When you have a migraine, you want it to stop -- quickly. Infusion therapy is a faster way to treat migraine than pills because it delivers the medicine right into your bloodstream. Some migraine medicines you need to get by infusion.
Monoclonal antibodies are made from proteins that would break down in your stomach if you took them as a pill. Not everyone who gets migraine needs infusion therapy. This treatment is for more severe headaches that don't improve with over-the-counter or prescription migraine medicines you take at home.
Migraine infusion therapy can also be used for headaches that keep coming back despite trying other prescription medicines. It is also a way to deliver a preventive medicine when migraines keep coming on despite using other prescription medicines.
Not everyone can take this treatment because certain infusions aren't safe for some groups of people. Learn more about the types of migraine infusion therapy, when to try it, and who shouldn't use it.
Types of Infusion Therapy
There are three types of migraine infusion therapies.
When to Try Infusion Therapy
Infusion therapy may be an option if you have a migraine that lasts for more than a few days. Doctors sometimes call these long-lasting migraines "status migrainosus." The medications not only stop a migraine, but may also prevent you from getting another one of these headaches for a few months.
Who Shouldn't Use Infusion Therapy?
Some infusion therapies can interact with other medications.
DHE interactions
DHE may not be safe for you to take if you have certain types of heart disease or uncontrolled high blood pressure. This medicine narrows blood vessels in your heart and brain, which may raise your risk for a stroke or heart attack.
DHE is also not safe to use during pregnancy. And it doesn't treat hemiplegic migraine, a rare type of headache that can cause weakness on one side of the body.
Some medicines don't mix well with DHE and can interact.
Eptinezumab interactions
Don't take Eptinezumab if you are allergic to any of the ingredients in it, have high blood pressure, or circulation trouble. And it's still unclear how the medication may impact your unborn baby.
Eptinezumab is safe to take for people with heart disease, liver disease, and kidney disease.
Migraine cocktail interactions
A migraine drug cocktail contains a few different medicines. Your treatment team at the hospital will make sure you don't have any allergies or problems with the medicines in it before they give you a drug cocktail.
Show Sources
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SOURCES:
American Headache Society: "Breaking News: Eptinezumab-jjmr (Vyepti) Approved by FDA."
American Migraine Foundation: "Dihydroergotamine (DHE) for Migraine Treatment," "Hemiplegic Migraine: Symptoms and Treatments," "Migraine Cocktails: What They Are and Why They Are Misunderstood."
Barrow Neurological Institute: "Dihydroergotamine Infusion Overview."
FDA: "Highlights of Prescribing Information: Vyepti."
Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain: "Dihydroergotamine (DHE) — Then and Now: A Narrative Review."
Health Psychology Research: "Eptinezumab-jjmr, a Humanized Monoclonal Specific to Calcitonin Gene Related Peptide, for the Preventive Treatment of Migraine in Adults."
