Menstruation and migraine. Treatment of menstrual migraine attacks with rizatriptan

Many woman report that menstruation triggers migraine attacks. These attacks occur some days before, during or after the onset of menstruation. Young and otherwise healthy women often consult gynaecologists with this problem. We report the results of a study conducted in a primary care setting with gynaecologists treating menstrual migraine with 10 mg rizatriptan.The study included 720 patients who reported treatment of two consecutive migraine attacks occurring around the time of menstruation: 85% of the patients took rizatriptan 10 mg conventional tablets (Maxalt) and 15% used the melt wafer (Maxalt lingua). Data of 548 diaries could be evaluated. Over 90% of the patients reported a fast onset of action, improvement of disability and satisfaction with the ease of handling the medication; 80% reported being pain free. Nine adverse events were reported in this study, none of which were serious. © Springer Medizin Verlag 2006.