I need to vent a little please pardon my dust.  It's always something with these damn heaches.  A few months ago  the company I work for was purchased by another company. our insurance supposedly got better.  Now, my precious Imitrex that I used to get 2 kits for a $10 copay, I will have to pay full price $260 for 2 kits until my yearly $1300 copay is hit then they will cost me $30 for 2 kits.

If that isn't bad enough, I go to get the kits from same pharmacy I always use they tell me the kits I use are being discontinued.  They give me a new style where there is an injector for each ampule.  I don't think it's possible to break these up like I used to do on the others to manually inject and stretch them out.  Does anyone have experience with these?

You know, as if life coping with these headaches isn't hard enough, I have to fight tooth and nail with the insurance companies and big pharma, it's enough to, well, give me a headache.  ::)   

Hi there,
Yes you can take apart the auto injections (like an epi-pen if that's what you are talking about). I have seen it done on youtube. Afraid I don't remember the details and I've never done it myself, but if you hunt around you will probably find it. Good luck.
Maz.

Hey Jason, I agree with Maz, you CAN disassemble the single-use injectors, I experimented with it myself a few weeks ago.  Mine are made by Sun Pharmaceuticals, and you have to pull the bottom off, which takes a bit of effort (I ended up using pliers).  After that, the injector can be taken apart fairly easily.

Hang in there and best wishes!

Art

Start thinking--"alternatives".

1. Check the per dose price if you were to buy Imitrex in a vial, buy syringes to inject.
2. Canadian sources:START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE. There is some hassle with our Customs from time to time but this is clear a widely used source for Americans; prices good; decent service; quality not an issue. (Avoid seeking from Mexico and Asian sources. Asia, in particular, a real problem with counterfeit "drugss".)
3. If you don't need an abortive more than 1-2x/day, talk to you doc about a trial of this med. I found it almost as fast acting as Imitrex and the per dose cost is cheap in comparison. With 1 or 2 uses you will know whether it works for you.
--
Headache 2001 Sep;41(8):813-6 

Olanzapine as an Abortive Agent for Cluster Headache.


Rozen TD.
Department of Neurology, Jefferson Headache Center/Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, Pa.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate olanzapine as a cluster headache abortive agent in an open-label trial. BACKGROUND: Cluster headache is the most painful headache syndrome known. There are very few recognized abortive therapies for cluster headache and fewer for patients who have contraindications to vasoconstrictive drugs. METHODS: Olanzapine was given as an abortive agent to five patients with cluster headache in an open-label trial. THE INITIAL OLANZAPINE DOSE WAS 5 MG, AND THE DOSE WAS INCREASED TO 10 MG IF THERE WAS NO PAIN RELIEF. THE DOSAGE WAS DECREASED TO 2.5 MG IF THE 5-MG DOSE WAS EFFECTIVE BUT CAUSED ADVERSE EFFECTS. To be included in the study, each patient had to treat at least two attacks with either an effective dose or the highest tolerated dose. RESULTS: Five patients completed the investigation (four men, one woman; four with chronic cluster, one with episodic cluster). Olanzapine reduced cluster pain by at least 80% in four of five patients, and TWO PATIENTS BECAME HEADACHE-FREE AFTER TAKING THE DRUG. Olanzapine typically alleviated pain within 20 minutes after oral dosing and treatment response was consistent across multiple treated attacks. The only adverse event was sleepiness. CONCLUSIONS: Olanzapine appears to be a good abortive agent for cluster headache. IT ALLEVIATES PAIN QUICKLY AND HAS A CONSISTENT RESPONSE ACROSS MULTIPLE TREATED ATTACKS. IT APPEARS TO WORK IN BOTH EPISODIC AND CHRONIC CLUSTER HEADACHE.

PMID 11576207 PubMed

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Olanzapine has a brand name of "Zyprexa" and is a antipsychotic. Don't be put off by this primary usage. Several of the drugs used to treat CH are cross over applications, that is, drugs approved by the FDA for one purpose which are found to be effective with unrelated conditions--BJ.
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