Hi.. Just got home from the Dr's and he prescribed me the cocktail of prednisone and verapmil. My question is when do I take the verapmil?? Do I take it at night  before I go to bed or do I take it with my predniose dose in the a.m??

Hi Katie and welcome

Did your doctor give you any indication as to when to take it?

For verapamil, there are two types, sustained release which releases the dose over 12 hours or so. For this you'll probably be best splitting the dose into two, probably around breakfast and dinner. For the instant release this is best split over the day, possibly with uneven doses so if your CHs are around 10pm at night then a lower dose in the morning / early afternoon and a higher one a few hours before when your CHs strike.

Your pharmacist will be able to give you good advice too.

Thank you for all of your advice! I have the verapmil-extended release 120 MG tablets. I was planning on taking one in the a.m. with breakfast and with my predniose and 1 in the evening before I go to bed.

OK, that's a good start. But keep in mind the 240mg may not be enough. Give it a couple of weeks to "kick in," and then if it isn't doing the trick, take it up with your neuro. I take 560mg daily, with a mixture of both sustained release and quick release. Let us know how you make out. blessings. lance

I take one 240 mg in the morning, one in the evening with dinner.  Last bout, 480 was perfect, but this has been one of the worst bouts I've ever had, so might go up to over 500.  Have had not one side effect from the med, and it's always worked in the past.  Good news is that typically, you don't need to stay on it for too long -- a few months,  unless you have constantly recurring episodes.  Good luck!  Sounds like your doc is following the newest, best protocols for CH.

When taking verapamil you should also have regular ECGs, say every 6 months and ones just after a dose increase as verapamil can result in the PR interval being elongated. However if this happens then stopping the verapamil will just about always result in it returning to normal.

Again it is something to discuss with your doctor.

Hi Katie,

glad to hear you are trying verapamil as it is very effective for many people. I would however sugest you have  look at this thread START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

I don't want to alarm you unduly but it is always good to be well informed.

All the best.

BlueDevil wrote on Apr 26^th, 2013 at 6:40am:

Hi Katie, glad to hear you are trying verapamil as it is very effective for many people. I would however sugest you have  look at this thread START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE I don't want to alarm you unduly but it is always good to be well informed. All the best.

I tried the link and it didn't work. What are you trying to say? lance

wimsey1 wrote on Apr 26^th, 2013 at 8:37am:

BlueDevil wrote on Apr 26th, 2013 at 6:40am: Hi Katie, glad to hear you are trying verapamil as it is very effective for many people. I would however sugest you have  look at this thread START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE I don't want to alarm you unduly but it is always good to be well informed. All the best. I tried the link and it didn't work. What are you trying to say? lance

Interesting...I note that any thread I go to has the same address as I posted above which makes it impossible to link to an individual thread.

The thread that I was referring to was "Verapamil and liver damage - a warning" which I posted on the 18th April.

I also have the Verapamil ER I take 200mg in the early afternoon and 200mg around bedtime usually like 11 or 12 o'clock.  I only started taking it a week ago with this upped dose and I know it takes a little bit to start working but since I've been taking it I went from 3 to 4 bad hits a day to 1 tolerable one.  So far its been like that for almost a week now.  I've had no known side effects from taking it either as of right now.  God I hope this works for me

That's great news. There's a reason it's still the first line prevent as it has a great track record. Don't forget to up your fiber and fluid intake as it tends to REALLY slow down the digestive tract for many.

Joe

Good news, that is a whole lot of pain you're avoiding now.

Have you got effective abortives to kill off the one CH  a day that is breaking through?

And I agree with Joe's suggestion as for many of us, verapamil has the same effect on our digestive systems as if it contained concrete dust.