Triptans and Heart Disease – A Dangerous Mix!
Triptan medications such as Imitrex, Frova, and Relpax are still an important part of migraine treatment. But for people with a risk of heart disease, they can be dangerous.
At the annual meeting of the American Neurological Association in September, a surprising and disturbing study got a lot of notice. It was all about the prescription of triptan medications.
The study included 120,000 migraine patients. Now, triptans are not recommended for those with certain types of heart disease. Did doctors follow this recommendation?
The surprising result was that 1 in 5 patients with heart disease was prescribed a triptan medication!
That’s right, 1 in 5. Why? Did the doctor not know about the patient’s medical history? Was the doctor not aware of the dangers triptans pose to these patients?
Triptans can narrow blood vessels by 10-20%, and those of you with experience with heart disease know just how dangerous that can be.
Not only should your doctor know your medical history, she should also know your risk of heart disease. If you know you have multiple risk factors, even if you’ve never had problems with heart disease, you should think twice about taking triptan medications.
Dr. Arthur Elkind, president of the National Headache Foundation board of directors, particularly notes that you should be aware of elevated lipid levels, hypertension, a history of smoking, history of angina pectoris, and heart attack.
Though triptans are considered generally safe for most migraineurs, there is a lack of care being taken for patients who are at risk.
15 December 2011 @ 11:45 am
I had used Imitrex for several years with no problems but subsequently had an adverse reaction to the first dose of the generic version, sumatriptan. My chest felt like there was a weight on it and I had difficultly breathing. I don’t have heart disease or other risk factors but have a family history of hearth disease. These symptoms lasted for a week and were frightening. When I finally got in to see a cardiologist, the symptoms had abated so a definitive diagnosis was not possible. Best guess was a spasm of the coronary vessels. I have been advised to avoid all of the triptan drugs. These drugs are potentially very dangerous, users need to be cautious, especially those of us in the 60+ age group. Aborting a migraine is not worth the risk of precipitating a cardiac event.
16 December 2011 @ 5:06 pm
My doctor and I have discussed the issues surrounding Migraines and heart disease, but I still use triptans. My choice. My blood pressure rises quickly and dangerously when I get a Migraine, so which is more dangerous for me – stroke-range blood pressure or a dose of a triptan? My blood pressure has been as high as 180/120 during a Migraine. NSAIDs and pain medications aren’t going to stop the Migraine, so they’re not going to help return my blood pressure to normal. The only abortives, medications that can truly stop the Migraines, are triptans or ergotamines, and the ergotmaines carry the same warning as the triptans. Until more research into the basics of Migraine disease is funded, pharmaceutical companies are unlikely to be able to develop truly new treatments. It’s a catch-22.
22 June 2012 @ 10:55 am
The time I took my first dose of Imitrex (it was actually half a troche) I had my first 4 day migraine – one of the worst I’ve ever had – should have been hospitalized as I could keep NOTHING down. I won’t touch the stuff with a 10′ pole – it makes the migraines worse. And I’m not alone. Read “Our Daily Meds” for another lady’s story to a drug rep who denied it could make migraines worse. Also, during the drug trials a 14 year old had a heart attack. Being put under for 12 hours is the only thing that works (and believe me, the high doses of drugs that takes still only allow dozing because the pain is so great – but it definitely aborts the migraines which normally last anywhere from 24hours to 4 days since I took my first dose of Imitrex)
I don’t know why but it seems migraineurs are the only people in pain that doctors refuse to grant real pain relief.
10 March 2018 @ 5:36 pm
I just experienced a heavy chest and pain in there so I went online to see about heart attack symptoms. That’s when I realized I’d also recently had migraine and medicated with triptans. I know they’re not good for one’s heart….but migraine pain is horrific for the psyche. It is certainly a trade-off as one commenter has suggested.