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Triptan of choice...

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Ruth
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Post  Cluelesskitty Mon 09 May 2011, 5:41 pm

When Imitrex first came out, it was widely prescribed for migraine
and even quite effective but as for me, it had an unpleasant side effect in form of heart flutters.
I thought every time I took it, or worse, got it as an subcutaneous injection, - I am getting a heart attack.

After a while I got used to it and the s/e subsided a bit, but still it was unpleasant.

So when Zomig came out, I jumped to try it - and liked it so much better as for some reason it didn't gave me
any s/e at all but was as affective as Imitrex if not more. But then I took it for so long, it wasn't
as effective anymore, or so I thought.

At present, my triptan of choice is Maxalt.

I tried also Amerge, Axert or Frova?, and Relpax.
Axert or Frova (it was long ago, oops) wasn't as effective as the others, Amerge and Relpax wasn't covered
-I don't know about Amerge, but Relpax still isn't - so Maxalt it is.

What triptan, if any, works best for you?

Risa
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Post  Guest Tue 10 May 2011, 5:24 am

Hi Risa,

I have had them all, but lasted longest on Maxalt.
Then Frova came out and it works better in that it lasts so much longer.
Maxalt was 12 hours tops. Frova lasts until I go to sleep.

P

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Post  Sara79 Tue 10 May 2011, 9:52 am

I have both Frova and cafergot (not a triptan). If the M feels like a tension/stress induced event, which on me start out at low pain levels, but can hang around at a 3 for days, I take Frova. It takes longer to kick in fully, but it has a half life of nearly 24 hours. If I'm having a more typical M, which for me will kick in hard and heavy, I take the cafergot, which doesn't last as long, but will kick in completely much quicker. My PCP is nice enough to realize I will get both, and the different meds work better on my different migraines. In the past I've tried Imitrex, relpax, midrin, IDK what all else, and for the types of M I get these two meds work best.

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Post  Ruth Tue 10 May 2011, 10:53 am

I like Maxalt the best, although I get a little concerned as it turns my lips a slight purple shade which scares me. I mentioned it to my doctor and all he said was 'oh, I never heard of that side effect before' !! Fortunately I rarely have to take it now.

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Post  Cluelesskitty Tue 10 May 2011, 3:32 pm

Sounds, or rather -looks a tad alarming indeed, Ruth,
but I think it if your dr is not worried, I wouldn't be, either.

Out of curiosity, I looked up what are the causes of lips turning blue, and the great wise man Google says
it's mostly due to the poor oxygenation.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080202194904AAuWMD4

which makes perfect sense, and I wouldn't worry a bit Ruth as triptans does shrink blood vessels in the brain - it's their job
apart from doing some thingamajig to the serotonin whatchamacallit, and naturally,
a shrunken b. vessels might not supply an ideal amount of blood to the body parts for a while.

Risa
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Post  Ruth Tue 10 May 2011, 8:17 pm

Thanks Risa, your post was a little encouraging as I always wondered if it was affecting my heart as I've heard some people with heart disease have purple lips.

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Post  Cluelesskitty Tue 10 May 2011, 11:09 pm

Yeah, I know what do you mean Ruth as I am myself always bit worried no matter what about the same thing.

Years ago I went to see dr G. Robinson at VGH in Vancouver and told him my fears about taking appxm
30-40 Zomig pills per day (back then I was taking Z)
and he reassured me it's quite safe. whew.

It doesn't mean everybody should run out and start popping triptans like candies, but they are not as dangerous
as previously thought they were.
It was a big unknown about triptans s/e when they first appeared on the market, now after 10 years or so
the data is much wider and more favorable.

Still, I hope you won't need them at all Ruth, as you won't have M at all!
fingers crossed!

Risa
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Post  Guest Wed 11 May 2011, 4:48 am

Yesterday I met someone of FB who takes two different Triptans together.
Her Neuro has her do this for years.

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Post  30yrsofheadache Wed 11 May 2011, 5:08 am

Amerge and Frova work best for me as most of mine are menstrual. Maxalt makes mine worse! How different we all are.
Hugs,
Cindy

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Post  lentils Wed 11 May 2011, 7:38 am

[
Years ago I went to see dr G. Robinson at VGH in Vancouver and told him my fears about taking appxm
30-40 Zomig pills per day (back then I was taking Z)
and he reassured me it's quite safe.
Risa[/quote]

I hope you meant 30-40 per month!

I started out taking injectable imitrex. Then took oral because the cost of injectables was too high in Australia. After that there was zomig, then maxalt. Maxalt stopped working quite early. I took most of the others as trial pills my friend and cousin gave me and none of them had any effect. So I am under the impression that triptans won't work, even with a 6 month break. All of the above was over a 10 year period.

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Post  johnfd Wed 11 May 2011, 1:28 pm

I have used Imigran (sumatriptan) then Naramig (naratriptan) then Relpax (elitriptan) all have worked equally well or badly for me. I've recently returned to Imigran as I'm using the injections for waking migraines where they are already established but it's having very limited effect.

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Post  Cluelesskitty Wed 11 May 2011, 7:14 pm

30-40 Zomig pills per day (back then I was taking Z)
and he reassured me it's quite safe.
Risa

I hope you meant 30-40 per month!

OMG!
I was talking gibberish yesterday all day, didn't even realize I was also WRITTING one!
Indeed, today I woke up whit a raging migraine at about 7AM. uugghh, it's still raging.

btw of course 30-40 per month, lolol - silly me!
Thanks for pointing that out, Lentils.

Pen:

Yesterday I met someone of FB who takes two different Triptans together

Could you please specify Pen what do you mean by "together"
as I am not sure if that means two at the same exact time (like, second) or two in the same day but different hours?

Because I too, sometimes take two different triptans in one day, without any adverse effects. (knock-knock-knock)
I just make sure I carefully read how they are supposed to be taken, and strictly follow the directions.

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Post  Ruth Wed 11 May 2011, 7:57 pm

I had to take a Maxalt today as I started to get a migraine, but it did help a lot! Haven't had to take one for ages.

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Post  Cluelesskitty Thu 12 May 2011, 2:16 am

I am so sorry Ruth - if that's any consolation, I am still battling my bad M today.
I wonder if the weather is at play, too - we had an ugly, rainy day which turned into drier night only recently.

One more thing about triptans I have to confess - on occasions, I took one pill over the daily limit as my M was so bad
I couldn't stand the pain anymore, and the daily allowed dose didn't help.
Nothing terrible happened, and it did finally help.

Of course I am NOT recommending it to anybody!

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Post  Ruth Thu 12 May 2011, 8:04 am

I don't blame you for taking extra meds. Risa, migraines are so miserable I think we'd do just about anything to get rid of the pain. I've often gone over the limit with pain meds.

Hope your head eases up for you Smile

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Post  Cluelesskitty Thu 12 May 2011, 5:25 pm

Thanks Ruth.

I don't know what triggered this one, but I had a helluva of an episode since yesterday, thru the night and all this morning,
an afternoon until about 3:00pm when it finally started to lessen.

I am doggone exhausted.

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Post  milo Thu 12 May 2011, 5:31 pm

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Post  Cluelesskitty Thu 12 May 2011, 5:38 pm

You, too, Milo?
I am so sorry!

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Post  milo Thu 12 May 2011, 6:57 pm

About the blue lips and cardiac issues. Your friend has this because the heart pumps the oxygen rich blood through the body, providing the O2 that your lungs have provided to your circulatory system.

If the heart is weak, as is likely your friends case, the heart is not able to pump hard enough to "push" the oxygen rich blood to every area of the body. When this happens, the body goes into a "reserve" mode, where the least important areas stop getting partial blood flow so that the more vital areas can still get the oxygen that they need. Your lips, though we think they are terribly vital, are one of the areas that can get cut off of partial blood supply when this is happening...same as fingers and toes etc.

As for triptans....I find them quite useless and with high side effects. My old stand-by is the caffeine-free compound of ergotamine. I can't take the nasal spray...get violently ill.

Sorry if I'm repeating myself....migraine-brain


Last edited by milo on Thu 12 May 2011, 7:01 pm; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : migraine-brain)
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