Posted by ChuckC (63.11.212.133) on May 19, 2001 at 13:47:55:
In Reply to: Imitrex NS pills posted by Lisa on May 19, 2001 at 07:12:15:
My neuro told me, and I have no reason to doubt him, that taken orally, only about 15% of the drug makes its way into the bloodstream. That would mean that only (approximately) 3.5 - 4mg from a 25mg dose is actually working to combat your headache. The Imitrex injection delivers 6mg but it's delivered, full strength, unless you follow the suggestions on the imitrex tip found on the left side of the message board. The nasal spray comes in 20mg doses and some other paltry dose, and it only delivers about 25-30% of the drug to your system. If you took 100mg tablets, you would be gettin about 15mg of the drug into your system. In many cases, this is more than is actually needed to abort the headache. The 100mg tablets cost the same as the 50's. I don't know if Glaxo makes a 25, but I'm sure they're gettin their return on their investment. It doesn't make sense to me, but that's how they charge for it.