Our answers to questions from Seven Sharp
Migraine featured in the media again on Monday 1 July, with an item on Seven Sharp, TVNZ’s current affairs and news show at 7pm. It started well, with Hilary Barry stating that “migraines are not your typical headache and can’t be treated with a big glass of water and paracetamol” but in a bizarre contradiction […]
Medsafe approves atogepant for use in New Zealand
Medsafe has approved the migraine medication atogepant (Aquipta, also known as Qulipta) be added to the New Zealand Medicines Schedule. Atogepant is used to prevent migraine and is taken daily as an oral tablet. In May 2024, Medsafe granted approval for atogepant to be marketed in New Zealand, making atogepant the first gepant medication to […]
Migraine or ‘sinus headache’?
The symptoms of migraine disease are commonly mistaken for those of another condition. This means that people with migraine are often misdiagnosed and don’t receive appropriate treatment. One of the most common conditions confused with migraine is ‘sinus headache’. In fact, a true ‘sinus headache’ is not very common. It is caused by an acute […]
Alcohol and migraine
To drink or not to drink – that can be a vexing question for people with migraine. As many as a third of people with migraine report that alcohol may trigger a migraine attack at least some of the time. A proportion of these people choose not to drink at all, to avoid any chance […]
Neurological Advisory Committee recommends migraine medications receive high priority funding
Press release Migraine Foundation Aotearoa New Zealand welcomes Pharmac’s Neurological Advisory Committee recommendation that migraine-specific medications should be funded with a high priority. At its September meeting, the Committee reviewed the evidence for funding galcanezumab (Emgality), erenumab (Aimovig) and atogepant (Aquipta) for chronic and episodic migraine. All three medications were developed specifically to prevent migraine, […]
Migraine while flying and travelling
As the summer holidays approach, many people are gearing up to jump on a plane to spend time with family and friends or to have an escape or adventure, either here in Aotearoa New Zealand or overseas. Flying, and even travel in general, can create an environment where migraine attacks are more likely to occur […]
Emgality supply issue – NZ shouldn’t be affected
This week we received emails from the Australian and New Zealand Headache Society and Migraine and Headache Australia that galcanezumab (Emgality) was out of stock until 1 April 2024 due to a global supply shortage. Greatly perturbed, we contacted CDC Pharmaceuticals who have the sole supply of Emgality in NZ. They hadn’t received any notification […]
Emgality price increase? Thankfully not
We’ve heard some people taking Emgality have been told by their pharmacists that the price of Emgality is going to increase next year, by as much as double by February 2024. This has been predominantly in the Bay of Plenty and Auckland area. We contacted the pharmaceutical supplier CDC Pharmaceuticals (CDC) about this. CDC is […]
Migraine and menopause
Many women with migraine have been told that migraine will improve after menopause. Should we be hanging out until our periods stop? Menopause is the time in a woman’s life when periods have totally ceased and the ovaries no longer produce eggs. Officially, it’s when you’ve gone for 12 months without a period. Perimenopause is […]
Migraine in transgender people
What can we learn from the experience of migraine in transgender people and what can be done for transgender people with migraine? Most research on migraine doesn’t distinguish between sex and gender. Sex is a biological construct, technically categorised as male, female and intersex (but more often as a male/female binary) and is based on […]
