Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2009 Aug 6;6(4):212-7.
doi: 10.7150/ijms.6.212.

A pilot study of rizatriptan and visually-induced motion sickness in migraineurs

Joseph M Furman  1 , Dawn A Marcus
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

A pilot study of rizatriptan and visually-induced motion sickness in migraineurs

Joseph M Furman et al. Int J Med Sci. .

Abstract

Background: Limited evidence suggests that rizatriptan given before vestibular stimulation reduces motion sickness in persons with migraine-related dizziness. The present study was designed to test whether rizatriptan is also effective in protecting against visually-induced motion sickness and to test whether rizatriptan blocks the augmentation of motion sickness by head pain.

Material and methods: Using randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled methodology, 10 females, 6 with migrainous vertigo (V+) and four without vertigo (V-) received 10 mg rizatriptan or placebo two hours prior to being stimulated by optokinetic stripes. Visual stimulation was coupled with three pain conditions: no pain (N), thermally-induced hand pain (H) and temple pain (T). Motion sickness and subjective discomfort were measured.

Results: Motion sickness was less after pre-treatment with rizatriptan for 4 of 10 subjects and more for 5 of 10 subjects. Augmentation of motion sickness by head pain was seen in 6 of 10 subjects; this effect was blunted by rizatriptan in 4 of these 6 subjects. Subjective discomfort was significantly more noticeable in V+ subjects as compared with V- subjects.

Conclusions: These pilot data suggest that rizatriptan does not consistently reduce visually-induced motion sickness in migraineurs. Rizatriptan may diminish motion sickness potentiation by cranial pain.

Keywords: anxiety; optokinetic; pain; vertigo; vestibular.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: The authors have declared that no conflict of interest exists.

References

    1. Neuhauser HK, Radtke A, von Brevern M. et al. Migrainous vertigo: prevalence and impact on quality of life. Neurology. 2006;67(6):1028–33. - PubMed
    1. Vukovic V, Plavec D, Galinovic I, Lovrencic-Huzjan A, Budisic M, Demarin V. Prevalence of vertigo, dizziness, and migrainous vertigo in patients with migraine. Headache. 2007;47(10):1427–35. - PubMed
    1. Furman JM, Sparto PJ, Soso M, Marcus D. Vestibular function in migraine-related dizziness: a pilot study. J Vestib Res. 2005;15(5-6):327–32. - PubMed
    1. Celebisoy N, Gokcay F, Sirin H, Bicak N. Migrainous vertigo: clinical, oculographic and posturographic findings. Cephalalgia. 2008;28(1):72–7. - PubMed
    1. Roceanu A, Allena M, De Pasqua V, Bisdorff A, Schoenen J. Abnormalities of the vestibulo-collic reflex are similar in migraineurs with and without vertigo. Cephalalgia. 2008;28:988– 990. - PubMed

Publication types