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        Cluster Headache Help and Support >> Cluster Headache Specific >> Immitrex Question
        
(Message started by: Drew_Va on May 8^th, 2006, 4:02pm)

Title: Immitrex Question
Post by Drew_Va on May 8^th, 2006, 4:02pm

I tried one of the 2 total shots the insurance company let me have on a bad headache Saturday night (KIP 8). It worked. I was PF within 15 minutes which I thought was remarkable! However, I did experience a tightness in my neck and upper shoulders that felt really odd. Kind of got hot flashes too. Is this something that others have experienced? I am also using the inhalers with some success. I have noticed that my urine is really discolored. Is this another side effect of the immitrex?

Thanks in advance for the help!

PF Days!

Drew

Title: Re: Immitrex Question
Post by Redd715 on May 8^th, 2006, 4:10pm

Please check out the imitrex tip over on the left hand side there. Some side effects of trex like you mentioned can be avoided by using the tip, and relief is just as fast.

The urine issue is more likely the result of other meds you are taking, and if you are not hydrated enough.

May ask your doc to perscribe the vials and insulin syringes so you can cut back the doses easier.

Good Luck.

Title: Re: Immitrex Question
Post by CrystalAnn on May 8^th, 2006, 5:39pm

Hi Drew

I take Trex it makes me feel the same way but I think it is well worth being PF within 10 mins for me :) I tried using the spray did nothing just made me sick! and the pills well they will not stay down!

Good Luck Friend!
Crystal

Title: Re: Immitrex Question
Post by Guiseppi on May 8^th, 2006, 6:25pm

My doctor put me on vitamin b-2 and magnesium. The b-2 makes my urine look like Tang. (assuming your old enough to remember the breakfast drink!!!) I use the imitrex injectables on occasion. The imitrex gives me the snakes under the skin, surging up your shoulder hot flash thing! It stops the headache in its tracks, but for me it sometimes causes rebounds. My first preference for aborting is still oxygen. Glad you found something to fight it off with, it's a great feeling isn't it?

Guiseppi

Title: Re: Immitrex Question
Post by E-Double on May 8^th, 2006, 7:13pm

I only did the full dose once.
I felt awful.
From that point I started splitting and though I fell icky it is not nearly as bad.
I can abort with less than a 3rd of shot

Title: Re: Immitrex Question
Post by Cendie on May 8^th, 2006, 9:15pm

I take the pills and they cause the left side of my neck to ache, the same side where I take the hits. This happens when I take any of the triptans. It is a weird feeling though, think ache is the right word, it feels like a weakness. Good Luck, Cendie

Title: Re: Immitrex Question
Post by Jasmyn on May 9^th, 2006, 1:17am

Yip, the whole dose of 6mg will give you a strange feeling, very uncomfortable. Pegg is correct try the imitrex tip on the left.

on 05/08/06 at 18:25:37, Guiseppi wrote:

The b-2 makes my urine look like Tang. (assuming your old enough to remember the breakfast drink!!!) Guiseppi

Hey, Guiseppi, Tang is still a brand new thing in this country, must be Americas old stock. ;)

Title: Re: Immitrex Question
Post by clarence on May 9^th, 2006, 7:20am

When I take a shot of Imitrex, it tightens all the muscles in my neck, and the feeling crawls up the side where I am getting hit, and into my head. I HATE the feeling, but just a little bit less than the headache. I describe it as replacing one kind of pain with another, and when the second pain subsides, HOPEFULLY both are gone.

Lately, the Imitrex has stopped being as bulletproof as it has in the past. I used to do the half dose, but it didn't work well for me. Now, the full dose isn't working well for me.

The only thing that has worked REALLY well for me is clusterbusters. But there are circumstances preventing me from participating in this treatment at the moment... :-[

Casey

Title: Re: Immitrex Question
Post by Drew_Va on May 10^th, 2006, 7:49am

Thanks for the info. It sounds like what I experienced was "normal" for the shots. That said, I have used my 2 shots up and depending on the appeals process with BC/BS I won't be getting anymore for 20 more days. Of course, I had 6 headaches yesterday (one Kip 8) and the nasal spray proved to be ineffective so I am just miserable at this point. O2 does not work for me. The pills don't work either. The pain yesterday morning was so bad that I threw up several times. I know this is not a normal symptom with CH but it has happened with me maybe a dozen times in the last 25 years. All I can do now is hang in there and dream of the PF days I hope will be coming soon. Thanks again all for the info and the support.

PF Days

Drew

Title: Re: Immitrex Question
Post by Opus on May 14^th, 2006, 11:54am

From this page (http://www.ouch-us.org/medications/medications.htm)

Need More Imitrex?

If you need more Imitrex than your insurance company will provide and your doctor is willing to prescribe, you can contact GlaxoSmithKline directly. They have a division called "Reimbursement Resource Center" (the name implies you have to pay up front, but that is not the case). Call them at 1-800-745-2967 option #3, give them the information they ask for, your doctor's name & number, insurance company info, etc. and they will assign you a case worker who will contact your insurance company and hopefully get them to increase the number of doses

Opus/Paul

Title: Re: Immitrex Question
Post by jmorgan52 on May 15^th, 2006, 10:59am

[quote author=Drew_Va The pain yesterday morning was so bad that I threw up several times. I know this is not a normal symptom with CH but it has happened with me maybe a dozen times in the last 25 years. Drew[/quote]

Drew- I also occassionally throw up when I get a really bad CH (maybe once or twice in a cycle) and so do some others. It's often when I have tried to tough it out at a social or work situation when I should have just found a quiet place to suffer alone.

Splitting the trex dose in half works ok for me (1/3 doesn't seem to work as well) but I am almost convinced that a full dose keeps me PF for longer - maybe up to 12 hours. When I use a half dose I usually get another CH withing 6 hours. Anyone else find this effect?

The sensation you get after the shot is exactly what I got at first, but over the years it seems to have lessened. You survived the first 2 shots so you should be ok for the next ones :)

If you get the chance, stockpile the shots during remission so you ready for the next cycle.

Good luck with getting more meds.

John

Title: Re: Immitrex Question
Post by Drew_Va on May 15^th, 2006, 4:19pm

John

Thanks for the info. I am still battling with BC/BS over the trex injections but they did grant me 8 doses last Friday for "humanitarian reasons". Then when I got to the pharmacy to get my shots their system wouldn't allow it. I bitched a little (I was teetering on the edge of getting a HA) and the pharmacy took sympathy on me and let me have 4 doses at no charge (pending BC/BS updating their system). I heard from the pharmacy today and I can get the other 4 "humanitarian" doses this afternoon. My Doctor also wrote an RX for 20 more doses and whether this will be allowed depends on the peer review process. I figure about the time my cycle is over I will get approval for the rest. And I will fill the scip to stockpile like people are suggesting. Thanks again for the support/help.

Opus,

Thansk for the info. I will wait and see how the peer review process plays out in the next few days and contact Glaxo directly if needed. Thanks again.

Title: Re: Immitrex Question
Post by Tom K on May 15^th, 2006, 10:53pm

on 05/15/06 at 16:19:30, Drew_Va wrote:

And I will fill the scip to stockpile like people are suggesting...

Fill that script every time you can while you are out of cycle. It is amazing how fast you can burn through a stock pile in a bad cycle. :-/

Glad the 'trex worked for you. Try shooting it in your stomach, about 4" from your navel. I am down to about 5 minutes, while doing O2 at the same time. YMMV

Title: Re: Immitrex Question
Post by jmorgan52 on May 16^th, 2006, 5:37am

Drew - Glad you are getting some meds and that they are working for you. Did you try splitting the dose yet? (see the imitrex tip on the left)

I usually do this nowadays. I carefully remove the glass vial from the autoinjector (practice on a used-up one first to get the hang of it and carefully resinsert it a few times so you don't bend the needle - do this when you are PF 8) )

Scrape away some of the paper on the vial so you can see the fluid, and make a mark on the paper half way down the fluid line.

I push the needle all the way into the right of my right thigh, keep it steady with my left hand and then slowly push an ear bud down the vial until half the fluid is gone. Pull out and put the vial onto a clean tissue to very caerfully reinsert it into the holder without any force 10 mins later when the pain has gone.

It is really worth trying to stretch the meds out if they are hard to get!

I was sqeamish about it at first but wish I had used this tip before when I was battling like you to get more injections.

Cheers
John