Oral sumatriptan in the acute treatment of migraine and migraine recurrence in general practice

Abstract

We investigated the efficacy, safety and tolerability compared with placebo of a second dose of oral sumatriptan 100 mg in 1349 general practice patients who had already treated a moderate or severe migraine headache with 100 mg sumatriptan 4 h earlier. Headache was relieved by the first sumatriptan dose in about 70% of patients, but the second dose did not produce significantly more relief than placebo, either in non-responders or in the group as a whole, nor did it reduce other symptoms (photophobia, nausea, vomiting, etc.) at 8 h, or influence the incidence of headache recurrence. The drug was well-tolerated, and a further single dose was effective in treating recurrence after initial relief. A single 100 mg dose of sumatriptan is an effective acute treatment for migraine. A second dose should be reserved for treating headache recurrence.

A Unique Iontophoretic Patch for Optimal Transdermal Delivery of Sumatriptan

“…reducing migraine pain (15)(16)(17). Additionally, administration of oral sumatriptan four h after the initial treatment with a 6 mg s.c. injection has been shown to yield significantly longer pain -free interval than injection alone (15.6 versus 10.3 h) (18).…”

The Evidence for Prescription Information for Possible Use of a Repeated Dose of Oral Triptans: A Comment

“…3,4 There was no benefit of this second dose of sumatriptan. 3,4 There was no benefit of this second dose of sumatriptan.…”

Headache recurrence and treatment

“…In a study by Teall et al [15], 82% of patients experiencing recurrence obtained further pain relief after taking a second dose of rizatriptan at 10 mg, and 49% obtained complete relief with a second dose. This strategy has also been demonstrated effective with oral and subcutaneous sumatriptan [7,33]. …”