?Imitrex

[minkydog]

I have migraines about once a month. when I get one it lays me out for about 8 hours--I literally lose a whole day. So my doctor recommended i try Imitrex.

Today I had a headache. About 2pm i realized it was a migraine so i took the Imitrex. Great! the headache went away within about 10-20 min. I took the kids to the mall and while i was walking around I began to realize i didn't feel right. The headache was gone, but all the symptoms of migraine were there--nausea, photosensitivity, aura, disorientation. Then I began to feel heavy in my chest and started sweating profusely. My hands and feet felt numb and weird. I thought I was going to throw up right there in the mall! Thankfully i managed to get to the car with Christian and call the girls. I don't know how I drove home, I was so sick. I could hardly see.

I spent the rest of the afternoon in bed with a cold rag on my head in a dark room and I'm still "hung-over" from the migraine 8hrs later. I'm so disappointed that the Imitrex didn't work, but I'm also wondering about the other symptoms. I usually get numbness in my face during a migraine, but that didn't happen until later. The numbness in my hands and the chest pressure were a bit alarming, but that has all gone away. (I know, I know, I shoulda gone to the ED. I'm sure they would have told me the problem is all in my head )
Is this a common reaction to Imitrex or does this stuff just not work for me?

 

[Tuffcookie]

Minkydog,

I use Maxalt (10 mg) for my migraines. However, when they don't work I use the Imitrex injections. The injections are great (but expensive!) and after 10 minutes I'm migraine free.

TC

 

[hello kitty]

Aaawww... I'm sorry you had such a rough time.

My doctor had me on the injections. Well, more like injection. I tried it once and thought my heart was going to attack me. It was awful.

What other medications have you tried? I've been through many and found Midrin (sometimes coupled with Phenergan) to work the best. When that's a no go, it's a trip to the ER for a shot of Demerol. Oh what fun.

 

[juligrl]

I get once a month, 8 hour miagraines too and have taken Imitrex on and off (off because of pregnancy and breastfeeding) for the last 10 years or so. I know that if I don't catch the miagraine early enough and take the Imitrex I have ended up with the headacheless-miagraine, just as you described. Not sure about the heaviness, sweating or numbness but I'm wondering if they could have been related to all the other symptoms that go along with the miagraine, combined with you being out and active at the time.

I get my best results with Imitrex if I catch my miagraine early (they're cyclical with my cycle - oh joy, at least I know when I might get a miagraine). It probably takes about 20 minutes to start feeling a change but I usually just rest calmly (okay, nap) for the next 1-2 hours just to give the drugs a chance to work and to get the rest of me feeling "right" again. After that I can resume normal activity and be fine until the next month. I figure 1-2 hours is better than loosing a whole day any day!

 

[babytrees]

I was just put on Imitrex last month for my migraines...I have had two since then. The first I didn't catch it until I was in it too long I think. I just felt "wonky" the next 24 hours...tired, floaty, migraine less but with migraine symptoms. When I caught it the next time at the start it blessedly went away without as much wonkiness...I mean a lot less wonkiness...I didn't feel like hibernating!!

 

[Poohnatic]

I can tell you my experiences and see if they help you at all.

I was put on Imitrex tablets when I was having several migraines a week. I started taking the tablets as soon as I knew it was a migraine. I usually had an aura about 20 minutes before. It took me a long time to identify my aura, because I'd think it was happening because I looked at the sun or a light fixture at work.

My nurse practitioner in Maryland started me with 25 mg samples, but wrote my script for 100 mg tablets. This was because I have a history of needing higher dosages of all my meds. She gave me the samples and said take one and if in an hour, you're still having problems, take another. Somehow, the fact that the script was different from the samples wasn't mentioned, very unusual for her.

Weeeeeeellllllll, I used the samples and there was an improvement, but I always had to take 2. So, I fill the script and same deal-one gives the migraine a push, but two get rid of it. Eventually, I start taking two tablets as the first sign of migraine. Follow up visit on something else, and we discuss the migraines. I come to find that the 200mg at a time is a toxic dose! Eeek!

I was switched to the nasal imitrex. Great, they work much faster. Bad part is, due to all my allergies, it doesn't get completely absorbed into my nasal cavity. Some of it goes down the back of my throat. It's very bitter and touches the bitter taste buds on the back of the tongue. 50/50 odds that I will throw it all up and not be able to take another. I learned to take it and have root beer, jolly ranchers or something with a strong, sweet taste in an effort to keep it down. So, if you have constant nasal congestion (like me ), it may not be the best choice in treating your migraines.

Finally, we switched over to the injectables, as I have no problems giving myself injections. Yay! This is the dosing that works best for me. I am very fortunate that I mentioned it to my new doctor on the first visit and I've got a note in my chart for a standing script. I travel everywhere with my box of injectibles.

What happens with the Imitrex and many of the migraine medications is that they constrict the blood vessels in the brain to prevent the blood flow that causes migraines. This in turn, makes you very weary and weak. You'll feel like you ran a marathon. I find I still need an hour nap after taking the meds, but at least I don't have any other symptoms.

Good news on my end. My BIL identified a trigger/allergy for my sister and a week after she tried removing Nutrasweet she called me. She had no migraines-typical week was 3. I tried the same, and went from approximately 4 migraines a week to 4 or 5 a year. I usually suggest to anyone with unexplained migraines to keep a food diary-but I know some are hormonal with cycles and that can't really be prevented. Another trigger for me is if I eat more than a handful of pistachios.

Last week, I had a migraine that knocked me for a loop( first in about six months). I didn't realize until a day later that it was a migraine. It had some, but not all of my classic symptoms(no aura, different pain location). Thanks to my current medications for some pretty major leg problems, my nurse practitioner and doctor weren't sure if Imitrex would interact poorly. Trust me, it's one of my first questions for the neurologist I will be seeing this week for the issues that have emerged with my leg.

Hang in there. One of the meds will work for you! I feel bad for my sister, she can't take any of the current medications for migraines. At least she got rid of her major trigger and only has a couple a year.

I think you'll get a lot more feedback on the subject-it's come up in the past here on the CB and we seem to have quite a few sufferers on the boards.

Suzanne

 

[porterbl1]

I get hormonal migraines as well. I onlyy take imitrex if my migraines doesn't go away in a day or two. It makes me really naucious (sp). SO I only take it if I can lay down for about 3 hours and sleep. That way when I wake up the migraine and the sickness is gone.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Imitrex doesn't work well for me. I've tried several different migraine meds--some work and some don't. I usually take Maxalt, which usually works, but it does make me sleepy. If I wait too long to take the Maxalt it's less likely to work, but I don't want to take anything too often because I don't want rebound headaches. I have some Relpax samples to try. I sometimes take percocet for the headaches--it doesn't solve the blood vessle problem, but helps with the pain and doesn't knock me out.

 

[Lizzy2]

I take Relpax and it works wonders for me. W/mine I get extremely nauseous and the Relpax takes care of that too but I do have to sleep for a couple of hours afterward because it makes me a little dizzy/drunk feeling.

 

[ohiominnie]

I've taken Imitrex for migraines and it did to me what it did to you. In fact, dh would not let me read the package insert before I took it b/c he knew it would "make me" have those symptoms. After I took it and got up from my nap, I pretty much told HIM what the side effects were and he said "yup, that's what they said might happen!"

Now I usually try to treat it without the high powered drugs. As soon as I notice the vision changes I suck down a Coca-cola (coke just didn't look right!) The caffiene helps with the blood vessel dilation. Then I take 3 ibuprophen and take a nap. Usually that's enough to knock it out.

Look for triggers in your environment or diet. I usualy would get 2 or 3 migraines a year. Then suddenly I was gettin 2-3 a week. After a few weeks of this, I tried to pinpoint what in my life had changed. The only thing I could find was that I had switched from Coke to Coke Zero. With a little research, I found out Coke Zero has aspertame. I quite drinking that and within a week I was back to not having migraines. Now if I drink or eat something with aspertame, I start to get the aura. I have to avoid it like the plague!

HTH.

 

[ohiominnie]

For those getting hormonal migraines, have you considered the back to back birth control pills? My ob/gyn told me about them a few years ago...basically you take the mono-phasic pills (can't do it with the tri-phasics) and you skip the placebo week. After you take 3 weeks of pills you start a new pack. It also suspends your periods (nice side effect!) My ob/gyn said there isn't anything wrong with only having 3 or 4 periods a year.
Something to look into anyway.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

For those getting hormonal migraines, have you considered the back to back birth control pills? My ob/gyn told me about them a few years ago...basically you take the mono-phasic pills (can't do it with the tri-phasics) and you skip the placebo week. After you take 3 weeks of pills you start a new pack. It also suspends your periods (nice side effect!) My ob/gyn said there isn't anything wrong with only having 3 or 4 periods a year.
Something to look into anyway.

Can you give me more info on this? My neuro wants me on the pill to balance out my hormones, but I've never been on the pill and don't need at that this point in life for birth control (we think peri-menopause hormone changes are my biggest trigger). I'm worried that the week off of the pill is going to really cause me troubles. What's mono-phasic pill? My internist gave me an Rx, but I forgot what it's for exactly.

 

[Mom2Ashli]

Imitrex made my heart feel like it was going to come right out of my chest and they made me sick to my stomach worse than than the headache did.

 

[sugarpie]

Monophasic birth control pills all have the same amount of estrogen & progestin in the first 21 pills, with the last 7 days being reminder pills. Triphasic pills have varying levels of these hormones. You need to be on the monophasic pills if you plan on skipping the reminder pills & your period.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Monophasic birth control pills all have the same amount of estrogen & progestin in the first 21 pills, with the last 7 days being reminder pills. Triphasic pills have varying levels of these hormones. You need to be on the monophasic pills if you plan on skipping the reminder pills & your period.

Thanks! I'll look up the info on the Rx the dr gave me and see what they are. Hopefully she wouldn't have given me something with varying levels of hormones, considering what they're for, but who knows.

 

[sugarpie]

Thanks! I'll look up the info on the Rx the dr gave me and see what they are. Hopefully she wouldn't have given me something with varying levels of hormones, considering what they're for, but who knows.

You should probably discuss skipping the reminder pills with your doctor before you try it. There are some risks associated with the hormones.

My insurance won't refill my birth control pills until I'm near the end of a 28 day cycle, so I have to pay out of pocket for them to skip the reminder week.

On the bright side, my migraines are much, much less intense since going on the pill.

 

[ohiominnie]

Definitely discuss it with your doctor! It's something that they'd want to know you are doing and be able to inform you of any risks.
There are risks to being on the BC pills. But actually, they keep you healthier in other ways.
Don't quote me, b/c I always get the two wrong, but being on BC pills can increase your chance of ovarian cancer, but decrease your chance of breast cancer.
Or maybe it decreases your chance of ovarian cancer, but increases your risk of breast cancer.
I can never remember! Obviously it doesn't improve concentration!!!

 

[ohiominnie]

Btw, when I learned about this, I learned it from a friend. I went to my ob/gyn for my annual and mentioned "this friend of mine told me" and she said "Oh yeah, lots of people are doing it now, here's how it works."

I did have problems at first getting the insurance to pay for my packs every 21 days, but the doc had written the prescription to "skip placebo pills" so the pharmacist had to put it in for an every 21 day prescription, not an every 28 day. Since then the only problem arises if I'm going to be on vacation and I'll run out then.
HTH.