Dealing With Headaches

This is apparantly the findings of a study from Germany’s University Essen that reports teh cumlative findings 16 clinical trials done in Germany, Spain and Italy. The benefits are hoped that effervescent medicine can be work faster than standard pills or capsules AND be tolerated better by the body than “harder” migraine drugs like sumatriptan (known in America better as Imitrex, which you need a perscription for) or even over the counter ibuprofen.

What Did They Do?

First off, this isn’t straight aspirin that’s going “fizz fizz.” This dissolvable aspirin was used IN COMBINATION with metoclopramide (better known as Reglan). Reglan is used most commonly to treat intense digestive disorders such as gastric reflux, heartburn or slow movement of the stomach. Aspirin is notorious for giving your digestive system a beating if taken long term, which is why Reglan was chosen to help offset that possibility.

The 312 migraine-prone patients were given either the combination above, a placebo, ibuprofen or Imitrex. Then, they’d switch medicines, so the patients (and quite possibly the doctors) never knew who was getting what. The pateints would take one of the four mystery medications when a migraine hit.

The Results

The test set the limit of deciding whether a medicine worked or not on a migraine attack at two hours after medication was taken. Here were the results for reducing migraine severity:

• 56% had Imitrx work for them
• 53% had the dissolvable aspirin/Reglan combo work for them
• 60% had ibuprofen work for them
• 27% had the placebo work for them

How well did the Fab Four work after two hours? Here are the results:

• 37% for Imitrex
• 33% for ibuprofen
• 27% for the aspirin/Reglan combo
• 12.6% for the placebo

What Does Any Of This Mean?

If nothing else, this study shows that ibuprofen seems amazingly effective, which reassure anyone taking it. And, for those of you who have to get and pay for perscription Imitrex, you also should have some assurance about the effectiveness of your medicine. And, once again, the power of the placebo effect proved to be just as powerful a force as ever.

However, if your body can’t tolerate those two medicines, then there does appear to be some hope for an other choice which apparantly has less side effects, espescially on the digestive system.

And, as always, more clinical trials are needed to prove or disprove this clinical trial, although the report did not mention when or if those clinical trials were going to happen.

The bottom line? Taking dissolveable aspiring and Reglan is certainly better for your migraine than a kick in the head.