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        Cluster Headache Help and Support >> Cluster Headache Specific >> Brand name for Lidocaine in spray or liquid?
        
(Message started by: turtlendog on Jan 22^nd, 2008, 3:49pm)

Title: Brand name for Lidocaine in spray or liquid?
Post by turtlendog on Jan 22^nd, 2008, 3:49pm

Can anyone tell me a brand name for Lidocaine in a nasal spray or liquid?

My doc is trying to prescribe it but the pharmacy says it doesn't exist.

Help?!

How do you take Lidocaine?

Title: Re: Brand name for Lidocaine in spray or liquid?
Post by Bob P on Jan 22^nd, 2008, 6:47pm

When I tried it some years back there was no brand name. In fact, it wasn't even made as a standard product. I had to have the Pharmacist mix it himself. I think it 3 1/2 % in a nasal spray bottle.

Title: Re: Brand name for Lidocaine in spray or liquid?
Post by Ray on Jan 22^nd, 2008, 7:21pm

Xylocaine and Lidamantle are brand names, however neither are exactly right for nasal administration. It must be something mixed up for this use. My foggy memory from years ago was a 4% solution mixed with sterile saline.

Good luck!

Ray

Title: Re: Brand name for Lidocaine in spray or liquid?
Post by vietvet2tours on Jan 22^nd, 2008, 8:58pm

It don't work.

Potter

Title: Re: Brand name for Lidocaine in spray or liquid?
Post by Pinkfloyd on Jan 23^rd, 2008, 1:01am

From my cluster FAQ. I wrote it in 2000 so the prce may be a bit off but the rest is still accurate:

6.8 Lidocaine application

This treatment was first discovered by Lee Kudrow, MD.
Still remains a very good treatment for many, and is probably the
least expensive "prescribed" treatment you can find.

Use 4% topical Lidocaine HCL, Brand name Xylocaine (Astra),
also available as a generic from many manufacturers (Roxane). It is
OLD, NOT compoundable, (as it is a "single, diluted chemical) and
cheap--approx. $20/50cc, but some pharmacies make a big deal
about it and charge outlandishly. It is off-the-shelf (not OTC), and
can be ordered easily by ANY U.S. pharmacy. It should cost about
$.05/treatment. Do NOT use
Lidocaine with epinephrine added,(which is what most dentists use
for local anesthesia).

Use a nose dropper, preferably graduated, and draw up .5ml or .5 cc
or 20 mg. (all the same thing if it's 4%). Dose is NOT that critical,
but administration technique is! An older method using cotton-
tipped swabs soaked in lidocaine is no longer used.

Lie supine (on your back) on a bed or bench with your head
"hanging off the end", and lowered about 60 degrees from the
horizontal.

Tilt head about 30 degrees TOWARD side of pain.

Insert dropper with lidocaine "in it" in the nostril on the side of the
pain until it is "comfortable"--not a critical distance.

VERY SLOWLY, squeeze dropper bulb and instill lidocaine so that
it "pools" at the back of the nasal passage (which is the WHOLE
idea) and doesn't go down throat. Try to take about 1 minute to
instill the .5cc and then stay in that position for 1 additional minute.

Get up slowly.

4% Lidocaine is somewhat bitter and, some may run down your
throat or out your nostril when you arise. It "numbs" any mucosal
surface it come in contact with, so do not eat or drink for 30
minutes as you may have a transient swallowing problem. You may
also feel numbness in your nose, or some localized burning
sensations, and you may also feel numbness along the second
branch of the trigeminal nerve including the upper teeth, gums and
tongue on the side of instillation. All of these side-effects should go
away within about 30 minutes.

This may be repeated in 2 hours, and, although the amount of
Lidocaine used is small by comparison to its other medical uses, the
safety window for repeating this treatment has NOT been
established.

"Close" to the rear of the nasal passages lies the Sphenopalatine
(Pterygopalatine) ganglion (a group of nerve cell bodies), and it is
the absorption into this area which is "believed" responsible for its
action. This is a large ganglion, and very complicated anatomical
area, which is also near the "second" branch of the fifth (trigeminal)
nerve, however it's the affect of lidocaine on the 7th (facial) nerve
which courses through this area which is thought to be relevant in
this instance. A temporary, chemical nerve block may be the reason
for efficacy.

Bobw

Title: Re: Brand name for Lidocaine in spray or liquid?
Post by Ray on Jan 23^rd, 2008, 8:56am

Thank you for that Bob! Nice write up. I've used this, and a more "potent" topical anesthetic in the past with some, limited success. Oxygen was so much better that I abandoned this lidocaine method quickly.

It may be worthwhile to note, that position, supine with the neck hyperextended is mega painful when having a cluster headache, making this cure almost worse than the condition it treats [for me].

Wishing you well,

Ray

Title: Re: Brand name for Lidocaine in spray or liquid?
Post by turtlendog on Jan 23^rd, 2008, 9:37am

Bob, Thank you so much! Any chance there is a source that can be quoted when talking to my doctor? What URL do you have it posted at?

Thanks!!

Title: Re: Brand name for Lidocaine in spray or liquid?
Post by Pinkfloyd on Jan 23^rd, 2008, 10:35am

on 01/23/08 at 09:37:42, turtlendog wrote:

Bob, Thank you so much! Any chance there is a source that can be quoted when talking to my doctor? What URL do you have it posted at?

Thanks!!

Well, you can quote all of that "almost" directly from Dr. Kudrow himself. When I wrote that FAQ, for a migraine group I frequent, I was in contact with Dr. Kudrow's research associate. The details conform to the methods used by Dr. Kudrow and the California Medical Clinic for Headache, Encino, CA.

The URL that has all 4 parts of my Cluster FAQ is:
http://www.meldrum.demon.co.uk/migraine/

You can then scroll down to the cluster sections.

As Ray mentioned, it can be painful applying the solution (because of head position, not because the lidocaine hurts) but it can also be a useful addition to one's arsenal. It used to help me a lot with my nighttime attacks. If you catch the attack early, you can apply the solution before it becomes more painful than it's worth because it does work pretty quickly.

The key is finding the right head position to make sure the "pooling" is in the right area. A lot of people try spraying like a regular nasal spray, for convenience, and it's just not the same.

Bobw

Title: Re: Brand name for Lidocaine in spray or liquid?
Post by turtlendog on Jan 23^rd, 2008, 10:46am

Point taken.

I'm looking for another tool for my toolbox. It seems like an easily portable tool that a person could never be caught without. I'm away from home right now and looking for something to help get me through until I get home and hooked up with O2, see my doctors, and get on to the preventative phase.

I'm having some success with Relpax, but the problem is the two hour delay while I'm waiting for it to kick in.

Thanks, all.

Title: Re: Brand name for Lidocaine in spray or liquid?
Post by Pinkfloyd on Jan 23^rd, 2008, 5:18pm

on 01/23/08 at 10:46:20, turtlendog wrote:

I'm looking for another tool for my toolbox.

That is a key to finding a successful treatment program for some people. The more options you have the better. If you can divide up the way you treat attacks, if you have a large number to deal with, the treatments *usually* work better and for a longer period of time before becoming less effective.

good luck,
Bobw