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        New Message Board Archives >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies 2004 >> What can I expect?  Cafergot
        
(Message started by: Kirk Huff on Apr 23^rd, 2004, 5:43pm)

Title: What can I expect? Cafergot
Post by Kirk Huff on Apr 23^rd, 2004, 5:43pm

I'm going to be taking Cafergot for the first time (the next time I get hit) and i wanted to know what I can expect from it. I currently take verap and depakote twice a day as prev meds but my wife found a girl at her work who's husband also suffers from ch's. My wife called to tell me that she got some Cafergot from them today. I've been reading about the side effects, dosage and dangers of Cafergot but I'm hoping to get some feed back from the professionals at ch.com. Any tips or tricks I should know about? As abortives I also use H20 and Imitrtex inj. H20 works sometimes and Imitrex, well... it works but you all know the insurance problems with that. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Kirk

Title: Re: What can I expect? Cafergot
Post by Bob P on Apr 23^rd, 2004, 5:49pm

Don't take the cafergot in the same 24 hr.s that you take the trex.

No other tircks here, at onset pop a tab of cafergot, strap on the mask for 10-15 minutes and you should be good for 8-12 hours.

Cafergot can upset your stomach some but I've only had that happen when I had to take 2-4 tabs to kill an attack.
After you use it every day for a few days your fingers and toes will feel cold from the reduced circulation but as long as the nails stay pink you should be in pretty good shape.

Title: Re: What can I expect? Cafergot
Post by Roxy on Apr 23^rd, 2004, 5:50pm

Cafergot has never worked for me when I take it for a ch. By the time it gets in my system, the ch is over. I have used it for shadows.

Whatever you do, don't mix the ergotamines with the triptan (Imitrex). Keep a 24 hour separation between the two.

PFDAN,
Tracey

Title: Re: What can I expect? Cafergot
Post by Kirk Huff on Apr 23^rd, 2004, 6:02pm

As with most ch's my onset is fast. Am I understanding correctly that if I take the Cafergot tablet at the onset & it doesn't work, I won't be able to use Imitrex inj for 24 hours?

Kirk

Title: Re: What can I expect? Cafergot
Post by Roxy on Apr 23^rd, 2004, 6:11pm

on 04/23/04 at 18:02:17, Kirk Huff wrote:

Am I understanding correctly that if I take the Cafergot tablet at the onset & it doesn't work, I won't be able to use Imitrex inj for 24 hours?

That's the deal. If you use a cafergot, you have to wait 24 hrs. to take a triptan. There are people who have done it with no bad results.....but, I sure wouldn't chance it. You can have no bad results, and then all of sudden end up in the hospital with heart problems.

Please, be careful,
Tracey

Title: Re: What can I expect? Cafergot
Post by Kirk Huff on Apr 23^rd, 2004, 7:07pm

Thank you all for the great advice. I just found out there is another one as well, although I'm not familiar with it. Nortriptyline. Any of you know what this is or how it works?

Again-- thanx,

Kirk

Title: Re: What can I expect? Cafergot
Post by Edski_1 on Apr 25^th, 2004, 8:49am

I think there was a thread about Nortriptyline about a month ago somewhere on this forum.

When my last cycle started in October I got Zomig and cafergot from my GP, despite the two meds being contraindicated. When I finally saw a neuro he took me off the cafergot and told me that some of the times that zomig dodn;t do anything it was probably due tothe cafergot.

By itself cafergot seemed to be pretty effective for me, but if you are prone to very short CH's it might not be fast enough. Some have used it as apreventative, I think with OK results...

As for the SE's...you probably don;t have to worry about ergotism, but apparently the circulation to your extremities might be affected after a while.