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

Quick overview

Zomig Tablet contains zolmitriptan, a triptan medicine used to treat acute migraine attacks, with or without aura. It comes as a tablet you swallow, an orally disintegrating tablet, and a nasal spray. Zomig works by narrowing blood vessels around the brain and reducing chemicals that trigger migraine pain, nausea, and sensitivity to light and sound.

What is Zomig Tablet

Zomig is a prescription medicine used to treat migraine attacks. It comes as a tablet you swallow, an orally disintegrating tablet that dissolves on your tongue, and a nasal spray. Its generic name is zolmitriptan, and it belongs to the triptan class of medicines, which work as selective 5-HT1B/1D receptor agonists.

Zomig Tablet uses

• Acute migraine with aura.
• Acute migraine without aura.
• Migraine attacks with moderate to severe pain.
• Migraine accompanied by light sensitivity.
• Migraine accompanied by sound sensitivity.

Benefits of Zomig Tablet

• Relieves migraine headache pain.
• Reduces migraine severity.
• May ease sensitivity to light.
• May ease sensitivity to sound.
• Helps improve daily functioning during a migraine attack.

How Zomig Tablet works

Zomig narrows blood vessels around the brain and reduces the release of certain body chemicals that trigger migraine pain, nausea, and sensitivity to light and sound.

Zomig Tablet dosage

Take Zomig at the first sign of a migraine attack. Swallow the regular tablet whole with water. For the orally disintegrating tablet, do not remove it from its packaging until you are ready to take it; place it on your tongue, let it dissolve, and swallow it with your saliva—water is not needed. Do not break, crush, or chew the orally disintegrating tablet. The regular tablet can be split, crushed, or chewed if needed for a smaller dose. You can take it with or without food, but food may worsen nausea or vomiting during a migraine.

If your headache returns or does not improve after your first dose, you may take a second dose after waiting at least 2 hours. Do not take a second dose if the first dose had no effect at all without checking with your doctor first. Avoid taking other migraine medicines, including other triptans or ergotamine-type medicines, within 24 hours of taking Zomig.

Available forms and strengths

• Tablet (swallowed)
• Orally disintegrating tablet
• Nasal spray

Side effects of Zomig Tablet

Common

• Dizziness
• "Pins and needles" feeling (tingling or numbness)
• Weakness
• Sleepiness
• Feeling warm or cold
• Nausea
• A heavy feeling in part of the body
• Dry mouth
• Unusual taste (nasal spray only)
• Increased sensitivity of the senses (nasal spray only)

Serious

• Medication overuse headache (rebound headaches) from using the drug too often
• Neck, throat, or jaw pain, tightness, or pressure
• Heart attack
• Irregular heart rate or rhythm
• Stroke
• Serotonin syndrome (too much serotonin in the body)
• High blood pressure
• Allergic reaction, including swelling of the face, lips, tongue, or throat, and trouble breathing

Warnings and precautions

• Do not use Zomig if you have heart disease, a history of heart attack, or conditions affecting blood flow to the heart, because of the risk of heart attack and other serious heart problems.
• Do not use Zomig if you have uncontrolled or severe high blood pressure, since the drug can raise blood pressure further.
• Do not take Zomig within 24 hours of another triptan or an ergotamine-type medicine, as combining them may increase the risk of prolonged blood vessel spasm.
• Do not use Zomig if you have hemiplegic or basilar migraine, as safety has not been established for these types.
• Do not take Zomig if you are using, or have recently stopped using, an MAO-A inhibitor, because this combination is contraindicated.
• Zomig can rarely cause strokes, which may be fatal, especially in people who have had a stroke before.
• Zomig can cause blood vessel spasms that may lead to blood clots or reduced blood flow to parts of the body.
• People with phenylketonuria should avoid the orally disintegrating tablet because it contains phenylalanine, which can worsen the condition.
• Taking Zomig too often can lead to medication overuse headaches, a severe and hard-to-treat type of headache.
• Combining Zomig with certain antidepressants (SSRIs or SNRIs) can rarely cause serotonin syndrome, a potentially life-threatening condition.
• It isn't known whether Zomig is safe to use during pregnancy. Talk with your doctor before taking it if you are or might be pregnant.
• It isn't known whether Zomig passes into breast milk or if it could affect a nursing baby, so talk with your doctor before breastfeeding while taking it.
• People with severe kidney impairment have reduced clearance of the drug, so caution and medical guidance are needed.
• People with moderate to severe liver problems process the drug more slowly, which can raise blood levels and the risk of side effects, including high blood pressure. 
• Lower doses are recommended, and the nasal spray is not advised for people with moderate to severe liver failure.
• Zomig does not directly interact with alcohol, but alcohol may trigger migraine attacks in some people, so you may want to limit or avoid it.
• Zomig can cause sleepiness or dizziness, so avoid driving or operating machinery until you know how it affects you.

Storage

• Store at controlled room temperature
• Protect from light and moisture
• Keep out of reach of children
• Throw away any unused or expired tablets as instructed, and keep discarded tablets away from children

When to see a doctor

• Get emergency help right away if you have signs of a severe allergic reaction, such as swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat, or trouble breathing.
• Stop using Zomig and call your doctor right away if you feel tightness in your jaw, neck, throat, or chest.
• Seek immediate medical attention if you have symptoms of a heart attack, such as chest pain or pressure, pain spreading to the jaw or shoulder, nausea, or sweating.
• Get medical help immediately if you notice signs of a stroke, such as sudden weakness on one side of the body, trouble speaking, or vision changes.
• Seek help right away if you develop symptoms of serotonin syndrome, such as agitation, hallucinations, fast heart rate, fever, or loss of coordination.
• Call your doctor right away if you have sudden, severe stomach pain or bloody diarrhea, which could signal a blood flow problem in the intestines.
• If you think you've taken more Zomig than prescribed, contact your doctor or a poison control center right away, or seek emergency care if symptoms are severe.

Alternatives

• Frovatriptan
• Rizatriptan
• Sumatriptan