Vydura (rimegepant)
Vydura (rimegepant)
Vydura (rimegepant)
- Treats or prevents migraines
- Almost 60% effective within two hours of migraine starting
- Oral wafer placed under the tongue
Vydura contains the active ingredient rimegepant and comes in the form of a wafer to place under your tongue.
What is Vydura (rimegepant)?
Vydura is a migraine medication, which can be used to treat an oncoming migraine or prevent migraines, if you get them often.
It comes in the form of a small wafer you place underneath your tongue.
How does Vydura work?
Vydura contains the active ingredient rimegepant. Rimegepant works by blocking the function of CGRP, a pain-signalling chemical which plays a role in triggering migraines.
You can either take the treatment when you feel a migraine coming on, to stop it getting worse/relieve symptoms. Or if you get migraines often, you can use the treatment every other day as a preventative measure.
How effective is rimegepant?
Trials show that rimegepant is an effective treatment for migraine attacks and preventing frequent migraines.
A study looking at rimegepant to treat migraines found that after taking the medication:
- 59% of people experienced pain relief within two hours
- 21% of people were pain free within two hours
- 35% of people were free of their ‘most bothersome symptom’ within two hours
- 42% of people had continued pain relief between two and 48 hours after the first dose
- 86% of people needed no other pain relief in the first 24 hours
A different study looking at rimegepant as a migraine prevention treatment found that:
- People had on average 4.3 fewer monthly migraine days (MMDs)
- People had a 50% reduction in their MMDs
How to take Vydura
If you’re taking Vydura to treat a migraine, you simply place one wafer below the tongue and let it dissolve. You don’t need to take it with food or drink. If you need, you can take another Vydura after 24 hours have passed since the first dose.
If you’re taking Vydura as a preventative treatment, you can take one wafer every other day to prevent the onset of migraine symptoms.
You should never take more than one Vydura wafer within 24 hours.
More info about Vydura
Who can take Vydura?
Vydura is suitable for most adults over 18 who have a history of migraines with or without aura. If you have more than four migraines a month, it might be appropriate for you to take Vydura every other day as a preventative treatment.
You’ll be advised against taking Vydura if:
- You’re pregnant or breastfeeding
- You have a severe liver or kidney condition
- You’re allergic to any of the ingredients
You also need to let your clinician know if you’re taking certain medications, as they may impact how well the treatment works, or Vydura may impact how they work. These treatments include:
- Medications for fungal or bacterial infections
- Medications to treat HIV
- Bosentan – treatment for high blood pressure
- St John’s wort
- Phenobarbital – treatment for epilepsy
- Rifampicin – treatment for tuberculosis (TB)
- Modafinil – treatment for narcolepsy
Can I use other types of migraine relief with Vydura?
Yes, you can take other migraine treatments at the same time as Vydura. You can use over the counter treatments like paracetamol, ibuprofen or a TENs migraine machine to help relieve your symptoms.
If you experience nausea, you can take antiemetics (medications to prevent nausea and vomiting).
Lots of people are prescribed triptans (Rizatriptan or Sumatriptan) to treat migraines. But you shouldn’t take any triptans within 48 hours of taking Vydura.
Vydura side effects
Like with all medications, you might experience side effects when taking Vydura (rimegepant), but these tend to be very rare. In fact, the only common side effect is nausea. One trial mentioned a possible slight risk of UTI and dizziness. In very rare instances Vydura might cause shortness of breath or a rash indicating an allergic reaction.
Alternative migraine treatments
You can treat migraines with over-the-counter pain killers like paracetamol and ibuprofen. As we’ve mentioned you can also use a type of migraine treatment called a triptans.
LloydsPharmacy also have a device called the TENs pain reliever for migraines, which is a drug-free option. The machine works by sending small electrical pulses through nerve endings that block the pain messages being sent to the brain.
