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Katie Anderson CH.com Newbie Offline I Love CH.com! Posts: 2	When to take verapamil?? Apr 23^rd, 2013 at 6:55pm 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??
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Mike NZ

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Re: When to take verapamil??
Reply #1 - Apr 24^th, 2013 at 1:57am

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.

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Katie Anderson CH.com Newbie Offline I Love CH.com! Posts: 2	Re: When to take verapamil?? Reply #2 - Apr 24^th, 2013 at 6:07am 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.
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wimsey1 CH.com Alumnus Offline I Love CH.com! Posts: 2457 MA Gender:	Re: When to take verapamil?? Reply #3 - Apr 24^th, 2013 at 10:12am 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
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Cynde

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Re: When to take verapamil??
Reply #4 - Apr 24^th, 2013 at 11:26am

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.

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Mike NZ

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Re: When to take verapamil??
Reply #5 - Apr 24^th, 2013 at 5:03pm

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.

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BlueDevil

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Re: When to take verapamil??
Reply #6 - 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 Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!! You need to

or

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

All the best.

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wimsey1

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Re: When to take verapamil??
Reply #7 - Apr 26^th, 2013 at 8:37am

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 Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!! You need to

or

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

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BlueDevil

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Re: When to take verapamil??
Reply #8 - Apr 28^th, 2013 at 10:20pm

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

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 Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!! You need to

or

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.

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CHsRtheDeviL

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Re: When to take verapamil??
Reply #9 - May 24^th, 2013 at 1:45am

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

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Guiseppi CH.com Moderator CH.com Alumnus Offline San Diego to Florida 05-16-2011 Posts: 12063 SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA USA Gender:	Re: When to take verapamil?? Reply #10 - May 24^th, 2013 at 9:07am 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
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Mike NZ CH.com Hall of Famer Offline Oxygen rocks! D3 too! Posts: 3785 Auckland, New Zealand Gender:	Re: When to take verapamil?? Reply #11 - May 25^th, 2013 at 6:47am 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.
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