Dealing With Headaches

A recent study in The Cohrane Library published in the Land of Oz (Australia, of course) concludes that oxygen therapy may significantly help those suffering from cluster headaches or migraines. 210 human guinea pigs volunteered to participate in nine small studies around Oz in order to compare treatments. Cluster headeadche patients, in partuicular, did much better than placebos after 15 minutes of breathing in an oxygen chamber.

Normobaric and Hyperbaric Therapy

There are two kinds of oxygen therapies. Sadly, just breathing in and out like usual doesn’t count. Anyway, normobaric oxygen therapy refers to breathing pure oxygen from an oxygen tank. Buy hyperbaric oxygen therapy (the one considered so promising) involves going in a chamber and breathing pure oxygen. Why the chamber? The chamber is put under pressure.

No, I have no idea what this means, either.

Which Leads Us To The Problem

Finding an oxygen chamber is just about as hard as trying to comprehend oxygen therapy. Critics of the Oz study point out that the migraine or cluster headache might even be over before the patient can begin snorting the pure oxygen. Also, oxygen tanks are highly flammable (not that this hasn’t stopped us from driving cars). However, this could be a first step in finding a far more practical solution.

Meanwhile, keep on taking your usual medicine.

I first heard about ear candling through James’ Headache & Migraine News Blog. I thought he was joking. You know , in the same way the some people consider NASCAR a sport and Paris Hilton a celebrity. Sooner or later, someone is going to pop out and say, “Decades-long-April Fool! Ha!” Then, my life would make that much more sense.

Welcome to the Real World

Unfortunately, James wasn’t kidding and my own Dad became a NASCAR fan. Although I have had to bitterly accept the latter, part of me still holds out hope that ear-candling is the world’s biggest online hoax. However, I had a client ask me if I was intersted in writing a series of How To articles on ear candling to treat vertigo and sinus headaches. I had to say no, but was astounded that the request was serious.

I’m Not Against CAM Therapies, But

I do happen to be proponent of complimentary and alternative therapies, especailly those I have tried myself. However, I can’t get behind ear candling. Now, how do you tell if a CAM therapy is probably a bunch of crap and better left alone?

• You stick something inside of your body and then SET IT ON FIRE
• You are given a scare tactic that you have poisons inside of your body that need to come out. Unless you just chugged cobra venom, you really don’t have much to worry about. These poisions are usually just called “toxins” and are rarely, if ever, given specific names.
• You’re told it’s a Native American tradition and all the Native Americans you know are asked about ear candling, reply with, “Say WHAT?”
• You stick something inside of your body and then SET IT ON FIRE. I realized I’ve repeated myself there, but it can’t be stressed enough — fire and your body do not mix.

Hope this helps.

It’s a beautiful day in the Pain-er-hood
A beautiful day for a neighbor… Howdy, neighbor! Hope you are having a great day. No? You say your life sucks because of acute migraines, which really aren’t so cute? Well, follow me to the Land of Make Believe, otherwise known as the wacky world of Phase I Clinical Test trials for new drugs, where anything can happen and usually does.

Can You Say ‘Transdermal’? Sure You Can!

One of the suppossed breakthroughs in modern medicine is the creation of the transdermal patch. That’s one of those white bandage doo-hickeys you tape to your body and then absorb the medicine bit by bit through your skin. This really isn’t much different than the medicinal poltices or herbal compresses native healers have used for thousands of years. However, it wasn’t hip until the success (read=lots of money made) on the nicotene patch.

Why am I not keen on transdermal patches? Because I have realtives who can’t have them because for some strange reason their bodies soak up all of the goodies in the patch IMMEDIATELY. This has lead to some very sick relatives. However, those that used the nictoene patch when they tried to quit smoking were pretty happy until they found out why they were so happy.

The Latest Future Star

NP101 is the trail name of the transdermal patch for acute migraines that has done well so far. It is put out by NuPathe, Inc, a very small pharmaceutical company reported to be “privately held” (sounds painful.) The patch is a combination of sumatriptan (the active medicine in Imitrex) and “NuPathe’s SmartRelief™ proprietary iontophoretic transdermal technology”. (No, I don’t know what that means, either, but it sure sounds impressive, doesn’t it?)

The Nitty Gritty

NP101 was tested against Imitrex nose spray, tablet and injections. There were 23 human guinea pigs descibed as “healthy”. I assume that means the subjects were not prone to migraines if they were “healthy” and that the migraines were chemically induced. I could not find details of that fact on the Internet or in NuPathe’s press release.

The big hope is that the patch can give you the same relief as with triptans, but without the wacky side effects. It didn’t give any serious side-effects to the 23 volunteers except swelling of the skin at the patch site. Although some reports say this patch will be availbale in a year, odds are with the way Phase II and Phase III Trials have gone for other drugs recently, that it will be at least two years.

Whoops. That’s all the time we have for this episode, boys and girls. Time to go back to real world where all your dreams are clouded by a haze of blinding migraine pain and splintering dry heaves. Bye for now!

There’s a bit of a buzz throughout the British press about a class of migraine drugs called “gap blockers” that are available in the UK on a limited basis. Unfortunately, these drugs don’t remove Gap stores from the face of the planet. That’s another type of headache altogether. No, these gap blockers are to help prevent migraines by directly affecting brain chemistry to keep certain nuerons from firing. Many of these drugs are still in the clinical trial stage.

Don’t We Already Have Those?

There are a lot of drugs available to prevent migraines, including Imitrex (which yours truly might be moved onto soon if her current medication doesn’t pan out). However, these drugs tend to have some really heavy-duty side efffects, including asthma, hair loss and sudden wieght gain. There’s also the usual “risk of harming foetal development”, but that tends not to apply to most migraineurs because we’re too busy having migraines to have sex.

The big buzz about the gap junction blockers for migraines is that they work just as well as a drug like Imitrex, but without the side effects.

As a point of interest, an article in the Daily Telegraph went on to explain how migraines are treated:

Once attacks happen they can be treated with powerful painkillers such as codeine and anti sickness medication.

Day -YAM! When I lived in England, I was NEVER offered codeine for my multitide of migraines. Where’s my codeine? I think I’m due some codeine!

Tonabersat

Get used to that name if you have migraines. That’s suppossed to be THE migraine drug of the future, although it is still in development. It’ll probably cost an arm and both legs when it comes out. The good news (financially speaking) is that dosage seems to be less than for other drugs.

The thing that really, really bothers me about gap blockers is that I can’t remember if I ever wrote about them before on this blog along with other migraine drugs in development. Obviously, this is proof that all of my neurons definately aren’t firing.

Well, the good news is that there doesn’t seem to be any proof that magnet therapy causes migraines. Otherwise…

There are certainly a lot of complimentary and alternative medicines for headaches and migraines in the world. They’ve been here long before contemporty medicine and will most likely still be here after modern civilization crumbles due to catastrophic environmental upheaval that happens so quickly that society cannot adapt…

..oh, sorry. I also write science fiction stories and work for a New Zealand environmental blog and I just get carried away at the slightest provocation sometimes. Like this incredible heat wave that is currently choking the area where I live.

Back to Magnets

Magnet therapy has been used to cure everything from gout to grumpiness. It does seem to have positive some positive effects for tired backs of dogs and horses. However, if you’re looking for a headache or migraine cure (and if you’ve come to this blog, the chances are good that you are) you’re better off with an ice pack and a dark room.

However, magnetic therapy is a lot cheaper than going to the doctor and has not been proven to have any bad phsysical side effects, so many people have tried it and (until health care costs come down) many people will continue to try it.

Back in January of this year, a study from the University of Virginia came out backing magnet therapy for many medical misadventures, including migraines and headaches. Apparently, maganets that are ten times the strength of good ol’ refrigerator magnets can penetrate the first skin layers to have an actual effect on your circulation.

All clinical trials until then had shown that magnet therapy couldn’t do much except for a placebo effect.

Why Am I Banging On About This?

I’ve noticed the magnet question being raised on a number of blogs and social bookmarking services, even though there has not been any recent study of magnet therapy that I can find. But magnet therapy products can sell over $300 million annually, so somebody is certainly doing a private study or his or her own.

Either that, or perhaps that someone is a mad scioentist hoping to plant microscopic metal filings in out blood so he can control our every movement through the use of magnetic manipulation…

…oh, I’ve done it again, haven’t I?

Off to splash cold water on my face.

There is a popular theory that one of the reasons we get migraine is due to a magnesium deficiency. There’s also some thought that the body also may be going through deficiencies in calicium and/or ribolfavin (one of the B vitamins). Apparently, most people don’t get the daily requirements of magnesium (let alone that of calicium or ribolflavin).

Part of this theory about migraines being due to magnesium deficiency is based on thinking that migraines are caused by constricting blood vessels. This theory is on the outs, being replaced by serotonin levels being the culprit. But the sad fact is that no one knows what is the actual physical action that produces migraine pain.

Any Proof?

Part of the basis for this lack of magnesium theory is that some migraineurs, given enough magnesium to choke a horse, would report that they got less migraines. There was a 1992 French study that showed some promise, but that was only on 55 controls and 79 miraineurs. Another 1996 study, this time from Germany, and the migraineurs were all women suffering from menstrual migraine (so at least you had a pretty good idea of when the migraines would hit). In 12 weeks, the migraine reduction was 41% for those recieving whopping amounts of magnesium.

What’s the Catch?

I haven’t found any long-term studies done about magnesuim therapy for migraines. I wonder if, a year or two later, those same women with menstrual migraines were getting their migraines with the sme intensity and frequency as before? Any kind of new therapy can trigger the placebo effect int he body. The placebo effect is an amazing thing — but the problem is that you have to keep switching your placebos once or twice a year.

Also, taking such large doses of magnesium can get you very sick, especially if you already have kidney troubles. You also will get diarrhea. You can usually get all of the magnesium you need just by certain foods you eat, such as bananas, whole grains, beans, soy products, seafood, dark leafy green vegetables and milk.

For Pete’s sake, don’t start experimenting with a bottle of magnesium tablets. Talk to your doctor first!

See what you can accomplish when you focus on a problem? This seems to be the result from an Italian study of office aches and pains — namely headaches, neck and shoulder pains. Results of this interesting study were published in this months’s issue of Cephlalagia. This was called an “employee initiative” program, but apparantly, none of the employees were given any incentive to participate, except for the slim chance that they wouldn’t have as much pain when at work.

That seemsed to be enough.

Roll Out The Numbers

In case you let your subscription to Cephalalgia lapse, here is a really quick round up of the main points:

• 384 office workers in Turin volunteered, with about half beign a control group. 80% were women. The average age of a volunteer was 46.
• The study lasted eight months
• The employees in the non-control group kept a daily headache journal and did relaxation exercises every two to three hours of their work day. They also had twice dailt 10-15 minutes rest breaks just “sitting in an armchair with warming pads placed on their cheeks and shoulders”.
• Incredible results: 51% reported that they took less painkillers at the end of the study than when they began
• Also, 41% less headaches at the end of the study than at the beginning

• “Our study clearly shows that workplace interventions can reduce headaches and neck and shoulder pain. The methods adopted were relatively simple and the positive response from the employees, including the low study drop-out rate, suggest that it would prove popular in other workplaces. We also believe that employers would support this low-cost initiative as it would improve productivity in the workplace.” — Professor Franco Mongini of the Headache and Facial Pain Unit at the University of Turin

The Practical Upshot

If you get headaches, neck aches and shoulder pains iat work, move to Italy.

No, seriously — this is a very promising study with results to make people’s lives just a wee bit less stressful. This study centered on office workers, but I imagine it could also be used for food service, retail and teaching jobs. It would take a big mind-shift in the attitudes of employers to let their employees get up and stretch — which looks like goofing off. But, quite frankly, the managers probably need to do the stretching exercises as much as much as their underlings.

Following the study’s journal, heating pad and stretching regimen would be much cheaper (and a lot more legal) than giving your employees meth, which is what some Asian employees reportedly do to get intense (but breif) workloads from their new employees (at least, that’s what National Geographic says).

Hope this helps.

It’s not available yet and won’t be for years, but a promising new nasal spray is being developed by ROXRO Pharma (you think manybe a dog named the company?) This intranasal treatment, known as ROX-828, shoots a fine spray of NSAID ketorolac up your nose to be immediately absorbed into your system. It has produced promising results in a European clinical trial.

Why A Nasal Spray?

There are already ketorolac pills available, but they have whopping side effects. This is one of the most powerful NSAIDs legally available and is only advised for short term use. It’s usually given for post-operative pain, for example. It works on reducing hormones in your body that are though to contribute to pain making.

With a nasal spray, it’s hoped that not only will a migraine in progress be stopped, but that there will be less severe side effects. These stests are showing that a nasal spray can administer the medicine as quickly as a needle injection. So far, the studies are showing that the nasal spray works to alleviate migraine pain within two hours of spraying.

ROXRO is also working on a different formulation called ROX-888 which is has just completed its Pahase 3 Clinical trial in the US. The results are being compiled and it’s probably going to be a while to interpet them accurractely. ROXRO hopes to submit a “new drug” application to the FDA later this year.

And then the wait continues.

I could not find out how much this stuff is planning to cost. I expect it’ll be a whopper, even in comparison to preventative migraine medicines like Imitrex.

It’s amazing what you can find on YouTube, although it does takes shoveling through a lot of fertilizer in order to find a rose. This little do-it-yourself acupressure instructional video has a funky Indian soundtrack of the musical combo of sitar and complianing baby. I’m more inclined to beilieve in the instruction from this lady rather than a formal instructor or doctor as she has to take care of kids. She must have a lot of experience with headaches. Her YouTube moniker says it all — “Warriorofcompassion”.

I wasn’t able to fully undertand where on the top of the head I was suppossed to press down on, but I did certainly get relief today’s sinus pressure just be taking the time to breathe in and out deeply for a couple of minutes — including a series of yawns which sure poppped open the cloggged ear canals.

Another acupressure home remedy is to roll a golf ball around your hand (although that doesn’t seem to work for me, personally).

Hope these help.

Since I bang on about Prozac (fluoxetine) a lot on this chronic headache and migraine blog, I thought I should check to see if my cherised Prozac is currently being using used to treat migraines. (It seems like almost every drug having to do with your head is). And well, whaddya know, I found that it is. Even the National Foundation for the Treatment of Pain list Prozac and family members Paxil, Sarafem and Zoloft among “migraine abortive medications”. These are all anti-depressants. Even more powerful anti-depressants like Wellbutrin are also prescribed as migraine preventatives.

I wonder why? Well, perhaps one kind of misery in the head can lead to another. There does seems to be a lot of migrainuers who also have depression (of course we’re depressed — our heads are killing us!)

My Case

I take generic Prozac for major depression, also called endogenous recurring depression (which I probably got in my past life as a hamster). I’ll tell you right now that I take the pills pretty faithfully (except for this one time recently when I accidently took two) and I still get migraines.

Also, if I forget to take my Prozac, then I get a mild headache in order to remind me to take it. And yes, I admidt that sounds like a classic withdrawal symptom to me. But since Prozac helps with my depression, it’s a cross I’m willing to bear.

Now Prozac is great for helping me get regular sleep and an appetite when I’m stressed out. Being able to eat and sleep regularly has made a big difference in my quality of life. But as for preventing migraines, Prozac sucks.

But apparently, it must work for somebody, as it does seem to be used regularly as a migraine preventative.

Side Effects

One side effect Prozac gives is that you often gain weight (it does stimulate the appetite strongly, as does most anti-depressants). Imitrex is also suppossed to have you gain weight and feel sluggish.

I felt horribly sluggish for the first two weeks when I was on Prozac, but then my body adjusted. Whenever my dosage changes, I do get dopey for about a week before my body readjusts. This can be a problem for some people.

For a more comprehensive list of Prozac side effects, check out this article on Prozac by Magnum.

Hope this helps. Have a pain free weekend.

Now, you might look at that headline and think “I do that anyway”, but I don’t mean swearing at your headache or migraine. I mean using EFT (Emotional Freedome Technique), developed in the 1990’s by Gary Craig. It’s very similar to acupuncture — only no needles are involved. It’s even more similar to acupressure, where you press down on acupuncture points. The only difference is that you tap.

Oh, and you’re suppossed to think about certain emotions, but quite frankly, that seems optional. (But proponents of EFT will argue otherwise. But how can we be sure that someone is REALLY thinking about certain emotions when they are supposed to be thinking about certain emotions? You can’t. So there.)

What You Do

I’ve seen some varations on a theme, but basically it looks like EFT for migraines or headaches goes something like this:

• Rub your most painful spots, saying “Although I have this migraine, I fully accept myself” (Now see, this is where I would lose it)
• Then you start to tap on all of your acupuncture points, or at least twelve of them. However, according to Tappingman on Squidoo, you only need ten points. Tapping is described as “drumming your fingers on a desk”.
• Along with the tapping, you are suppossed to focus on a phrase like “Although I have a blinding pain behind my eyeballs, I accept myself.”
• Continue until the mapin goes away (which EFT proponents claim will be ten to fifteen minutes — if you are using the technique properly).

Don’t Expect Miracles

Although I think you can get a lot of genuine help from some alternative therapies like acupuncture and acupressure, I remain highly skeptical of EFT (”No way!” you say). The technique is far too new to be reliable. So far, it could very well be acting like a placebo (which is pretty effective in helping the body believe firmly it will get better just because something new is being tried).

Also, when looking at EFT web sites, you hear a lot of rah-rah and not a lot about the actual technique. Most of the pages seem devoted to anectotal acounts (which could be faked). And, I’ve also read some questionable medical advice. In Tappingman’s Squidoo thingy, he mentions “Something like 80% of headaches and migraines are caused by dehydration…” (and no source for this statistic is mentioned.)

Bull. NO ONE knows the exact cause of migraines (a fact I keep hammering on about). This is one of the reasons why migraine disease is such a nasty problem. And I have heard about drinking a glass of water when I felt a bad headache or a migraine come one. All that happened was that I had to drag myself to the bathroom more often.

Although I am not a doctor nor do I play one on TV, I do let a hell of a lot of headaches and migraines. I’m also trained by The School of Hard Knocks of how to discriminate advterising ploys from actual helpful medical evidence.

If you want to try EFT for migraines, go for it. But don’t expect miracles. Most likely, it’ll work for the first couple of times (like any good placebo would) and then eventually won’t. And there doesn’t seem to be any known negative side effects.

But I’m not gonna try it. Saying “Although I have this migraine, I fully accept myself” would drive me bonkers. Saying, “I have a migraine and I want to bite heads off” is more my style.

It’s so experimental, it doesn’t have an official name yet. The company’s name is Neuralieve. I propose “Magnetic Doo-Hickey” as a name for their experimental device. It’s catchy, it’s descriptive and it’s hard to forget. Anyway, enough with the name-quibbling. What the heck is it?

It’s a Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation device. What does that mean? Basically, it’s a magnetic doo-hickey to help prevent migraines when you get an aura.

Now, the Details

Magnetic therapy for migraines and other afflictions like arthritis isn’t anything new. Pulse magnetic therapy basically sends electromagnetic waves over the area that’s hurting. Some people swear by it — others swear at it. The experimental device is strapped onto your head to send short bursts of magnetic energy through your skull and hopefully into your brain to soothe away the immanent pain to come.

It’s placed on the back of the head because that is where doctors think migraines start, based upon MRI scans of migraineurs with attacks in progress.

This is to be used only for migraine with auras (also known as classic migraines). So far, there’s no mention of trying to use it during the onset of a migraine attack.

Where Can I Get One?

It’s still in the clinical trial stage, so if all goes well, it’ll come on the market in about five years. If you are curious trying one out, your could look into participating in one of the many clinical trials currently being held.

Personally, I know it wouldn’t work for me because I become very clumsy when I get a migraine — (with or without auras). I’d wind up knowcking myself unconsious with the thing.

Hmmm — there’s a thought — we should have an experiemental device that knocks us out when we are about to get a migraine and then wakes up up 13 hours later.

From the “What’s Old Is New Again Department”:

When Demi Moore recently revealed that she undergoes leech treatments for her overall health “in this woman’s apartment”, it raised more than a few late-snacks from the bottom of people’s stomachs. Just how often are medicinal leeches used nowadays? And are they used for migraine treatment?

Yipperdoodle, They’re Used For Migraines

Instead of having Big Pharma leech all of the money from your savings account, you can get real leeches to suck your blood. Does it hurt? Oh, yeah — patients say the first bite is incredibly sharp, but them subsides as their slimy doctors feed.

Practitioners are using medicinal leeches for a variety of ailments, including migraines, rhuematoid arthritis, gout, skin ulcers, wound cleaning and vasulitits. You usually need a few treatments in order to find any relief with the leeches.

Quite frankly, I haven’t been able to find any statistics on just how many migraineurs are turning to leeches for help or how effective they are. I have only found one reference that a clinical trial was performed, but have not found the results.

Not News

Using leeches for migraines isn’t a revolutionary new idea. Hippocrates, as well as writing oaths, recommended leeches for migraine treatment around 400 BC. It is thought he learned about medicinal leeches from Babylonian healers. Before Hippocrates, one of the only migraine treatments available was to get a hole drilled into your head (called trepaning).

Before You Get Stuck

You can’t just plop any old leech on your head and expect relief. There are only certain strains of leeches that are considered medicinal leeches. Although Demi Moore claims she goes to a private home to get her leech treatment, you usually have to go to a doctor.

Demand for medicinal leeches is rising as demand for alternative therapies rises. And you really can’t get more natural than a blood-sucking leech. The FDA even recognizes that they can have positive qualities.

If you have an infected wound or are threatened with gangrene from diabetes, then medicinal leeches and maggots can clean your wound better than a room full of doctors with various diplomas. But the jury is still out for the use of leeches for migraines.

Personally, I’d rather just have the migraine.

This is good news or bad news, depending on how much you like needles. Researchers in Greece and England have released promising results about an injectable medicine for migraines called sodium valproate (also known as valproic acid). It is thought that vaproate sodium reduces electrical activity in the brain, which may be a cause of migraines.

The Causes of Migraines

We actually don’t know what causes migraines. There have been many theories put forth from constricted blood vessels to serotonin levels, depending on what material you read or what doctor you talk to. This medicine is working on the assumption that some types of migraines are caused by glyceryl trinitrate nitrate (GTN) — especially induced migraines for the purposes of clinical studies on migraine medicines.

What is GTN? It’s a medicine that is more commonly used for treating angina, heart failure and pulmonary edema. You probably know it best as “Nitro”. It’s been around since 1870. As a medicine, it has to undergo a process called “denitration” to remove nitric acid.

As a side effect, it can induce migraines without auras. What bliss.

Study Specs

This wasn’t a huge study — only on about 45 human guinea pigs that have chronic migraines and 19 controls (lucky bastards that don’t get migraines). All test subjects were hooked up to EEG machines to check on brainwave patterns (a good indication of the electrical activity of the brain). Special notes were taken during the migraine and thirty minutes after getting the valproate sodium shot, when the effects were being felt.

Indications look good, and there have (so far) not been any reported side effects. Kinda makes you wonder what else they put in that needle besides 300 mg of valproate sodium? (Sorry — couldn’t resist.)

What Does This Mean?

Stay away from GTN, that’s for sure.

This isn’t an entirely new drug — valproaic sodium has been used for treating eplieptic seizures for years. However, that’s all it is approved for. There is an oral version for seizures, but so far the oral version hasn’t been tested for migraine treatment. Keep in mind that the FDA has just issued warnings about the mental and emotional side effects of anti-convulsants.

If valproic acid sounds familiar, that’s because the brand name anti-convulsant Stavzor (which is basically the same thing) is currently getting approval for migraine treatment in the US.

It is expected to be legally available in America for migraine treatment in July of this year. This European study looks promising for Stavzor. However, it’s not currently approved for migraine treatment in Europe. Not yet, anyway.

Now I have a migraine coming on. Until tomorrow, gentle readers.

I can’t remember if I ever mentioned this experimental abortive drug for migraines on this blog before now. That’s what enough migraines and blog posts will do to you over time, make your memory a little wacky.

Anyway, the drug in development that is getting a lot of promising buzz is called (wait for it) calcitonin gene-related peptide. Mercifully, it’s usually known as CGRP for sanity’s sake. This is a neropeptide (a little chemical ding-hooey in the brain that helps gets things done in the body) activated by a protein called RAMP1. (Let’s not go into what RAMP1 is short for.) It seems these two brain chemicals are great mates — if one gets excited, so does the other. The theory is that these two could be responsible for migraine pain and possibly for the pain of cluster headaches.

You Can’t Get It Yet

CGRP for migraines and cluster headaches is still in the clinical trial stage. Giant Pharma company Merck currently has a hold of it and calling it MK-0974. Although also known as CGRP in some media publications, MK-0974 actually BLOCKS CGRP from getting excited. It is currently thought that MK-0974 will have less side effects than current drugs like triptans.

MK-0974 is currently in the Clinical Trial Stage III phase and not looking for any more human guinea-pigs. The experimental drug is currently just be checked for migraines. Presumably, if they get the OK to market it for migraines, then they can do the whole clinical trial merry-go-round again for cluster headaches. This means Merck gets to hold on to the patent for another decade or so before it would be required to go generic.

Practical Upshot

Where there’s life, there’s hope. There is something waiting in the wings in a lab somewhere. In the meantime, work with your doctor to help tame your pain. That’s pretty much what most of the rest of the posts on this blog is about.

Nope this helps….whoops! That’s a typo!!! HOPE this helps. (Arrghhh)