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verapamil er (Read 2530 times)
soberman
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verapamil er
Jul 6th, 2012 at 7:42pm
 
Does anyone have any info on verapamil er? My doc started me on it yesterday.
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Kevin_M
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Re: verapamil er
Reply #1 - Jul 6th, 2012 at 8:00pm
 
I've used it.  I think ER means extended release.  It worked for me, but I divided the total dose, ie. 240mg, into 120mg twice a day, 12 hours apart; stay on schedule.  It seemed to work better that way for me and provided good coverage, but your dosage needs will differ.  Check with your doc on that.   Many find the the non-ER to be effective verap, but I forgot the two letters for that one.
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« Last Edit: Jul 6th, 2012 at 8:02pm by Kevin_M »  
 
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soberman
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Re: verapamil er
Reply #2 - Jul 6th, 2012 at 9:09pm
 
Thanks Kevin. I'm also two days smoke free. I know that this will help, but I'm worried about rebound headaches. I guess I'll cross that one when I get to it. In addition, I'm doing a cycle of prednisone. 60 mg for 7 days then titrate. I know the side effects suck, but dammit man. Somethings gotta give! Lips Sealed
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Brew
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Re: verapamil er
Reply #3 - Jul 6th, 2012 at 9:18pm
 
Verapamil can take 10-14 days to build up to therapeutic levels in the blood, so don't give up on it too soon.
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Kevin_M
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Re: verapamil er
Reply #4 - Jul 7th, 2012 at 7:25am
 
soberman wrote on Jul 6th, 2012 at 9:09pm:
I'm doing a cycle of prednisone. 60 mg for 7 days then titrate. I know the side effects suck, but dammit man. Somethings gotta give! Lips Sealed


Quitting smoking while on prednisone, wow.  Some will eat more.  There should be some immediate relief from the pred, but it's also better to get prescribed along with prednisone something to help you sleep through the week, like Ambien, and something for your stomach, like Zantac.

Brew's right, this can take a couple weeks to increase the verapamil to an effective range, hang in, sometimes it's the eventual 480-640mg range that finally reaches out for results. 



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I work on high rise buildings, usually 6 to 30 stories up.


In the meantime, for daytime work, energy drinks like Red Bull contain caffeine and taurine and can help put down an oncoming hit, but taurine doesn't go with verapamil.  I've used double shots of espresso, which can be added to a coffee from any McDonalds for fifty cents a shot, Tim Hortons can do it, too.  Otherwise, Starbucks makes a 6.5oz can of Doubleshot for about $2.59 available at some gas station coolers and chain drug stores like CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens.  Keep these handy, I used one yesterday for an oncoming hit, getting Kip 4-5, and it subsided shortly.  They're easily guzzled and last, providing coverage sometimes 4-6 hours to go with the verap.



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Bob Johnson
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Re: verapamil er
Reply #5 - Jul 7th, 2012 at 9:20am
 
There are two forms of Verap. See the last section of the article which follows for comments on which one to use.

See the PDF file, below, for evaluation of the overall value/effectiveness of Verap for Cluster.
====
Headache. 2004 Nov;44(10):1013-8.   


Individualizing treatment with verapamil for cluster headache patients.

Blau JN, Engel HO.


    Background.-Verapamil is currently the best available prophylactic drug for patients experiencing cluster headaches (CHs). Published papers usually state 240 to 480 mg taken in three divided doses give good results, ranging from 50% to 80%; others mention higher doses-720, even 1200 mg per day. In clinical practice we found we needed to adapt dosage to individual's time of attacks, in particular giving higher doses before going to bed to suppress severe nocturnal episodes. A few only required 120 mg daily. We therefore evolved a scheme for steady and progressive drug increase until satisfactory control had been achieved. Objective.-To find the minimum dose of verapamil required to prevent episodic and chronic cluster headaches by supervising each individual and adjusting the dosage accordingly. Methods.-Consecutive patients with episodic or chronic CH (satisfying International Headache Society (IHS) criteria) were started on verapamil 40 mg in the morning, 80 mg early afternoon, and 80 mg before going to bed. Patients kept a diary of all attacks, recording times of onset, duration, and severity. They were advised, verbally and in writing, to add 40 mg verapamil on alternate days, depending on their attack timing: with nocturnal episodes the first increase was the evening dose and next the afternoon one; when attacks occurred on or soon after waking, we advised setting an alarm clock 2 hours before the usual waking time and then taking the medication. Patients were followed-up at weekly intervals until attacks were controlled. They were also reviewed when a cluster period had ended, and advised to continue on the same dose for a further 2 weeks before starting systematic reduction. Chronic cluster patients were reviewed as often as necessary. Results.-Seventy consecutive patients, 52 with episodic CH during cluster periods and 18 with chronic CH, were all treated with verapamil as above. Complete relief from headaches was obtained in 49 (94%) of 52 with episodic, and 10 (55%) of 18 with chronic CH; the majority needed 200 to 480 mg, but 9 in the episodic, and 3 in the chronic group, needed 520 to 960 mg for control. Ten, 2 in the episodic and 8 in the chronic group, with incomplete relief, required additional therapy-lithium, sumatriptan, or sodium valproate. One patient withdrew because verapamil made her too tired, another developed Stevens-Johnson syndrome, and the drug was withdrawn. Conclusions.-Providing the dosage for each individual is adequate, preventing CH with verapamil is highly effective, taken three (occasionally with higher doses, four) times a day. In the majority (94%) with episodic CH steady dose increase under supervision, totally suppressed attacks. However in the chronic variety only 55% were completely relieved, 69% men, but only 20% women. In both groups, for those with partial attack suppression, additional prophylactic drugs or acute treatment was necessary. (Headache 2004;44:1013-1018).

=======================================
SLOW-RELEASE VERAPAMIL

Dr. Sheftell applauded the protocol for verapamil used by Dr. Goadsby and colleagues, which entailed use of short-acting verapamil in increments of 80 mg. “This method was suggested by Lee Kudrow, MD, 20 years ago as an alternative to slow-release verapamil,” Dr. Sheftell noted.

“I would agree with using short-acting verapamil, rather than the sustained-release formulation, in cluster headache,” he said. “I prefer the short-acting formulation with regard to ability to titrate more accurately and safely. My clinical experience anecdotally demonstrates improved responses when patients are switched from sustained-release verapamil to short-acting verapamil.”

Dr. Goadsby agreed that his clinical experience was similar. “There are no well-controlled, placebo-controlled, dose-ranging studies to direct treatment. This is one of those areas where clinicians who treat cluster headache have to combine what modicum of evidence is available with their own clinical experience,” Dr. Sheftell commented.

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« Last Edit: Jul 7th, 2012 at 9:21am by Bob Johnson »  
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pedropedro
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Re: verapamil er
Reply #6 - Jul 11th, 2012 at 4:41pm
 
Hi, I just switched from 480mg sr verap to 720 mg er because I still had severe attacks. I also was prescribed a prednisone booster (60mg and daily build off schema for 12 days) to allow the verap kick in over that period. Not too many side effects but for a jet lag type of feeling. So far the prednisone is doing me good and eliminating 80% which is great. Had great results before with verap sr 320mg which always have been enough for me until now. Good luck with finding the right balance.
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