Clusterheadaches.com Message Board


    
      
        Clusterheadaches.com Message Board
        (http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi)
      

        New Message Board Archives >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies 2003 >> What Do We Know About Amerge???
        
(Message started by: River_Rat on Aug 28^th, 2003, 2:38pm)

Title: What Do We Know About Amerge???
Post by River_Rat on Aug 28^th, 2003, 2:38pm

I've been in cycle sinse July 6th, and I'm taking Verelin 200mg AM & PM and of course imitrex injections (hate em but they ALWAYS work) and I would take a 50mg imitrex tab before bed and it would sometimes kill the night time beast.

Someone on this site mentioned Amerge 2.5mg, so I asked my doc about them and he said they were very bad for me but he gave me a script for them anyway, but he only gave me a two week supply.

Take one AM and one PM-----well glory to the lord these things completely knocked out my clusters--I mean nothing total pain free.

Anyway the script ran out I thought I was cured (lol) but the next day about noon they started hitting again, so I called my doc and begged him for a new script and he gave in.

Is it really bad to take these things twice a day or is my doc just paranoid.

I have been trying to just take one a day before bed but thats not really working. I sleep ok but I get hit during the day.

LEE

Title: Re: What Do We Know About Amerge???
Post by Linda T on Aug 28^th, 2003, 6:59pm

Hi Lee. I too took amerge (only 1mg) at bedtime together with a 50mg tab of imitrex. The doc told me that this was ok. Amerge has a longer half-life than imitrex and he gave me the scrip so that I could get some sleep. It did work. It knocked out the 2am hit.

I found that when I started taking the amerge and imitrex together and bypassing the nite time beast, the day time beast got worse. Could just be the nature of the game but I didn't think so. I was pretty sure the meds were screwing up my normally very precise ch schedule.

I think that if you do some searching on this message board you'll find some better answers than this one. I seem to recall this same subject coming up a while ago.

Good luck. Linda T

Title: Re: What Do We Know About Amerge???
Post by ksmiggy on Aug 29^th, 2003, 8:28pm

is immitrex the same as imigran(sumatriptan), if so the two should not be mixed, have just been put on amerge, was told to leave 24 hrs between the 2, both being from triptan family, could be doc getting freaky on me.

Linda T,
i found that when i was on preventatives, although sometimes had fewer attacks, they were much worse, as you say, could be nature of the beast. gotta balance the pain equation.

Title: Re: What Do We Know About Amerge???
Post by andy on Aug 29^th, 2003, 9:03pm

Amerge has not been shown to treat cluster headaches. What is Amerge used for? Amerge is used for the short term treatment of most migraine attacks in adults. Amerge is not used to prevent migraines, or to decrease the number of migraine attacks. Amerge has not been shown to treat cluster headaches.
Who should not take Amerge? You should not if you have any of following conditions:

History of heart or circulatory disease, including heart attack, angina (chest pain), or stroke.
Uncontrolled high blood pressure.
Severe kidney or liver disease.
Hemiplegic or basilar migraine.
You have taken other migraine medications in the same class as Amerge, or medications containing ergotamine, dihydroergotamine, or methysergide within the past 24 hours.
You have had an allergic reaction to the drug or its ingredients.
General Precautions:

If you have the following conditions your health care provider will evaluate you to decide if Amerge is right for you:

Risk factors for heart disease including, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, smoking, strong family history of heart disease, or if you are postmenopausal, or a male over 40
Mild to moderate kidney or liver disease
What are some possible side effects of Amerge? (This is NOT a complete list of side effects reported with Amerge. Your health care provider can discuss with you a more complete list of side effects.) Some signs of rare but serious side effects include:

Pain or tightness in the chest or throat. If severe, or does not go away, call your health care provider right away. If this happens at all, discuss with your health care provider before taking any more Amerge.
Rarely, people have a serious allergic reaction to Amerge. This could cause shortness of breath, wheeziness, heart throbbing, swelling of eyelids, face, or lips, or a skin rash, lumps or hives. If this happens, tell your health care provider right away.
Other side effects may include:

Feelings of tingling, heat, or flushing
Chest heaviness, or pressure
Feeling tired
Dizziness http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/druginfo/amerge.htm