Intranasal Zolmitriptan for Cluster

As you may know, the triptan class of drugs not only benefit those with migraine, but also those with cluster.  Cluster, most commonly hitting men, usually causes an intense, boring stabbing headache that comes and goes several times a day.  The search is on for better treatments.  Meanwhile, various types of triptans are being tested.  The November issue of Neurology reported on a study of Intranasal Zolmitriptan (funded by the makers of Zomig, of course).  The study was hopeful, though not exactly overwhelming.

The obvious benefit of Zomig in a nasal spray is that it’s fast – it gets into your system quickly, something that’s all the more important for those with cluster.  The study tried a placebo as well as 2 different doses of Zomig – 5mg or 10mg.  10mg was most effective – 80% of those with episodic cluster (that’s pretty good) and 36% of those with chronic cluster (that’s not too bad – chronic cluster is nasty, the cycle goes on and on instead of stopping for months or years).  The smaller dosage gave 47% or 28% of sufferers relief.  But the placebo gave 30% or 14% of people some relief (that’s pretty good for a placebo!).

That sounds ok, although it makes you wonder when the placebo has such good results (for those who don’t know, you need to know what a placebo is).  This also wasn’t necessarily complete recovery, but just a reduction to mild (or no) pain.  Finally, we still don’t know how effective this treatment will be over time – more studies are needed for that.

Calling all clusterheads – have you tried triptans?  What have you found to be most effective?  How effective was the treatment?  I would be very interested to hear your comments.