Posted by Anne on May 05, 1998 at 14:45:04:
My cluster afflicted partner has asked me to pass this on to the group in case it helps anyone - you may already know this, but it is possible to use part of an Imitex/imigran injection at a time and spread the dose (and the cost).
He often suffers multiple cluster atttacks a day - I've known him have six or more. He found he could extract the syringe from the packaging container in advance by twisting the syringe clockwise with narrow-nosed pliers. It's also possible to use a sharp stanley knife - make about 4 cuts down the plastic container, starting at the top and going as far down as possible. Then pull the resulting plastic strips down, rather like peeling a banana - this makes space to grip the syringe with the fingers and pull it out. Then he pulls the paper label down so he can see the level of Imitrex in the syringe. Then he can inject just part of the injection at a time using a makeshift plunger such as a matchstick, leaving some to inject the next time ... Sometimes he injects a half, and sometimes only a third at a time. Things to note about this are as follows:
1) The partial dose only works in proportion. Sometimes it's quite adequate for a mild attack, sometimes it isn't strong enough to clear a bad attack properly - but it's still better for him to be able to treat multiple attacks rather than face some attacks with nothing. (He hasn't found anything else that works for him - oxygen did not help.)
2) The needle gets blunter with each use (but nothing in comparison with the CH pain)
3) He uses a medicated swab to wipe the needle and injection site
4) Occasionally the glass at the very top of the syringe has broken when using the small-nosed pliers, but it never breaks in such a way as to release any of the Imitrex fluid, so no panic!
Sorry - some of you may have already seen this on another forum, but it may be worth repeating here, as this forum looks set to become the main one for CH sufferers. I have seen a number of people saying they don't think Imitrex would be useful to them because they get too many attacks in 24 hours, which would take them over the 2 injections in 24 hours limit - this might help them to be able to use the injections.