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        Cluster Headache Help and Support >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies >> Triptan Overdose warning
        
(Message started by: LeLimey on May 14^th, 2006, 2:22pm)

Title: Triptan Overdose warning
Post by LeLimey on May 14^th, 2006, 2:22pm

Hello everyone,
I'm posting this with permission from a UK sufferer who wants everyone to know what happend to her in the hope it doesn't happen to anyone else.
Helen

Hi all,

Am laying it on the line here and only because I know I am amongst friends.I have thought long and hard about posting this and have also taken advice from some fellow sufferers that I speak to on a regular basis.

Basically,I have had a small stroke which I have been advised by my Neuro has been caused by my over-use of Imi Injections.I was experiencing my worst episodic cycle in 20 years and in one day I use 5 Imi's.(I was well aware that I was taking a huge risk) and in view of the fact that I am from a nursing background I should have known better!!! But hey, desperation overtook sensibility!!
It is unfortunate for me that I collapsed in my hallway and only came to when the dog was on top of my trying to rouse me and I discovered that I had been out for the count for approx 15 minutes!

I really dont want to scare anyone...thats why it has taken me so long to post this but due to the vaso-constrictive properties of Imi,the blood flow to my brain was interrupted causing a small clot to form behind my eye and they eventually it burst.

So,there you have it...straight from the horses mouth! There is a danger to over-using Imi's and believe me when I say that I don't want to scare anyone but we are all in this together and if my experience can be used to warn others then I feel it my duty as an OUCH member to inform other sufferers.

I can now say that I am feeling back to normal(or as normal as I can be LOL) and am still a very grateful member of OUCH and so glad to have had the help and support from everyone through this unsettling time in my life.

Title: Re: Triptan Overdose warning
Post by Guiseppi on May 14^th, 2006, 5:52pm

These posts are just as important as the posts telling us what meds work. We all get tempted to over use, it helps when we get information like this to educate us. Makes it easier, and safer, to make decisions when they're informed decisions, thank you for putting it out there.

Guiseppi

Title: Re: Triptan Overdose warning
Post by unsolved1 on May 14^th, 2006, 9:01pm

I agree that it is good to warn people about the dangers of Triptan overdose.
I, on the other hand, used 5 or more Imitrex injections everyday for years and had no major side effects from it. You gotta do what you gotta do. I think it should ONLY be used for the WORST headaches imaginable. For me, that was several times everyday. You have to weigh the risks of taking it and the risk of not taking it.

UNsolved

Title: Re: Triptan Overdose warning
Post by LeLimey on May 15^th, 2006, 3:30am

I couldn't agree more.. I'm not trying to tell anyone what they should or shouldn't use.. I know only too well myself how desperate I have felt sometimes.
I'd be failing everyone though if I didn't tell them and I know other's like you who get away with using more.
As with everything, we need to take our own "risks".. but we should do so from an informed stand.
Thanks for sharing your story too! :)
Helen

Title: Re: Triptan Overdose warning
Post by thebbz on May 15^th, 2006, 8:51pm

Guilty,Guilty,Guilty. Had to bump this one up. Always under doctors orders. and
Never mix triptans. :o
jb

Title: Re: Triptan Overdose warning
Post by Tom K on May 15^th, 2006, 9:16pm

on 05/14/06 at 21:01:18, unsolved1 wrote:

I think I maxed out at 10 per day for about 2-3 days on a really bad cycle...Don't remember any major side effects, but YMMV

Title: Re: Triptan Overdose warning
Post by mynm156 on May 16^th, 2006, 12:26am

WOW! I agree that this is an important post and if I didnt have high blood pressure I would probably have shot myself up more than a couple times with WAY TOO MUCH Trex. I hope that everything turns out OK!

MYNM156

Title: Re: Triptan Overdose warning
Post by drivin_blind on May 25^th, 2006, 12:01pm

I don't believe there is anyone here that hasn't raided the drug cabinet and taken anything and everything in the hopes that it would stop the hurting. I'm as guilty as anybody. I just really hope you have no long term ill effects. I think we've all been there. No need for an apology!

Title: Re: Triptan Overdose warning
Post by alcaponi on Jun 5^th, 2006, 5:29am

Triptans by vasoconstrictors effects put every time patients who take it under a high risk if he do a big efforts in time of act triptans inside body!!!!Why?
The answer is; In time of big efforts (sport, sex, or others) heart muscle need more O2, but because of triptans vasoconstrictore effects, heart muscles will recieve less blood, here the heart ischemia may occure..
The paraclinical studys shows that triptans can cause a small brain infarcts,,,
Dont you think that some thing wrong to give a drugs (triptans) that is none selective (it effects on all vessels in the body included brain and heart), to cure a disease that happen not in all vessels.

Title: Re: Triptan Overdose warning
Post by Tom K on Jun 5^th, 2006, 2:00pm

on 06/05/06 at 05:29:37, alcaponi wrote:

Trust me, when I'm in high cycle, the last thing I'm thinking about is sex, sports or any physical activity. All I want to do is get rid of my head pain. Usually during that time, the O2 is strapped to my face and I'm doing everything I can to keep the pain at bay. YMMV