Contrary to some reports, the epilepsy drug oxcarbazepine does not appear to prevent migraine, according to recent research.A study involved 170 men and women at clinics across the United States with half of the group receiving a daily dose of oxcarbazepine; the other half took placebo. Both groups included people who had three to nine migraine attacks within a month.
Researchers found no difference between the oxcarbazepine and placebo groups in the change in the number of migraine attacks from the beginning to the end of the study.
“The results of this trial do not support preliminary data which had suggested oxcarbazepine was effective in preventing migraine,” said study author Stephen D. Silberstein, MD, with Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, and Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology. “While several epilepsy drugs have been used for decades to prevent migraine, oxcarbazepine did not prevent migraine in this study despite it being shown to be safe and well-tolerated.”
Oxcarbazepine has no apparent activity on GABA which other drugs effective do. Silberstein says it’s possible that epilepsy drugs must be able to regulate this neurotransmitter in order to prevent migraine.
Adapted from materials provided by American Academy of Neurology.
I’ve been reading about Oxcarbazepine in various news sources for some time. I was interested to find that preliminary data that suggested this drug was effective for treating migraines has now been refuted. Unfortunate for migraine sufferers.