What Side Effects Do You Want to Avoid?

Migraine patients are an intelligent lot. They know that medication is not just about relieving migraine symptoms. There are also complex risks and side effects that affect our choices.

A study in the USA, published this month in the journal Headache, investigated some patients’ priorities when it came to side effects of preventative medications. What would you be willing to trade off?

Some examples from the study of 300 patients:

Patients were willing to put up with some major side effects if it meant reducing migraine symptoms by 50% instead of 10%. Anyone who has experienced moderate to severe migraine attacks will understand that – in the case of these patients, that could mean 6 fewer attacks in a month – a big deal!

Although neither was desirable, patients were more likely to choose some thinking problems as a side effect over memory problems.

But patients were willing to put up with some cognitive side effects (memory, fuzzy brain) than they were with a 10% weight gain! Patients were also willing to pay US$84 more a month if they could avoid that 10% weight gain.

Patients would rather have a monthly injection than a daily pill. However, they would pick the daily pill over twice-monthly injections.

These patients are not you, of course. In fact, if they looked at they survey results, they themselves might re-evaluate their own choices.

But here’s the take-away. Today, there are many choices when it comes to migraine treatment. It’s worth your time to think over what your priorities are, and discuss them with your doctor. Do you want to avoid weight gain (by the way, here are some of the worst offenders when it comes to migraine medications)? Do you have a job that requires sharp thinking, and you would rather have some other side effects rather than lose your intellectual edge?

Check out the abstract below for more statistics. But remember, more importantly is what your priorities are. And if your doctor doesn’t know, she can’t help you with those choices.

Study abstract: Patient Preferences for Preventive Migraine Treatments: A Discrete-Choice Experiment.