Maxalt Tablet: Uses, Dosage, Side Effects, Precautions and Alternates

Quick overview

Maxalt Tablet (rizatriptan) is a prescription triptan medicine used to treat migraine attacks that have already started. It works by narrowing swollen blood vessels around the brain, which eases migraine pain, nausea, and sensitivity to light and sound. It is not used to prevent migraines or to treat tension headaches, and dosing, side effects, and precautions should be followed carefully.

What is Maxalt Tablet

Maxalt is a prescription headache medicine that narrows the blood vessels around the brain. It is used to treat migraine attacks that have already started, not to prevent them.

Maxalt Tablet uses

• Treats migraine headaches with or without aura in adults and children ages 6 and older
• Only treats a headache that has already begun; it does not prevent headaches or reduce how many attacks you have
• Should not be used for a common tension headache or a headache that is different from your usual migraines

Benefits of Maxalt Tablet

• Can start working within 30 minutes for some people
• Between 67% and 77% of adults taking the 10 mg tablet have meaningful pain relief by 2 hours, compared with 23% to 40% on placebo
• Available as a regular swallowed tablet or as a tablet that dissolves on the tongue, which may help people who have trouble swallowing

How Maxalt Tablet works

Maxalt works by turning on serotonin receptors in the brain. This causes swollen blood vessels around the brain to narrow and calms overactive nerves that send pain signals, which eases migraine pain, nausea, and sensitivity to light and sound.

Maxalt Tablet dosage

Take Maxalt exactly as prescribed by your doctor and follow all directions on your prescription label. Take Maxalt as soon as you notice migraine symptoms starting. The regular tablet can be swallowed whole with a full glass of water, with or without food.

For the dissolving tablet (Maxalt-MLT), keep it in its blister pack until ready to use; peel back the foil rather than pushing the tablet through it. Use dry hands to remove the dissolving tablet and place it on your tongue; let it dissolve without chewing, then you may drink liquid to help swallow it if you want.

Adults: if the headache does not go away, or comes back, a second dose can be taken after waiting at least two hours from the first; contact your doctor if symptoms have not improved before taking more. Children ages 6 to 17: contact the doctor before taking another tablet if the headache does not fully go away. Call the doctor if the headache does not go away at all after the first tablet.

Do not treat more than four migraine headaches in a 30-day period, and do not use migraine medicine for more than 10 days per month. Tell the doctor if the medicine seems to stop working as well over time.

Available forms and strengths

• Regular oral tablet (Maxalt)

Side effects of Maxalt Tablet

Common

• Dizziness
• Drowsiness or sleepiness
• Tired feeling or weakness
• Pain, pressure, or tightness in the throat, chest, jaw, or neck
• Nausea
• Dry mouth
• Headache
• Burning or prickling feeling in arms, hands, legs, or feet

Serious

• Signs of allergic reaction: hives, difficulty breathing, swelling of face, lips, tongue, or throat
• Sudden and severe stomach pain and bloody diarrhea
• Cold feeling or numbness in feet and hands
• Heart attack symptoms: chest pain or pressure, pain spreading to jaw or shoulder, nausea, sweating
• Serotonin syndrome: agitation, hallucinations, fever, fast heart rate, overactive reflexes, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of coordination, fainting
• Signs of a stroke: sudden numbness or weakness (especially on one side of the body), sudden severe headache, slurred speech, problems with vision or balance
• Dangerously high blood pressure: severe headache, blurred vision, buzzing in ears, anxiety, confusion, chest pain, shortness of breath, uneven heartbeats, seizure
• Rebound or medication overuse headache
• Memory loss or impairment

Warnings and precautions

• Do not use Maxalt if you have uncontrolled high blood pressure, heart problems, a history of heart attack or stroke, or circulation problems that reduce blood supply in the body.
• Do not take Maxalt within 24 hours before or after using certain other migraine medicines, including other triptans or ergot-type medicines.
• Do not use Maxalt if you have taken an MAO inhibitor in the past 14 days, as this can cause a dangerous interaction.
• Tell your doctor if you are also taking certain antidepressants, since combining them with Maxalt raises the risk of a serious condition called serotonin syndrome.
• Do not take more than the maximum recommended amount in 24 hours; overusing migraine medicine can make headaches worse.
• Maxalt should not be used for basilar or hemiplegic migraines, since these patients have a greater risk of stroke.
• Maxalt can raise blood pressure to dangerous levels, and your blood pressure may need to be checked often while using it.
• Maxalt is not approved for use in children younger than 6 years old.
• The dissolving tablet form (Maxalt-MLT) may contain phenylalanine, so talk to your doctor before using it if you have phenylketonuria (PKU).
• It is not known whether Maxalt is safe to use during pregnancy. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or planning to become pregnant.
• It is not known whether rizatriptan passes into breast milk or could harm a nursing baby. Tell your doctor if you are breastfeeding.
• Tell your doctor if you have kidney disease before using this medicine, since it may affect whether Maxalt is safe for you.
• Tell your doctor if you have liver disease before using this medicine, since it may affect whether Maxalt is safe for you.
• There is no known direct interaction between alcohol and Maxalt, but alcohol can trigger migraines in some people, so talk with your doctor about how much alcohol is safe for you while taking this medicine.
• Maxalt may impair your thinking or reactions, so be careful if you drive or do anything that requires you to be alert.

Storage

• Store at 20–25°C.
• Keep in a dry place.
• Protect from moisture and direct sunlight.
• Keep in the original packaging.
• Keep out of reach of children.

When to see a doctor

• Get emergency help right away if you have signs of an allergic reaction such as hives, trouble breathing, or swelling of the face, lips, tongue, or throat.
• Stop using Maxalt and call your doctor right away if you have sudden severe stomach pain with bloody diarrhea, cold or numb feet and hands, heart attack symptoms, signs of serotonin syndrome, signs of a stroke, or signs of dangerously high blood pressure.
• Call your doctor promptly if your migraine symptoms do not improve after using Maxalt.
• Contact your doctor if you have more than four headaches in one month, or if you need to use migraine medicine for more than 10 days a month.
• If chest, jaw, neck, or throat tightness becomes severe or does not go away, get immediate medical attention, since similar symptoms can signal a heart attack.

Alternatives

• Ubrogepant
• Zolmitriptan
• Sumatriptan