Study Evaluated the Effectiveness of Milnacipran to Reduce Pain Levels in Individuals With Chronic Migraine

Milnacipran is a serotonin norepinephrine reubtake inhibitor (SNRI) approved for the management of fibromyalgia in the United States. Migraine and fibromyalgia have significant co-morbidity. Of 100 patients with fibromyalgia, 76% had chronic headaches, of whom 63% had migraine. Interestingly, general measures of pain, disability, sleep quality, and psychological distress were similar in individuals with fibromyalgia with and without headache. Conversely, the prevalence of fibromyalgia in women with migraine was reported as 22%, and at a headache referral center, 36% of headache patients had fibromyalgia. Because of significant co-morbidity, as well as the likelihood of shared pathophysiologic mechanisms, there is reason to believe that a medication effective for fibromyalgia might reduce migraine pain, especially where the pain has taken on the nature of a chronic pain disorder, as in chronic migraine. The current study evaluated the benefits of milnacipran in individuals with chronic migraine. Patients with chronic migraine were randomized to either Milnacipran or Placebo. Patients completed 30 days of baseline followed by 90 days of headache diaries while taking assigned medication. Primary outcomes were reduction in pain severity and improvement in migraine specific quality of life (MSQ) while secondary outcomes included reduction in migraine and non-migraine headache days and symptomatic use of medication for migraine. Independent sample t-tests were used to evaluate the changes in primary and secondary measures between the two groups.