When You Can’t Stomach Your Migraine Medication, Make Sure Your Migraine Toolkit Has You Covered

(BPT) - How do you prepare for a migraine that threatens to derail your day? Many health care professionals recommend assembling a migraine toolkit, one stocked with essentials for easing migraine symptoms on the go, such as bottled water, instant hot and cold packs, ear plugs and sunglasses. Most importantly, however, health professionals agree that your toolkit should include proven medications that meet your specific needs, ones that can help you stop a migraine in its tracks, before it stops you.

Your migraine toolkit need not be limited to one type of medication. Many people find oral medications to be the most portable; however, nearly three-quarters of all migraine sufferers have experienced migraine-related nausea (with or without vomiting), making oral medications more difficult to take.¹ Fortunately, other options exist for those who (literally) can’t stomach their medication. Tosymra^® (sumatriptan nasal spray) 10 mg, for example, is a fast-acting, ready-to-use non-oral option. Tosymra’s novel nasal spray formulation may be easier to take when you are nauseated, and it has the added benefit of working as quickly as an injection. In fact, Tosymra can provide migraine pain relief in as little as 10 minutes for some patients with just one spray (13% vs 5% for placebo; 57% of patients had pain relief at 2 hours vs. 21% for placebo).^2-4

So what should you do? Health experts agree: Patients with migraine need to be prepared with toolkit options for those times when nausea makes it difficult to take oral medication. Talk to your doctor today about what your fully stocked migraine toolkit might look like, and whether Tosymra would be a good addition.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION for Tosymra^®

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 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 a 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 www.upsher-smith.com or call 1-888-650-3789.

You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.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.

Tosymra is a registered trademark of Upsher-Smith Laboratories, LLC.

References

1. Newman LC. Why triptan treatment can fail: focus on gastrointestinal manifestations of migraine. Headache. 2013;53 Suppl 1:11-16.
2. Tosymra [package insert]. Maple Grove, MN: Upsher-Smith Laboratories, LLC: 2019.
3. Mathew NT, et al. Dose ranging efficacy and safety of subcutaneous sumatriptan in the acute treatment of migraine. US Sumatriptan Research Group. Arch Neurol. 1992;49(12):1271-1276.
4. Wendt J, et al. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of the efficacy and tolerability of a 4-mg dose of subcutaneous sumatriptan for the treatment of acute migraine attacks in adults. Clinical Therapeutics. 2006;28(4):517-526.

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