Migraine meds could treat orgasmic headaches

Triptans can prevent or reduce the severity of sex-triggered brain pain

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updated 8:26 p.m. ET Jan. 26, 2007

NEW YORK - A type of migraine drug can be helpful for patients who suffer from orgasmic headaches, researchers report.

But anyone who experiences a severe headache upon orgasm for the first time must seek medical attention to ensure that it is not due to a type of bleeding on the brain called subarachnoid hemorrhage, Dr. Achim Frese of the University of Munster, Germany, and colleagues advise.

About 1 percent of people are believed to have headaches associated with sexual activity at some point in their lives. There are two types of sex-associated headaches: pre-orgasmic, dull headaches that increase with sexual excitement, and orgasmic headaches, which are sudden, severe headaches that occur upon orgasm and can last for hours.

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In the journal Cephalalgia, Frese and colleagues report on seven patients with orgasmic headaches. Among four patients who experienced headaches lasting for longer than two hours, two were successfully treated with triptans. Two of three patients used the drugs successfully as a preventive measure.

The standard preventive treatment for orgasmic headaches has been indomethacin taken 30 to 60 minutes before sex, but many patients can’t tolerate the drug’s intestinal side effects, Frese and colleagues note. Another drug, propranolol, can be helpful as preventive treatment, they add. One or the other drug is effective in 80 percent of patients.

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Based on the experiences of patients in the current report, the authors conclude that triptans can be effective preventive treatment if taken about a half-hour before sex, and can also be used to shorten orgasmic headaches after they have begun, but should be used only if standard treatments aren’t effective or tolerable.