When I first covered the anti-CGRP medications, it was 2019, just 1 year after they had come out. Since then, we have much gained more exposure to these medications, though none are approved by the FDA for those under age 18 yet. We get asked all the time about these medications, and while they do … Continue reading Revisiting the ‘new’ migraine prevention medications
In this post, I revisit the prescribing a daily medication for migraine prophylaxis, the standard medications for those under age 18. I use one migraine/week as a benchmark for considering a daily preventive medication. Here’s some good information on the basic daily medications that pediatric primary care providers could start for their patients with frequent … Continue reading Revisiting pediatric migraine: preventive medications, part 1
My last posts have focused on migraine abortives and analgesia for kids with migraine. Here I will continue to review medications and strategies for rescue, focusing on adjuvants and combination medications. These medications are the 3rd leg of the plan which are used to treat migraine. . There are several medications that are used either … Continue reading Revisiting migraines part 4: adjuvant medications and combination therapies
Since I am revisiting the topic of caring for kids with migraine, I thought I would jump right into medications next, treatment and then preventive. I am a firm believer in headache healthy lifestyle factors and their important for preventing migraines. I have discussed these quite a bit in the blog. So let’s talk about … Continue reading Revisiting Migraine part 2: abortive medications
In part 1 of this post, pain and psychiatric issues often travel together. Chronic headache pain can lead to long-lasting psychological distress, and depression and anxiety increase the perception of both acute and chronic pain. They are intimately connected. This post will continue the discussion about psychiatric co-morbidities and headache, focusing on psychopharmacology. What is … Continue reading Headaches and psychiatric co-morbidities, part 2
Getting Ahead of Pediatric Headaches: A comprehensive guide for Nurse Practitioners to manage headaches in children and adolescents I started my blog as a way to communicate to pediatric providers about the care of pediatric patients with all kinds of headaches. Over time, I decided to turn it into a book. I felt that the … Continue reading My book is available!!!
In thinking about the upcoming American Headache Society Annual Scientific Meeting in June, our clinic staff has been thinking about what interesting or new information we could offer to present at the conference. This is an important conference in the headache world, a mixture of scientific research and real-world clinical information and ideas. We were … Continue reading Interesting clinical updates on headache
So I will go on the record as having been skeptical about the effectiveness of Botox for chronic migraine from the beginning. I doubted whether our patients would actually go through with the 31-injection procedure more than once, in order to get full effect. But I was hoping for the best. These teens with chronic … Continue reading Botox and teens with chronic migraine
Well, it has been just 1 year since the first anti-CGRP medication came on the market, approved by the FDA for both episodic and chronic migraine for patients over the age of 18 years. I have heard from adult providers that these medications have been really helpful for their patients, especially with chronic migraine. We … Continue reading What’s the deal with these new migraine medications?
I am always looking for good resources for patients. I am particularly interested in books/articles which would be helpful for my patients who are ‘aging out’ of pediatric care. My young adults are getting ready to move on and would benefit from some adult-focused headache reference material. Some of my kids do need follow up … Continue reading Headache Book Reviews
HeadFirst PNP 