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        New Message Board Archives >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies 2004 >> THE SOLUTION
        
(Message started by: plstkr on Apr 18^th, 2004, 11:35am)

Title: THE SOLUTION
Post by plstkr on Apr 18^th, 2004, 11:35am

;;D After suffering with the devil for 5 yrs., I have discovered that imitrex can be used as a preventative! I was using oxygen/imitrex injections and nasal sprays for the months of Feb. and Mar...using them whenever another episode hit. But since the pain is so systematic, I thought I would go against the conventional wisdom and try using imitrex tablets. I've been taking a 50 mg tab at breakfast and before bed.....it works....the headaches have stopped...none for the last 2 weeks. Now all I need to figure out, is how to get enough pills!
THIS REALLY WORKS!

Title: Re: THE SOLUTION
Post by mynm156 on Apr 18^th, 2004, 1:02pm

I would say talk to your Dr. Tell him/her your theory. See what he/she says. If they are game then I say go for it. Then keep us all posted.

Good Luck!

MYNM156

Title: Re: THE SOLUTION
Post by pubgirl on Apr 18^th, 2004, 1:49pm

plstkr

I am very, very happy for you. Don't want to piss on other people's hopes, but this isn't the Holy Grail "SOLUTION" it may appear to be. Sumatriptan used as a short term preventive works for some people, by no means all.
Some sufferers find that triptan pills e.g. Imitrex, Frova or Zomig are useful to buy a few hours sleep, or taken while aborting an attack with 02 to mop up later rebounds, but I have only heard of a small handful who find they prevent attacks in any significant way.

Hope it continues this way for you though plstkr.

(SO glad your name isn't pstkr as that means pisstaker over here ::)

Wendy

P.S. Have you tried not taking them and seeing what happens?

Title: Re: THE SOLUTION
Post by UN_SOLVED on Apr 18^th, 2004, 3:49pm

After you suffer from a heart attack, have your spouse write us and let us know how long it worked for you !

Unsolved

Title: Re: THE SOLUTION
Post by plstkr on Apr 18^th, 2004, 4:47pm

Thanks for the warning....I've been taking 2-3 injections a day, so this should keep me alive longer. If not my wife will mail you ;;D

Title: Re: THE SOLUTION
Post by pubgirl on Apr 18^th, 2004, 6:08pm

Have I understood this right? You are taking Imitrex pills AND 2-3 Imitrex injections a day??????

If so, you are playing with fire and it is a VERY bad idea that I urge others not to copy. This really can damage your heart and circulation system.

Wendy

Title: Re: THE SOLUTION
Post by plstkr on Apr 18^th, 2004, 9:20pm

Hi Pubgirl...I'm no longer taking 2-3 injections since I've been taking the pills. Two 50 mg pills daily and I'm like new. Wish I would have discovered this sooner!
Do you use abortives, or have you discovered something that prevents them that's less risky then the imitrex?
Thanks for sharing your concern.
PLSTKR

Title: Re: THE SOLUTION
Post by Lizzie2 on Apr 18^th, 2004, 9:28pm

Hi Plstkr,

Have you tried verapamil, lithium, and the other standard preventive meds? Sometimes a steroid taper is helpful while the preventives are taking time to get working.

I can't really imagine that that much imitrex is safe, but I guess only your doctor can tell you that. From what I've been informed, only Amerge and Frova are generally used short term on a preventive basis.

Just my 2 cents
Lizz

Title: Re: THE SOLUTION
Post by pubgirl on Apr 18^th, 2004, 11:52pm

plstkr

Thank God for that!

As an episodic with shortish cycles, I don't take preventives. I abort all attacks within 10 minutes with high flow rate 02.

Wendy

Title: Re: THE SOLUTION
Post by Bob P on Apr 19^th, 2004, 9:54am

Some info showing that high use of Imitrex by clusterheads is not harmful:

http://www.clusterheadaches.org/library/medications/imitrex_rebound.htm

Title: Re: THE SOLUTION
Post by UN_SOLVED on Apr 19^th, 2004, 5:11pm

Imitrex is used as an ABORTIVE ppl not as a preventative.

Also...This link that Bob has generously provided you with is mainly about ppl with Migraines taking 25mg of Imitrex (pills) 3 times a day FOR 10 DAYS...not indefinately. Only the top part is about clusterheads and that is talking about injections as an abortive. Most of us here has already proven that overusing Imitrex injections as an abortive shouldn't cause serious side effects.

MHNI agrees with some of these statements that i'll point out here :

"...evidence of rebound caused by sumatriptan,"

"A concern at the onset of the study was the controversial and unresolved issue of sumatriptan rebound. The concern that one potentially rebound-causing medication was being substituted for another was raised. Several studies have demonstrated that daily sumatriptan use may cause rebound.(10,11) Four patients in the study were instructed to discontinue sumatriptan due to continued daily use beyond the 10-day withdrawal period."

"Further studies to determine whether or not sumatriptan is a potential rebound-causing medication, and the duration and dose required to cause this situation would be helpful in order to provide strict criteria for sumatriptan use. It may be possible to educate patients in the avoidance of sumatriptan-induced rebound"

MHNI says that Imitex WILL cause rebounds. I think we've already stated this here on the boards before. Someone put up a thread with lots of quotes from ppl here at CH.com showing that alot of us felt it does cause rebounds.

Unsolved

Title: Re: THE SOLUTION
Post by Bob P on Apr 19^th, 2004, 5:32pm

Quote:

I think we've already stated this here on the boards before. Someone put up a thread with lots of quotes from ppl here at CH.com showing that alot of us felt it does cause rebounds.

A lot of people here state that trex causes more and more frequent clusters which they mistakenly refer to as rebounds. A cluster headache is not a rebound headache.
The first article referenced above talks about using 3 injections a day for a year with a very low incidence of adverse reactions.
I think if plstkr is doing well and his doc has no problems with what he's doing, go for it dude.

Title: Re: THE SOLUTION
Post by UN_SOLVED on Apr 19^th, 2004, 9:23pm

We use our injections as an abortive not as a preventative. I think telling anyone it would be okay to use Imitrex in any form as a preventative may turn out to be a mistake.

Unsolved

PS...If his doc says it's okay ... but I just can't see a doc saying that.

Title: Re: THE SOLUTION
Post by Bob P on Apr 20^th, 2004, 8:36am

There are articles which say to take a tab of cafergot twice a day as a preventative.
Last cluster my neuro had me taking Amerge twice a day as a preventative. Don't see why it can't be the same for trex.

Title: Re: THE SOLUTION
Post by UN_SOLVED on Apr 20^th, 2004, 9:32am

Well Bob, I think your neuro is nuts. Amerge is NOT intended for use as a preventative. The "safety and effectiveness of AMERGE tablets have not been established for cluster headache..." either.
Look here (http://us.gsk.com/products/assets/us_amerge.pdf) or Here (http://www.healthtouch.com/bin/EContent_HT/drugShowLfts.asp?fname=usp0913.htm&title=Amerge&cid=HTDRUG)

Unsolved

PS. I'm not saying that it's not effective on some peoples' clusters. Just saying that it shouldn't be used as a preventative.

Title: Re: THE SOLUTION
Post by CJohnson on Apr 20^th, 2004, 10:21am

The main focus of any coping strategy (abortive and preventative) is to reduce to as close to zero as possible, the following:

1. number of attacks
2. duration of each attack
3. intensity of pain

Everything else (quality of life etc...) will be a direct result of how well a strategy achieves these objectives. That said, any strategy which arranges the values of those 3 categories so that an individual is able to have the opportunity for an acceptable quality of life is an acceptable strategy.
Regarding triptans as preventatives, I believe Frova is easiest on the heart and perhaps a better choice than imitrex if you choose this route.
Also, perhaps, if triptan as preventative is effective in some cases, it can replace the pred taper at the beginning of a cycle while an episodic waits for other meds (vera etc..) to take effect.
There is certainly risk associated with triptan use in this manner, but it still seems to be able to play more of a role in a coping strategy than simply stopping an attack in progress.

PFDANs
-Curtis

Title: Re: THE SOLUTION
Post by UN_SOLVED on Apr 22^nd, 2004, 12:32am

I just wanted to add one more thing to this thread.

If taking Imitrex pills as a preventative would work for me ... I would do it to. That's all.

Hope it works out for you and you don't suffer any bad side effects.

PF wishes
Unsolved

Title: Re: THE SOLUTION
Post by maryo on Apr 23^rd, 2004, 12:44pm

I have tried a million solutions over the 24 years of my clusters. It's hard to tell what works because at some point the clusters go into remission (unless you're a chronic sufferer). The tendency is to think whatever you used around the time your CH went on vacation was the Silver Bullet. But when you go to use your Silver Bullet during the next cluster episode, you find out differently.

Imitrex is heavy-duty medicine. When I was first taking it I was jubilant because it worked so well. I also started having heart palpitations (PVCs). Now I only take Imitrex if other measures fail. Most episodes, Cafergot works for me. One year, ice on the back of my head did the trick. Have had no luck with other treatments.

Title: Medical Practice
Post by rumplestiltskin on Apr 25^th, 2004, 2:00am

I have in my files a prescription and orders from a Neurologist instructing me to log my CH and then guesstimate which time of day is best to take Imitrex as a preventative.

When I doubted the wisdom of this, due to my never hearing of Imitrex being used as a preventative during my years here at CH.COM, she rolled her eyes, reminded me that she is the Doctor, does her research and assured me this was an acceptable practice.

My remission started and so I was not able to test her orders.

Therefore...yes, I know of a Neurologist that prescribes using Imitrex Tablets as a preventative. I posted this here months ago. It's effectivness I cannot attest to.

Wage Peace
DEN