How a $600 a month medication helped my migraines

Over the past several years I’ve worked with doctors to try various medications to help with migraines. These include various supplements (B complex, riboflavin), diet, beta blocker, topamax, and sumatriptan. Of all of those sumatriptan worked well when they came on, with the side effect being fatigue. That is also not intended as a prophylactic.

I noticed a big increase in migraines as a parent of young children, with an increase in overall stress and less restful sleep. Same thing happened to a best friend and another close family member who are in similar life stages.

After trying the above options, my primary care physician recommended I see a neurologist. I had no idea that neurologists could address headaches! If I had known that, I would have gone long ago.

In the last couple of years a class of medicine specifically developed for migraines debuted— unlike the others above that were not originally developed for them. These are called CGRP antibodies.

The two big brand names are Aimovig and Ajoovy. My insurance accepted Aimovig, so that made it an easy decision. It is taken once a month as a self-administered injection. I have it set up on auto order, it arrives on ice, and what bam slam injection time. It took a couple of months for it to take effect, but I am pleased to report that it has lowered my migraines by about 80%.

What most pharmacies will not tell you is that there is a manufacturer’s coupon on the Aimovig website for patients with commercial insurance that brings the out of pocket cost from ~$600 down to… $5!

I am extremely fortunate/privileged that my health insurance covers this. I have a very good friend from a previous company who paid the full sticker price out of pocket every month. She regularly experienced debilitating migraines and said it was the best money she ever spent.

More info about these CGRPs is available from the American Migraine Foundation.