I have already posted elsewhere about peculiarities of my current episode of clusters. The scariest part is that Imitrex have stopped being so efficient. It gives me 4 hour relief at most, with guaranteed Kip 8-9 after it wears off. Moreover, the post-imitrex hit is O2 resistant.

The good news is that Zomig seems to be working wonders. I was given assorted samples by my physician and they all seem to be efficient. The nasal spray acts the fastest but wears of fastest too (~6 hours). ZMT (oral disintegrating tablets) take 15-20 minutes to kick in but their effect is never shorter than 8 hours. Regular tablets take more than 30 minutes but they last more than 12 hours. To me the piece of mind of "guaranteed" PF time is priceless.


I was devastated to learn that my insurance caps me to 8 pills per month. My doc's office cleaned their samples shelf and sent me all that they have left, bless their hearts. See the attached pic to understand what it means to me.

Practical question: There are lots of online pharmacies around. Some of them advertise cheap imports from Canada and Mexico. Have anyone tried that route? I will be forced to pay for my pills out of pocket. What is the cheapest LEGAL way to get my medication?

---

Your doc can intervene with the ins. to get more authorized; see material on how to in the OUCH site.

I would avoid Mexico and Asia but the Canadian market is very safe. Their equivalent to the FDA is as good as ours.

I used a source in Canada for several years with good results.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This info from CONSUMER REPORTS, 10/05:


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I've done a lot of trials with all of the Triptans for many years. I''ve also done a fair amount of mixing of short/long lasting Triptans UNDER MY DOCTORS SUPERVISION - often right in his office. For me:

Zomig NS is my favorite fast acting Triptan - great stuff but doesn't hold them back too long.

Frova is listed as the longest acting, but it was "weak" for me - had to take more than two to work.

Amerge is easily my favorite for a long lasting effect, but too slow to be an abortive. Using O2 to abort while waiting for Amerge to get into my system always provides me a good night's sleep. A great one-two combination.

Marc

Marc,

Excellent info! This is why this board makes so much sense.

I have also discovered "one-two" trick. The information about other triptans is priceless. I would encourage others to post their experiences with triptans (effectiveness, how fast they act, how long do they provide relief, side effects etc.)

Also, some of these meds are cheaper/easier to get then others. Please post your experiences.

Marc wrote on Dec 18^th, 2009 at 5:04pm:

Zomig NS is my favorite fast acting Triptan - great stuff but doesn't hold them back too long. Marc

Blissfully effective for me.....last 12 hrs...without discernible side effects....99 % success rate....works in less than 15 mins (with O2)....OMG do I LOVE this stuff!

Danged expensive though...I can't wait for the generic. Just today refilled a script at Costco...they put in an insert from the manufacturer...AstraZeneca

Info re Zomig at START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE
Info center @ 1-800-236-9933
Possible coupon help (if you qualify, don't know what that means)...www.activatethecard.com/cp

Haven't been to sites or called, but will be....

Best,

Jon

edit to add more detail

There is a coupon for $35. off of your Zomig,,,and It is good for 6 uses.
   I can't remember the website. I posted it on here somewhere...but I am sure I just typed in Zomig coupon, and found it.
   You might search the board for the website I posted.
    It also works GREAT for me. but dang it is expensive.                      good luck

6 per month, same with me.  I'm currently stockpiling both Zomig NS and Amerge.  Amerge has been my lifesaver up until now.  Haven't tried Zomig or O2 but glad to have a couple more weapons in my arsenal for the next battle.

Thanks for the tips, Marc.  That's good stuff.

I found that imitrex, zomig, axert, frova, and amerge all work only for 2 hours for me and then I get slamed again.  Only to have to take another round of triptain of choice.   What I did to combat the insurance limitations is get the maxium number of imitrex shots, nasal spray in 40 and 20mg doses, and pills that they will allow.  Then stock up on zomig nasal spray and pills and zmt's.  Then the axert, frova and amerge.  Get my point.  You have to wait 24 hours between switching meds but it is better than having nothing to combat them with.

Karla, i read your post earlier and thought to myself..wtf didnt i think of that?  so, me being me, called the dr and asked for a script of zomig zmt..he wrote the rx and i took my happy ass off to the pharmacy.

When i arrived and asked for my rx, i was told, insurance will not allow this because you already have your limit met this month.  i asked why, and they told me because i had filled the rx for imitrex. 

Sooo, i automatically said..ok..what if the original rx didnt work for me, would the insurance not pay to try a diff rx? 

The pharmacist came over to talk with me and said he could probably override the system because it was 2 different drugs.  he then proceded to tell me..and i will quote him because he was adament "IF YOU CONTINUE TO TAKE SO MANY OF THOSE, YOU WILL HAVE REBOUND HEADACHES". 

i did ask him at that point, to please give me a copy of the medical journal, study, or whatever source he got his information from.  He had nothing available to give me but his opinion. 

just thought id rant a little about my day....
LOL ::)

oh yea, he did override and i got the rx..so i accomplished what i went to do which is all that matters anyway lol

Well I am glad it worked for you this time.  However, I am supprised that they gave you grief over it.  My insurance didn't care what I took as long as I didn't go over the limit of certain perscriptions.  Not mixing and matching the meds like I did.  However, I did change insurance plans and my dr wrote a letter to the insurance company explaining that I got 8ch a day/every day of the month and needed 6-8 imitrex a day for my condition to keep me out of hospital etc.  They settled and I got all the imitrex I wanted from that time on.  Now the pharmasist called the dr after giving me grief, like you, saying that I wasn't suppose to take that much etc. and the dr put him in his place and I never had any problems after that.  Keep trying there are ways around the system.  Good luck.

Update: It seems that my cycle is about to end. Woo Hoo!

However, this time around I have experienced certain things that never happened before. I have been constantly on triptans (zomig) for the last 6 weeks. That means that there was no point of time during this period without the drug in my system.

I was able to abort every first attack after taking zomig with O2 (usually it would come 8-12 hours after the medication). However the subsequent attacks (coming an hour later)  were only manageable by taking another dose of triptans.

All in all, it wasn't that bad as the beast was kept in check at all times. I never had to "bareback" 3 hours+ at Kip 8.

Finally, few days ago, O2 started to be effective for all subsequent attacks. Also the attacks were much less intensive. Needless to say I stopped taking Zomig. After about 24 hours of being drug free a constant shadow started (at level 4 or so). It lasted 3 full days. On occasion a full-blown attack would come but it was possible to abort it with oxygen. However the shadows persisted.

These were truly miserable three days. On top of the shadows which affected the same areas as the normal CH I had a constant diffuse pain affecting my forehead and top of my head. Every sudden move would feel like some layers in my skull would shear in a very painful manner.

I won't preach to the choir, NOTHING compares to the beast but these three days were no vacation either. The saving grace was the realisation that the cycle was coming to an end.

If I were to speculate I would say that the three-day-headache was a direct consequence of the withdrawal from Zomig. Also, I believe that the triptan usage significantly prolonged the cycle. The lesson learned for me for the next cycle is to stick to O2 for as long as possible and avoid triptans. However, I will stockpile Zomig for that devastating third Kip 9 in a row.

Happy holidays everyone.

Anchor Yanker wrote on Dec 21^st, 2009 at 8:53pm:

6 per month, same with me.  I'm currently stockpiling both Zomig NS and Amerge.

I just started Zomig NS this week and so far it has been a god send. My neuro gave me as many doses as he had left in his office and told me to stockpile my zomig when I'm not having hits and that's what I plan on doing as soon as my cycle is over since my insurance limits me to 9 a month. I just started my pred taper this week so hopefully my hits will be over soon and I can start stockpiling. Good luck trying to find some more, I hope you are able to either get your insurance to give in or you can get some Canadian drugs.

I like many of you also use Zomig and have found that it works well. Have been using it for years, but my fear is that my body will start to crave it like it did for imatrex and give me rebound headaches. We all have to be careful when we take these drugs as our body's will do strange things to get them and can make the problem bigger. I know that when we're in pain we just want to feel better and will do whatever it takes to make the pain go away.

imgrubby5591 wrote on Jan 3^rd, 2010 at 7:05pm:

I like many of you also use Zomig and have found that it works well. Have been using it for years, but my fear is that my body will start to crave it like it did for imatrex and give me rebound headaches. We all have to be careful when we take these drugs as our body's will do strange things to get them and can make the problem bigger. I know that when we're in pain we just want to feel better and will do whatever it takes to make the pain go away.

Methinks you are overthinkin' this dude...three deep breaths...in SLOW...out SLOW....

Welcome aboard,

Best,

Jon

imgrubby5591 wrote on Jan 3^rd, 2010 at 7:05pm:

I like many of you also use Zomig and have found that it works well. Have been using it for years, but my fear is that my body will start to crave it like it did for imatrex and give me rebound headaches. We all have to be careful when we take these drugs as our body's will do strange things to get them and can make the problem bigger. I know that when we're in pain we just want to feel better and will do whatever it takes to make the pain go away.

Nah...I didn't have that problem at all.
    I did however split the dose in half to make it go further, and it worked just as well. 
   I spray the nasal spray into a small baggie, and with the head of a pin put a dab under my toungue.
  There is only about 2 drops in there, so its not hard to see how much your getting. 
   Did you check out the online coupon?  lorac