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        New Message Board Archives >> Jan-Mar 2003 >> anyone try ZOMIG or ZOLOFT
        
(Message started by: achinghead on Mar 27^th, 2003, 7:14pm)

Title: anyone try ZOMIG or ZOLOFT
Post by achinghead on Mar 27^th, 2003, 7:14pm

went to the new neuro today.. got script for Zoming and Zoloft.. plus more imitrex and also 0-2 .. Has anyone tried the ZOLOFT or ZOMIG? Please let me know. THANKS

Title: Re: anyone try ZOMIG or ZOLOFT
Post by jonny on Mar 27^th, 2003, 7:30pm

Got Zomig dude it works within 15-20 minutes for me if I take it when I feel it comming.

02?......works even better.......keep an eye out for a button on the left to click on, my Bro (Not4) is working on it.

Good luck dude

.....................................jonny

Title: Re: anyone try ZOMIG or ZOLOFT
Post by WendyHowe on Mar 27^th, 2003, 7:34pm

I think you'll find a lot of info in the archives about this, but from my experience:
Oral Zolmitriptan works well for migraine and is usually prescribed for that, but it doesn't touch my CH. In any case anything oral (leave off the smutty minds!) isn't usually fast enough.

There is some suggestion that the new nasal Zomig may be better but I haven't tried it.

Wendy

P.S. Good for you for seeing subluxationskill (alias Drew) for what he was yesterday. Was worried you might think he held all the answers to your problems

Title: Re: anyone try ZOMIG or ZOLOFT
Post by WendyHowe on Mar 27^th, 2003, 7:41pm

Jonny can probably answer this but would I be wrong in saying that you shouldn't take Imigran AND Zomig at the same time as they are similar. Maybe your doctor is giving you both to see which one works best for you but you should try them separately.

May be way off here

Wendy

Title: Re: anyone try ZOMIG or ZOLOFT
Post by SommelierCH on Mar 27^th, 2003, 7:45pm

I am not a doctor (I was going to be one, then I found out that they don’t let you drink on the job), but this is what works for me when I’m in cycle.

ABSOLUTELY NO ALCOHOL (and I get paid to drink), it’s a trigger!!!

MOST IMPORTANT: 100% OXYGEN, read all you can about it here.

For the Big One, that always hits 15min-2hrs after I go to sleep (hint: don’t sleep) I do a
Maxalt MLT 10mg. or Zomig ZMT 5mg (both are fast dissolving, triptan based, tablets, that enter your body subcutaneously, under the tongue, bypassing the digestive system i.e. fast) and hit the oxygen. These are different than the standard pills, which take too long. This will take out the Beast in 7-20 min. That is, if the wind is blowing in the right direction, and the sun isn’t in your eyes and your glove’s not too big.

It works. Good luck.

David J.

Title: Re: anyone try ZOMIG or ZOLOFT
Post by don on Mar 27^th, 2003, 8:01pm

Zoloft is not a CH drug it is an anti-depressant. BUT antidepressants are often prescribed WITH CH meds.

Zoloft wont stop or prevent a CH but it will help you tolerate the lifestyle we have when in cycle.

Title: Re: anyone try ZOMIG or ZOLOFT
Post by Mark C on Mar 27^th, 2003, 8:02pm

Two diffrent drugs, I have taken both, for extended periods of time. Zomig works for CH, if taken fast enough, my personal prefrence has become Imitrex injection, but I still have scripts for both.
Zoloft on the other hand was for depression. I took it for a couple of years with some positive effects. However after so long it took three months to wean myself off of it...carefully under a doctors care.

ZOMIG (http://www.healthsquare.com/newrx/zom1504.htm)

ZOLOFT (http://www.zoloft.com/index.asp?pageid=43)

PFDAN's
Mark

Title: Re: anyone try ZOMIG or ZOLOFT
Post by WendyHowe on Mar 27^th, 2003, 8:16pm

mark

I meant the Imitrex and Zomig being similar. Can you take both of them at the same time

Wendy

Title: Re: anyone try ZOMIG or ZOLOFT
Post by sailpappy on Mar 27^th, 2003, 8:29pm

;D ;D I can't take any of the triptans because of severe angina it causes, but even though Zoloft isn't readily regarded as a ch drug I think it will be soon, any drug like Zoloft that is a serotonin re-uptake inhibitor has several applications and because of the chemical mechanism of the drug it is beneficial for treatment of both depression and CH.
Like Cyneric acid does in swimming pools by bonding to the 5 molicules of clorine and holding them until they are needed, Zoloft bonds to Serotoninace and holds it in your brain until it is needed, in essence it stops the over production of serotonin by stabilizing your brain chemistry just like cyneric stabilizes your swimming pool.
Over production of serotoninace is in theroy what causes the attacks. At least the way I interprut it as an uneducated idiot? JMHO Pappy
http://www.gifs.net/animate/sungulls.gif
http://www.gifs.net/animate/sailboat.gif

Title: Re: anyone try ZOMIG or ZOLOFT
Post by Mark C on Mar 27^th, 2003, 8:34pm

Care should be used if more than one triptan is used at a time. I will usually use one or the other, but not both in the same 24 hours. I believe the benefits outweigh the risks for someone with no cardiac problems. My head is screwd, but my heart is to be OK. I am going to try only Imitrex during my next cycle at 2 or 3 mg at the onset of an attack with the hope of decreasing my use of meds and making the Trex last longer. My Neuro seems to be much more worried about my use of the Imitrex than he is the use of Zomig, I am not sure why since the risks are the same.
Believe it or not my insurance company, at my doctors request, increased both dosages avaliable of Trex and Zomig last year! I have been stocking up since the end of last year.
I am also trying O2 on this next run and maybe I can do away with the meds all together.
PFDAN's
Mark

PS-Good analogy Pappy!

Title: Re: anyone try ZOMIG or ZOLOFT
Post by achinghead on Mar 27^th, 2003, 8:34pm

see. i knew i could count on you guys for some insight.. Im sure there are posts in the archives but to be honest.. I dont think I can tolerate lookin for it right now.. Im being hit really bad this cycle.. had 15 in the past 2 days... I have the Zomig on hand here..are there any sensations or side affects that Ill feel when i take it.. also.. if it doesnt work.. any idea how soon after that i can hit an injection(imitrex). It was all i could do last nite to reach over to the nitestand and stab myself with an injection.. Im really dreading tonight.. Ive had shadows all day non stop. By the way.. these Zomig tabs are 5mg.. is that normal dosage?

Title: Re: anyone try ZOMIG or ZOLOFT
Post by Mark C on Mar 27^th, 2003, 8:39pm

I get 2.5mg Zomig and when they work they work fine. Only a few of times have I needed more than one pill in 8 hours or so......but they have stopped working, or even caused rebound HA if the cycle is long.(2 or 3 months)

Title: Re: anyone try ZOMIG or ZOLOFT
Post by Opus on Mar 27^th, 2003, 10:14pm

I believe Zoloft caused me to start a cycle 13 months early. It wasn't as bad as a normal one but it was still painful. I took myself of zoloft and now I am getting the end of cycle stabby pains. Any way I think the change in serotonin can start/stop a cycle and that's why it is sometimes presribed. If you start taking an antidepresent and an early cycle starts you may want to see if that's what is causing it.
Opus :P

Title: Re: anyone try ZOMIG or ZOLOFT
Post by eyes_afire on Mar 27^th, 2003, 10:35pm

Tried Zoloft. Also tried similar SSRI drugs Serzone and Paxil. Also tried tricyclics Pamelor and Trazdone (?). None of them ever did a damn thing for my CH, and Paxil caused many problems that took awhile to recover from. Some docs are reluctant to have thier patients taking SSRIs (like Zoloft) and Imitrex simultaneously due to a rare complication that may result (I think it's called Serotonin Shock). But many other docs don't know about serotonin shock. It is very rare, so many times it is a risk/benefit decision.

Title: Re: anyone try ZOMIG or ZOLOFT
Post by cootie on Mar 27^th, 2003, 10:35pm

Hope the new meds help ya achinghead....I quit Paxil after 2 years and got so sick I didn't know why or what hit me.....it was like withdrawin off heroine....I never been so sick in my life unless ya count alchohol poisoning....I don't do lots of shots no more Pam

Title: Re: anyone try ZOMIG or ZOLOFT
Post by SommelierCH on Mar 28^th, 2003, 6:15am

Like my buddy, Svenn, I am not a doctor. I’m just another Clusterhead from Norway. I am not recommending anything to anybody. I am just sharing how I coped with the pain, because people were kind enough to share with me.

OXYGEN for all.

achinghead,

My mentor on this site, hooked me up with the fact that I could take a Maxalt MLT 10mg or Zomig ZMT 5mg, before going to bed to preclude the “Big One” that ALWAYS (I would like to repeat, ALWAYS, ALWAYS) hits 15 min-2 hours after I go to sleep, when I’m in cycle.

WARNING: This works for me because, I have no other underlying medical conditions, and the Cluster attacks have come like clock work, in the night, for 17 years. Since the half life of both of these fast dissolving triptan tablets, is 1.5-3 hours, and I get hit within 2 hours of falling asleep, I’m covered for the big attack, and was able to get 5-7 pain free hours of sleep for several weeks at the end of my last cycle (wish I had known sooner, but hey, you think a doctor would ever clue me into this?). You can only take 2 of these tabs in any 24 hour period, and you can only get 12 tabs of Maxalt MLT 10mg or 6 Zomig ZMT 5mg, a month (I used Oxygen during my waking hours) so you can’t waste them, but, for me it was a Godsend.

Again, let me say that this works for me because of the unceasingly regularity of my attacks (15min.-2hours after I fall asleep, when I am in cycle), and the absolute certainty that each and every one of these attacks, will be a Kip-10 if I don’t wake up in time, to hit the Oxygen.

It is absolutely foolish, to waste any of our “hard fought for” medicines, on the Beast, if IT is not really there.

There are other things that have worked for people to get some sleep:
Dramamine (I don’t know if that’s right, but it made it through spell check), which inhibits REM cycles in sleep. I will try it the next cycle, it’s a hell of a lot cheaper!
Elevating the torso: Sleeping in a recliner, piling pillows underneath you, a foam wedge (Med Supply Store, or make yourself). Perhaps this helps prevent “pooling of the blood in the brain”. ;D WTF—it’s not a drug!!!
Charlie's "Dr. Wrights Technique": Working on the same principle of diverting blood from the brain.
There are others I’m sure. Search for “Orgasm” in the archives, when you’re able to deal with the brightness of a computer monitor, again (I turn the brightness and contrast, down as far as they can go, and only look through my good eye).

Rock on bro, fight the fucker, and know that we are with you, and everyone else out there, that is fighting the good fight! Everybody out there: join OUCH, help us be counted, jump on in and help us row.

David J.

P.S. Pappy: What do we know about someone on a serotonin re-uptake inhibitor, like Zoloft, using a triptan tab or injection? Similar to WendyHowe’s question, but she was asking about Imitrex and Zomig. Since it took Mark C. three months to wean himself off of Zoloft, it must make quite a substantial change in the everyday chemical structure in the brain. Can they work together? Or is this another mis-prescribed combination?

Title: Re: anyone try ZOMIG or ZOLOFT
Post by Slammy on Mar 28^th, 2003, 5:00pm

I know you shouldn't take the ergotomines with any triptans.... but not sure from triptan to triptan. I took zomig, but it took too long to abort the cluster..... For some reason, cafergot works faster for me.

Slammy 8)