breaking out in a cold sweat
• nausea or vomiting
• feeling lightheaded

Tosymra is not for people with risk factors for heart disease (high blood pressure or cholesterol, smoking, overweight, diabetes, family history of heart disease) unless a heart exam is done and shows no problem.

Do not use Tosymra if you have:

• history of heart problems
• narrowing of blood vessels to your legs, arms, stomach, or kidney (peripheral vascular disease)
• uncontrolled high blood pressure
• severe liver problems
• hemiplegic or basilar migraines. If you are not sure if you have these, ask your healthcare provider.
• had a stroke, transient ischemic attacks (TIAs), or problems with blood circulation
• taken any of the following medicines in the last 24 hours: almotriptan, eletriptan, frovatriptan, naratriptan, rizatriptan, ergotamines, or dihydroergotamine. Ask your provider if you are not sure if your medicine is listed above.
• are taking certain antidepressants, known as monoamine oxidase (MAO)-A inhibitors or it has been 2 weeks or less since you stopped taking an MAO-A inhibitor. Ask your provider for a list of these medicines if you are not sure.
• an allergy to sumatriptan or any ingredient in Tosymra

Tell your provider about all of your medical conditions and medicines you take, including vitamins and supplements.

Tosymra can cause dizziness, weakness, or drowsiness. If so, do not drive a car, use machinery, or do anything where you need to be alert.

Tosymra may cause serious side effects including:

• changes in color or sensation in your fingers and toes
• sudden or severe stomach pain, stomach pain after meals, weight loss, nausea or vomiting, constipation or diarrhea, bloody diarrhea, fever
• cramping and pain in your legs or hips, feeling of heaviness or tightness in your leg muscles, burning or aching pain in your feet or toes while resting, numbness, tingling, or weakness in your legs, cold feeling or color changes in one or both legs or feet
• increased blood pressure including a sudden severe increase even if you have no history of high blood pressure
• medication overuse headaches from using migraine medicine for 10 or more days each month. If your headaches get worse, call your provider.
• serotonin syndrome, a rare but serious problem that can happen in people using Tosymra, especially when used with anti-depressant medicines called SSRIs or SNRIs. Call your provider right away if you have: mental changes such as seeing things that are not there (hallucinations), agitation, or coma; fast heartbeat; changes in blood pressure; high body temperature; tight muscles; or trouble walking.

• hives (itchy bumps); swelling of your tongue, mouth, or throat
• seizures even in people who have never had seizures before

The most common side effects of Tosymra include: tingling, dizziness, feeling warm or hot, burning feeling, feeling of heaviness, feeling of pressure, flushing, feeling of tightness, numbness, application site (nasal) reactions, abnormal taste, and throat irritation.

Tell your provider if you have any side effect that bothers you or does not go away. These are not all the possible side effects of Tosymra. For more information, ask your provider.

This is the most important information to know about Tosymra but is not comprehensive. For more information, talk to your provider and read the Patient Information and Instructions for Use. You can also visit https://upsher-smith.com or call 1-888-650-3789.

You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit https://fda.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Tosymra is a prescription medicine used to treat acute migraine headaches with or without aura in adults.

Tosymra is not used to treat other types of headaches such as hemiplegic or basilar migraines or cluster headaches.

Tosymra is not used to prevent migraines. It is not known if Tosymra is safe and effective in children under 18 years of age.

References 

1. American Migraine Foundation. About. https://americanmigrainefoundation.org/about/. Accessed March 9, 2020.
2. WebMD. Migraine Headaches. https://www.webmd.com/migraines-headaches/migraines-headaches-migraines#1. Accessed March 9, 2020.
3. American Migraine Foundation. Migraine — Where We Are and Where We Are Going. https://americanmigrainefoundation.org/resource-library/migraine-where-we-are-and-where-we-are-going/. Accessed April 14, 2020.
4. American Migraine Foundation. What to do When Migraine Treatment Fails. https://americanmigrainefoundation.org/resource-library/what-to-do-when-migraine-treatment-fails/. Accessed March 9, 2020.
5. American Family Physician. Management of the Acute Migraine Headache. https://www.aafp.org/afp/2002/1201/p2123.html. Accessed March 9, 2020.
6. American Migraine Foundation. Commonly Used Acute Migraine Treatments. https://americanmigrainefoundation.org/resource-library/acute-migraine-treatments/. Accessed July 6, 2020.
7. European Neurological Review. Overview of Triptans in the Treatment of Acute Migraine. 2017;12(2):71-7. https://touchneurology.com/overview-of-triptans-in-the-treatment-of-acute-migraine/. Accessed March 9, 2020.
8. National Headache Foundation. Facts About Triptans. https://headaches.org/2007/11/19/facts-about-triptans/. Accessed April 14, 2020.
9. Silberstein S. Migraine symptoms; results of a survey of self-reported migraineurs. Headache. 1995;35:387-396.
10. TOSYMRA [package insert]. Maple Grove, MN: Upsher-Smith Laboratories, LLC; 2019