title: Remission of migraine attacks in a patient with depression who is taking pregabalin.
abstract: Antiepileptic drugs (AED) are increasingly used in the treatment of migraine. Pregabalin (PGB) is an AED that has been used in the treatment of partial seizures, of various types of pain, and of certain anxiety disorders, but to the best of our knowledge, there has been no report on the use of PGB in the treatment of migraine. We report the case of a 60-year-old female inpatient with depression, long experiencing migraine, whose migraine symptoms improved markedly after receiving PGB in combination with escitalopram administered for her depression. The PGB mechanism of action in conjunction with its structural similarity with gabapentin, already successfully tested in the treatment of migraine, provide additional supportive evidence, theoretical and clinical, respectively, for PGB potential to alleviate migraine symptoms. However, only carefully randomized, controlled studies, or at the very least, open-label series of large patient samples treated in a similar fashion could establish the efficacy of PGB in migraine treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Athens University Medical School, Eginition Hospital, Athens, Greece. vmasdrakis@med.uoa.gr
authors.forename: Vasilios G
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Masdrakis
authors.forename: Panagiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Oulis
authors.forename: Nikolaos A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Karakatsanis
authors.forename: Constantin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Potagas
authors.forename: Anastasios V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Kouzoupis
authors.forename: Constantin R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Soldatos
mesh_terms: D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018687:Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015283:Citalopram / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000069583:Pregabalin; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics; D018687:Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation; D015283:Citalopram; D000069583:Pregabalin; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid