Current and emerging pharmacotherapy for menstrual migraine: a narrative review.

Publication/Presentation Date

4-1-2023

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: In this article, we discuss menstrual migraine (MM), which can be categorized as menstrually related migraine (MRM) or pure menstrual migraine (PMM). MM attacks are often longer, more severe, and harder to treat than other migraine attacks. Appropriate treatment strategies include acute treatment, short term preventive treatment, and daily preventive treatment, depending on the patient's pattern of migraine and occurrence of migraine outside the menstrual period.

AREAS COVERED: A PubMed, Cochrane Library, Medline, and Ovid search from inception to October 2022 provided articles relating to MM pathophysiology and treatment.

EXPERT OPINION: In patients for whom standard acute therapy is inadequate, short term or daily preventive treatment should be considered. Patients with PMM may be adequately managed with short term preventive treatment started 2 days prior to the onset of migraine and continued for 5-6 days. Frovatriptan is the mainstay of short-term prevention. Patients who experience additional attacks outside the menstrual period may benefit from daily preventive treatment. Estrogen-containing contraceptive treatment may be effective in appropriately selected patients. Emerging research on the pathophysiology of MM indicates that oxytocin agonists and CGRP antagonists may prove to be effective treatment options.

Volume

24

Issue

5

First Page

617

Last Page

627

ISSN

1744-7666

Disciplines

Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Health and Medical Administration | Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods

PubMedID

36946205

Department(s)

Administration and Leadership

Document Type

Article

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