Posts: 1
  Has anyone had a stoke using Sumatriptan (Imitrex)
Yesterday at 1:19pm        Hi I am 28 in good health and have had cluster headaches for 5 years. I have been taking Sumatriptan for 2 years, not constanly but for each cycle. Sumatriptan worked great it completley aborted the attacks, but last week oneday I had 2 headaches 7 hours apart in one day and the Sumatriptan did not work. 3 hours after taking the second 100mg tablet I collapsed at work, shaking feeling weak unable to speak, pain in chest, fast heart beat, erratic breathing so I was rushed to hospital. I thought my days where numbered. After tests it was found that I had a mini stroke. I feel great now but my speech is still a bit dodgy geting better though. I aslo have a regular sensation that a headache is about to begin but never does, not actualy had a CH attack since.

I am a healthy person, blood pressure has always been good and I have a normal (for me) resting heart beat of 55bpm which I feel my have been the problem.  I am off the Sumatriptan now, never wont it again though it was well worth the risk and I have no regrets taking it. I am going to see if I can get some oxygen now.



Has any one else ever experinced this?





medications tryed:

Sumatriptan - Works great. use with caution but well worth the risks.

verapamil -should never have been prescibed due to heart rate but had drank redbull before ECG/EKG. took my self off it after one week as it made me feel faint, tight chested and had achey testicals. The pills made headache less frequent just one in the week but that one was absolutely brutal and went on for 3 hours.

60mg/1000mg cocodamol / co dydramol - no effect though felt great when CH cleard.

ritalin - no effect. great for keeping awake and consentartion

Psilocybin - no effect. never again

oxycontin - no effect.

Very few of us do sumatriptan tablets.
Tends to be iffy (cannot deal with iffy with this pain) and takes the better part of the hit to come into effect.

I do the injections.  Relief in 5-15 minutes, 20 tops.  My average fluctuates... around 10 right now. 

Most I have done in a day recently is 6. 
Felt oddly out of it that entire day... lethargic, no energy, wanted to sleep (possibly due to not sleeping more the 3-4 hours between hits).

About the only strong side effect I had recently was near instant flushing / fast pulse / sweating etc.  One time only, and I am 99% certain that was because I accidentally injected straight into a blood vessel.

If the Imitrex kills me I want it to happen before whatever CH I just shot up for ramps above a 6.

It's unfortunate that you had this experience but also generous of you not to condem the med outright.

It's safety record is excellent but every med we take, Rx or not, carries some degree of risk which can't be predicted on an individual basis. The group/pooled data which the FDA mandates gives us some guidelines but, in the final analysis, we each make, consciously or not, some judgment about benefit vs. risk.
=====
Headache. 2004 May;44(5):414-25.
Consensus statement: cardiovascular safety profile of triptans (5-HT agonists) in the acute treatment of migraine.

Dodick D, Lipton RB, Martin V, Papademetriou V, Rosamond W, MaassenVanDenBrink A, Loutfi H, Welch KM, Goadsby PJ, Hahn S, Hutchinson S, Matchar D, Silberstein S, Smith TR, Purdy RA, Saiers J; Triptan Cardiovascular Safety Expert Panel.

Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic Scottsdale, AZ 85259, USA.

BACKGROUND: Health care providers frequently cite concerns about cardiovascular safety of the triptans as a barrier to their use. In 2002, the American Headache Society convened the Triptan Cardiovascular Safety Expert Panel to evaluate the evidence on triptan-associated cardiovascular risk and to formulate consensus recommendations for making informed decisions for their use in patients with migraine. OBJECTIVE: To summarize the evidence reviewed by the Triptan Cardiovascular Safety Expert Panel and their recommendations for the use of triptans in clinical practice. PARTICIPANTS: The Triptan Cardiovascular Safety Expert Panel was composed of a multidisciplinary group of experts in neurology, primary care, cardiology, pharmacology, women's health, and epidemiology. EVIDENCE AND CONSENSUS PROCESS: An exhaustive search of the relevant published literature was reviewed by each panel member in preparation for an open roundtable meeting. Pertinent issues (eg, cardiovascular pharmacology of triptans, epidemiology of cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular risk assessment, migraine) were presented as a prelude to group discussion and formulation of consensus conclusions and recommendations. Follow-up meetings were held by telephone. CONCLUSIONS: (1) MOST OF THE DATA ON TRIPTANS ARE DERIVED FROM PATIENTS WITHOUT KNOWN CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE. (2) CHEST SYMPTOMS OCCURRING DURING USE OF TRIPTANS ARE GENERALLY NONSERIOUS AND ARE NOT EXPLAINED BY ISCHEMIA. (3) THE INCIDENCE OF SERIOUS CARDIOVASCULAR EVENTS WITH TRIPTANS IN BOTH CLINICAL TRIALS AND CLINICAL PRACTICE APPEARS TO BE EXTREMELY LOW. (4) THE CARDIOVASCULAR RISK-BENEFIT PROFILE OF TRIPTANS FAVORS THEIR USE IN THE ABSENCE OF CONTRAINDICATIONS.

Publication Types:
Consensus Development Conference
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

PMID: 15147249 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
=====
You may wish to print this abstract and discuss it with your doc. Several of us have reported excellent response.
---
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

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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.
=====
Since this abstract was first posted Zyprexa has appeared in some lists of recommended meds for CH. [BJ]