I called around a few pharmacies asking if they could special order the 5-pack of vials.  The major ones like CVS refused, however my local Safeway pharmacy said sure.  I picked it up yesterday.  This morning i gave myself a shot of only half of a vial.  You need syringes so be sure to ask your doc to include that in the prescription.

So for the cost of one auto-injector these vials provide either 10 or 5 doses depending on whether you want only 3mg or 6mg.  Using GoodRx has a coupon for $172 for the five vials if you don't have insurance.

They only come in a pack of five, so you need to very specific with your doc and have the script written for a quantity of five vials.  If he/she puts a note on the script to "include syringes" the pharmacist should also include them.

Vials:
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Autoinjector:
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Hey Jon, how goes it?

I used to get the 5 vial packs prescribed to me for years, and I got syringes, after explaining to my neuro about using a lower dose. I could get 3 shots out of one vial, so it worked out well. I was chronic at the time.

I went into remission for a few years, then back to chronic, and I asked my doc to write the script for the vials, and was told by 2 major pharmacies they were no longer available except in a hospital setting. I went around and around with my insurance, and the pharms, then had to settle for auto injectors, and those manufacturers must have caught on to the "splitting " them up into more than one dose, because you can't do that anymore.

I waited for years for generic (sumatriptan) to come out. The generic price is almost the same as name brand Imitrex, which really sucks.

Jon, yer right about advocating for yourself, I stopped using Walgreens after doing business with them for over 35 years, due to them not respecting my privacy, or anyone else's for that matter. They put the pharmacist out at the end of the counter, about 6 feet from the waiting area. Anyone could hear a conversation. I switched to CVS, and it's a small store nearby, and it's like a family run business. They really go out of their way to help me with things and respect my privacy.

I've heard bad things about the Walmart pharmacies, & the super large store pharms. Like they have much better things to do than explain something or help you with your medication.

Luckily, I've had the same doctor for a very long time, and my neuro for almost as long. My doc treats me as an equal, explains things to me, and I understand what he tells me. I explain the latest treatments to my neuro, and he is more than willing to try them out on me, so I guess I got lucky having both of them.

I'm going to look into the vials again. Where are you located, Nervely? Maybe that has something to do with availability of vials. Thanks.

Purpleydog,

I live in San Rafael, California - just north of San Francisco.  The vials are generic.  If the pharmacist is lazy you can give them the NDC or RXNorm identifiers for the vials.  That's what they use when ordering from their suppliers.

The NDC number for the brand I have is 0143-9638-05. They may need to cross-reference it for the brands in their supplier catalog. 

You can get a list of all the NDCs for the vials at
Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or is a database where you can look them up. 

For my vials it shows you can search by NDC and use the number above.  If you search by non-propriety name "sumatriptan" you'll get 168 results and they include all the different manufacturers and forms.

The phamacist might ask for the RxNorm identifier, which is a bit different.  It's vendor agnostic and focuses on the molecule.  You can access the RXNorm database at:  Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or

I believe the RXCUI focuses on the molecule and form - for injectable sumatriptan is 313165 but you have to ask for the vials.  Here's a list of products but some are injectors and some are the vials:
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It's a little confusing, but the NDC is to track manufacturers and their products, whereas the RXNorm is more for prescribers and is useful for clinical data mining.  We're all on injectable sumatriptan (313165) but we may have different NDCs based on our brand.

I just read an article from AARP about warehouses for drug manufacturers getting ripped off and the drugs being sold to pharmacies, doctors, etc., for extremely cheap prices. There is also mention of drugs that may not have the active ingredient in them, or only a small amount. They are sold online too, with or without a script. Here's the link:

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I found this to be very informative. Let the buyer beware.

Nervely, while you may think my pharmacist is lazy, I can assure you they are not. As I mentioned above, I've spoken to my pharmacists, my insurance, and (I didn't say this) my old pharmacy regarding the sumatriptan vials. I've also spoken to my doctor, leaving my neuro next at my appt coming up. 

The pharmacies are aware of how to order drugs, as is my insurance.

Thanks for your hint on how to inject sumatriptan from vials. When I'm in the throes of a hit, however, I don't really care what size the needle is, nor do I care about the needleless auto-injector, as there is nothing worse than CH, pain-wise. It may be uncomfortable for a few seconds, but if I can get some semblance of relief, I can put up with it. It's better than me screaming into a towel with my ice pack for 30 to 40 minutes.

I used to have syringes pre-loaded so I didn't have to try to load one while getting hit. Since mine go from 0 to 60 in less than a minute, having my medication handy is paramount.

Hey Jon, good to hear about your volunteering. I'm considering that myself. You take care!


Add-on: even though the link I posted appears incomplete, it should take you where you need to go. Let me know if it doesn't, and I'll type it out completely. Thanks!

Nervely,

I live in Marin and have been cutting autopen doses. Much easier on my body.

Tried to PM you, but I needed a forum post to be allowed to send a PM. This is that post.