Rizatriptan. Convenience and consistency.

In the treatment of acute migraine, patients need a drug that provides convenient dosing and consistent effectiveness. All drugs in the triptan class are available in oral formulations, which are more convenient and acceptable than subcutaneous injection. One of these drugs, rizatriptan, is also available as an orally disintegrating tablet, which melts when placed on the tongue. This formulation provides an additional measure of convenience because patients do not need water to help swallow the tablet. Individual patients respond differently to different triptan drugs. For some patients, a specific triptan drug might not be effective for all of their migraine attacks, and a switch to a different drug in the same class might prove beneficial. Patients who do not respond consistently to sumatriptan, for example, might respond better to rizatriptan. Data from clinical trials indicate that rizatriptan may be somewhat more effective than sumatriptan for multiple migraine attacks.