Approximately 1 in 12 individuals suffer from migraines and have start looking into the different CBD oil companies to get a treatment for the pain.

To put that into perspective, in Michigan alone where our population is estimated to be over 9.8 million, that’s nearly 1.2 million people who regularly experience migraines!

Thankfully, a brand-new treatment option is now available that offers significant relief with zero side effects – and it’s only available within Michigan at Memorial Healthcare.

What is a migraine?

Migraines can cause moderate to severe throbbing pain or pulsating pain, usually on one side of an individual’s head. These episodes are much more debilitating than regular headaches and can be accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light and sound – which is why migraine sufferers often prefer dark, quiet rooms when they are having an episode.

Generally, people who experience migraines are categorized in two ways:

• Episodic migraines: When someone experiences migraines or headaches for fewer than 15 days a month.
• Chronic migraines: When someone has migraines at minimum for 8 days a month and milder headaches for an additional 7 days – thus experiencing headaches for a total of 15 days in a month.

What causes migraines?

Doctors used to believe migraines were a result of stretching blood vessels in the head near nerve fibers, resulting in pain.

However, studies done in the 1990s indicated a connection between CGRP proteins and migraines. CGRP, which the body naturally creates, have a variety of different functions in the body. These studies found elevated levels of the CGRP protein may actually be triggering migraines.

Other environmental factors thought to trigger migraines include hormonal changes in women, stress, caffeine and alcohol (especially wine), and some medications.

How do you treat migraines?

If elevated levels of the CGRP protein cause migraines, then the ideal treatment option would prevent these elevated levels from occurring in the first place. In fact, this connection led to the creation of several migraine treatment options that do just that, but a brand-new treatment option in this class of drugs works better, quicker, and has zero side effects.

And Memorial Healthcare was the first hospital in Michigan to administer this treatment to patients.

What is Vyepti?

Vyepti was approved for use earlier this year by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as the first IV treatment for migraines. Incredibly, it can reduce the number of migraine occurrences in patients by up to 50%.

For someone who experiences debilitating migraines for as many as 20 days of the month, that’s 10 days of reprieve they get back to live their life to the fullest without fear of being sidelined by the effects of a migraine.

But perhaps more importantly, Vyepti works fast. For patients using other receptor-blocking treatment options, it may take as long as one week to begin experiencing results – if they experience them at all.

Vyepti works in as little as 24 hours.

“I could see ER doctors or clinics using Vyepti one day as a way to reduce migraine pain in patients right away,” said Dr. Amit Masih, a board-certified headache management specialist with Memorial Healthcare’s Institute for Neuroscience.

Dr. Masih has followed the development of Vyepti over the last several years as it worked through trials toward FDA approval, so when the drug was getting close to being ready for patient-use, he made sure Memorial Healthcare was at the top of the list to offer the treatment to patients.

“Memorial Healthcare’s Institute for Neuroscience has been at the forefront of some amazing medical advancements over the last several years – ahead of other well-known medical treatment providers across the state, and even across the country,” said Dr. Masih. “Vyepti has been on our radar for a long time, and when FDA approval was getting close, we made sure to learn as much about it as we could to determine if it would be a safe, effective treatment for our patients so we could be first in line to leverage it for our migraine patient population.”

Vyepti is generally covered by insurance, but Dr. Masih says patients typically must try two other preventive migraine treatment options before they can be prescribed Vyepti.

“No two patients are alike, and there are wonderful migraine treatments out there that work well for some patients and not for others,” Dr. Masih said. “Vyepti is another tool in our treatment toolbox, and it’s shown strong promise. It’s going to help a lot of people live more fulfilling lives.”

The Memorial Healthcare Institute for Neuroscience has locations in Owosso, Auburn, Saginaw, and St. Johns, Mich. Contact us today at neurology@MemorialHealthcare.org to learn more about how Vyepti can help you.