It's the elusive "side effects" question. For some with heart and blood flow issues, it can cause problems. Some on the board worry that using imitrex as an abortive can actually extend cycles. Many have used it extensively, for many years, and have never had a problem.

So the easy yes/no answer.......there isn't one! It all comes down to educating yourself, knowing what does and does not work for you, working with your doctor and making the call that's best for you.

Joe

Not so Daft ?

Immitrex in reality is supposedly a fairly safe drug for 95% of the migraine population.
It is also a quality drug for many in the cluster head population.

With Clusters I suspect the adverse events are higher due to the increased quality of pain and the desire to stop the pain at any price.
When they prescribe trex at 2 dose a day the reasons are sound.
Unfortunately when we are hit in the many multiples of pain events per day we see an easy abort and go for the trex.

Imitrex is a 5HT-1 agonist wich basically means it mimics or trys to improve on serotonin wich in itself is a natural body chemical. When Serotonin balance gets thrown out of wack all kinds of things can happen from strokes to serotonin syndrome. Cluster headaches may be due to serotonin imbalances.

We really dont hear a lot of clusterheads mention the listed side effects for the drug though they can and do happen at the supposed rate of 4-5%

The primary reason not to use it for a large percentage of us clusterheads is the rebound effect. When the drug wears off the CH returns harder and faster than before. Many of us believe the sumatriptan has caused us to have extended cycles, increased daily hits, and in mine and several other cases caused a chronic condition in the past.
This may or may not have happened regardless but we who have experienced the downsides believe it to be true and so.

If used in moderation (no more than 2 times per 24 hours) this may not affect you.

There was a time when the trex injections first came out that I was given however much I wanted and needed. I would shoot myself up to 10 or 12 times a day and run to the pharmacy for more when the boxes were emptied. no issues, I just kept piling up the doses as I thought I had found a golden medication.

The trex worked well for maybe a week or so and after that I continued using for maybe a month thinking they would work. They didnt. As with all drugs and me the trex became completely ineffective. I did try a shot maybe once every few days then, with the hopes of relief wich never came.

The clusters cycle didnt leave for 3 years and I had boxes and boxes of imitrex that I finally destroyed. Shortly thereafter my cycle broke.

My opinion on trex is dont let the devil fool you and be careful and mindfull of the possibilities.

In a small defense of imitrex I had other extended years long cycles that I attributed to other meds as well.

Thanks MJ

I always try to keep an open mind on these things and I like to know about what I'm shoving into my body . I've never taken any thing much stronger than ibrufin till the CH started 5 months ago and then only when it was absolutely necessary . I have a very high tolerance of pain so I can stick out a K6-7 and haven't used more than 2 a day .

I've not noticed the rebound yet but it seems the beast is full of surprises.

I'm going to see a neuro for the first time on the 20th , I think I'm going to have a lot of questions for him , so i want to at least understand the answers . or have some idea what he's talking about.

Nigel

Well I can see how shaky wouldn't go so well with the Q tip thing.

If you do try it though, I'd recommend injecting in the belly, because it's much easier to manage the Q tip routine there than in the arm, and it s a less painful injection site (for me at least) than the arm or leg.