Veteran Living with Migraine Attacks Finds Hope; Starts Nonprofit to Help Returning Soldiers

Greg Peterman knew concussions had been a part of the job. After 21-years within the US Military Particular Forces, many as a Inexperienced Beret, accidents weren’t uncommon. What Peterman didn’t anticipate had been the debilitating migraine assaults that ensued, throwing his life right into a tailspin.

“My migraine began someplace across the third or fourth deployment. By then I already had a few concussions,” says Peterman, the 46-year-old vet hailing out of West Jefferson, North Carolina.  Psychological well being points compounded the migraine assaults, prompting Peterman to finally search assist.  Nevertheless it wasn’t till 12 years later that Peterman discovered reduction in Nurtec® ODT (rimegepant), the migraine medicine.

Manufactured by Biohaven Prescribed drugs, it is the one FDA-approved medicine to deal with and stop migraine assaults. A single dose of this fast-acting oral medicine can last as long as 48 hours for a lot of sufferers. When taken as a safety measure, Nurtec ODT can lower month-to-month migraine assaults in half.  For Peterman, the drug actually made a distinction, but it surely was a protracted and painful journey that led him to it. “I used to be on eight totally different capsules. I used to be taking a bunch of magnesium dietary supplements. It was not serving to sufficient,” he says.

Nurtec ODT is a prescription drugs utilized in adults for the acute remedy of migraine assaults with or with out aura and the preventive remedy of episodic migraine. Nurtec ODT is contraindicated in sufferers with a historical past of hypersensitivity to rimegepant, Nurtec ODT, or to any of its elements. Nurtec ODT might trigger severe unintended effects together with allergic reactions, together with hassle respiratory and rash. This will occur days after you’re taking Nurtec ODT. Name your HCP or get emergency assist straight away when you’ve got swelling of the face, mouth, tongue, or throat or hassle respiratory. This occurred in lower than 1% of sufferers handled with Nurtec ODT.

Promise in a Capsule

Nurtec® ODT is amongst a handful of migraine remedies permitted by the FDA and is the one medicine that may deal with and stop these debilitating assaults. Some migraine remedies are administered through injection within the thigh or stomach.  

On the floor migraine might seem to be a manageable nuisance, but it surely isn’t, plaguing almost 40 million People. Worldwide greater than 1 billion individuals endure from migraine assaults. For 90% of them, migraine impacts their training, careers, and social actions. It’s so dangerous the World Well being Group lists migraine as one of many planet’s 10 most debilitating illnesses.* It is smart given the signs of migraine assaults embody:

• Ache on one or each side of your head
• Throbbing and pulsing ache
• Extreme sensitivity to mild, sound, smells, and in some instances contact
• Vomiting and nausea
• Ache that may final for hours or days

Complications and migraine assaults turned part of Peterman’s life, made worse by psychological well being points and marital strife. Peterman would usually attempt to discover reduction in a darkish closet, generally spending eight hours hoping the ache would subside. It took him away from his household life and contributed to his divorce. “Coping with on a regular basis regular life wasn’t so regular for me. I couldn’t eliminate it,” says the Inexperienced Beret. “I needed to take care of it as a father and a husband. The migraine assaults would come each time stress was placed on me.” Peterman prevented stressors that would set off a migraine assault which meant that he was avoiding on a regular basis life.

It wasn’t till two years in the past that Peterman was launched to Nurtec ODT. After getting permitted by the FDA in February of 2020 for the acute remedy of migraine, the drugs landed on the Veteran Affairs formulary and Peterman’s neurologist thought it was price a attempt. This drugs ended up exceeding Peterman’s expectations. “For me, Nurtec ODT actually made a distinction,” says Peterman. “The primary time I took Nurtec ODT, my migraine went fully away across the one-hour mark.” In fact, everybody’s expertise is totally different and particular person outcomes might differ.”

Nurtec Makes Migraine Manageable

Nurtec® ODT is a quick-dissolving pill that doesn’t require water, offering a handy technique to take the medicine. The medicine may forestall the onset of migraine assaults when taken each different day. It is one thing Peterman examined earlier than attending the Daytona 500, a 500 mile lengthy NASCAR Cup Sequence race that’s held annually in Daytona Seashore, Florida. The occasion, which pulls over 100,000 individuals, may simply spark a migraine for Peterman however with Nurtec ODT that didn’t occur. “These days if I’ve a high-stress occasion arising I take a Nurtec ODT simply in case,” he says. Similar to most medicines, there are potential unintended effects – abdomen ache, indigestion, and nausea – however that hasn’t impacted Peterman.

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Most significantly it has allowed Peterman to get again to his life, enabling him to launch Blue Ridge Safehouse: a nonprofit group that helps active-duty Inexperienced Berets reintegrate into household life post-deployment. The nonprofit supplies Inexperienced Berets and their households with free counseling periods and guided actions to assist the soldier and household reconnect in a stress free surroundings. Peterman is aware of firsthand how onerous reintegration might be, particularly for Inexperienced Berets who threat their lives in fight zones in far-flung corners of the world. To a lot of them, returning house and coping with psychological well being points is more durable than particular forces coaching or liberating hostages. “I might not have the motivation, the psychological readability, the need and the drive if I used to be nonetheless struggling so badly from migraine,” says Peterman of his charity. “Nurtec ODT 100% helped me to start out Blue Ridge Safehouse so I may begin serving to the blokes following in my footsteps.”

Essential Security Info: Nurtec® ODT 75 mg orally disintegrating tablets is a prescription drugs that’s used to deal with migraine in adults. It’s for the acute remedy of migraine assaults and the preventive remedy of episodic migraine. Don’t take if you’re allergic to Nurtec ODT or any of its elements. The most typical unintended effects had been nausea (2.7%) and abdomen ache/indigestion (2.4%). Please go to

Nurtec.com for full Prescribing Info, Affected person Info and Essential Security Info.

US-RIMODT-2200310 03/29/2022

*Source: American Migraine Basis