Eye Drops for Migraine revisited – a low-cost treatment?
A few years ago we talked about a possible “$5” treatment for migraine – Timolol eye drops. Since then the price may have increased slightly, but researchers are still interested in the possibility that such an inexpensive treatment may work well for many migraine patients.
A new study published in JAMA Neurology investigated the eye drops as an abortive treatment. The timolol maleate 0.5% eye drops were given to migraine patients, to be used when a migraine attack hit. This was a “crossover study” meaning that the patients tried the Timolol and then tried simple eye drops, or vice versa, without being told which they were using.
The patients used a single drop in each eye at the beginning of an attack, and again after 30 minutes if needed.
Results? The Timolol drops were significantly better than placebo – almost twice as effective. 78% had very little pain after two hours, or no pain. Of course, some patients responded better than others. Several obviously responded very well, one patient immediately expressing the desire to replace their other migraine meds with the eye drops.
Of course, as with many studies like this, researchers still don’t know why some patients responded so much better than others. But once again, this has the potential to be a very effective and extremely inexpensive treatment for some patients.
Timolol is a beta-blocker, actually taken orally for migraine as well. But there may be a special benefit in the eye drops. The big $$$ may not be there for the big clinical trials, since this is such an inexpensive treatment. But take a look at the author’s thoughts on the study (below). It may be a treatment that is worth trying, under the supervision of your doctor.