Categories
Change Password!
Reset Password!
Lower effectiveness of prophylactic
amitriptyline is connected with an extensive pain hyperalgesia.
Higher headache frequency, higher headache burden,
worse sleep quality, and higher depression found to be associated with
amitriptyline as prophylactic medication used by tension-type headache (TTH)
patients, explained in study results in the 'The Clinical Journal of Pain'.
Palacios-Ceña M et al. investigated the differences in
the clinical, psychological and psychophysical outcomes with the use of
prophylactic medication amitriptyline in TTH.
A total of 173 patients with TTH participated in this
study. At the baseline and 6-months, the headache features and symptomatic
medication intake were collected with a 4-weeks headache diary. At the
baseline, sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index-PSQI), headache burden
(Headache Disability Inventory-HDI), anxiety/depression (Hospital Anxiety and
Depression Scale-HADS), and trait/state anxiety levels (State-Trait Anxiety
Inventory-STAI) were examined. Also, the pressure pain thresholds (PPT) were
observed over the temporalis, C5-C6 joint, second metacarpal, and tibialis
anterior. The differences between subjects taking or not taking prophylactic
medication as per the self-perceived effectiveness of the medicines on headache
characteristics were investigated.
It was found that 49 (28%) reported taking prophylactic
medication, amitriptyline: 100% for the headaches. From these, 11 (23%) showed
no effect, 25 (51%) showed a moderate effect, and 13 (26%) showed a positive
impact due to the medication intake. The patients taking prophylactic
medication had longer headache history, higher frequency of headaches (61%
CTTH), higher headache burden, worse quality of sleep, and higher depression as
compared to those not taking medication. The prophylactic medication was least
effective in patients suffering from generalized pressure pain hyperalgesia.
There were no other significant differences.
"Lower effectiveness of prophylactic amitriptyline
was associated with a widespread pain hyperalgesia", summarized the study
authors.
The Clinical Journal of Pain
Variables Associated with the Use of Prophylactic Amitriptyline Treatment in Patients with Tension-Type Headache
Palacios-Ceña M et al.
Comments (0)