Posted by pinksharkmark (64.32.116.41) on January 28, 2002 at 11:18:26:
In Reply to: switching from amerge to imitrex posted by wendy on January 28, 2002 at 09:42:33:
...according to both my pharmacist and my neuro.
The reason they say not to use both within 24 hours is not because they will have a bad interaction with each other, but to prevent you from exceeding the maximum recommended intake of all "triptans" (any triptan) within that period of time.
For example, say you use up your allotted amount of Amerge (10 mg or whatever it is) in the first twelve hours of a particular day. Then you look at the Imitrex instructions and see that you can use 200 mg (or whatever) of Imitrex each 24 hours. So you take the 200 mg of Imitrex as well.
Now you have consumed DOUBLE the amount of "triptan" in a 24 hour stretch that the drug companies have decided is safe.
I have switched from Zomig tablets to Imitrex tablets in a single day on many occasions. I know of clusterheads who take an Amerge before going to bed to ensure a good night's sleep and then use an Imitrex injection if they are awakened with a boomer.
The key is that the daily combined amounts of the two triptans should not exceed the total for any single one.
pinky