Posted by pinksharkmark (64.32.124.225) on June 30, 2001 at 11:26:32:
In Reply to: Headaches,imitrex,smoking,pissed off posted by Mike R on June 30, 2001 at 02:50:23:
First of all, let me say that the spray, which so many others swear by, is almost useless in my case. Don't ask me why, since the pills and injector work EVERY time. I have no explanation why the spray is so ineffective. Doesn't make any sense, but there ya go.
I have had exactly one injection in my life... a very kind person gave me one as a birthday present. Since I have no medical insurance, I simply cannot afford to buy them. BUT... that one injection was nothing short of miraculous! I awoke in the grip of a level 9, jammed the needle into my thigh, plunged the plunger, waited about five minutes, and... POOF! Headache gone!
All the rest of my experience has been with the tablets, and I have taken HUNDREDS (probably thousands, by now) of them. I get mine in Canada, where they are sold as 100 mg tablets. I didn't even know they came in 50 mg tablets until I started visiting this board.
Here's what I do:
First of all, forget that crap they tell you about not crushing or chewing them. They come with a coating that takes time to dissolve and release the good stuff. Time is what you DON'T have. I take a razor blade and cut them in half, exposing the crumbly inner compound, then immediately swallow both halves with about a cup of water.
It is CRITICAL to get the pill into you at the VERY FIRST SIGN of an impending attack. I usually have about ten minutes between the first little twinge and the peak of the headache. If I take the pill RIGHT THEN, the pain never gets much past a level 3 or so, and is completely gone within about twenty or twenty-five minutes.
If I wake up with a headache, it is too late to stop the pain at the beginning. Even so, it usually takes no more than 45 minutes for the Imitrex to do its job.
As for exceeding the recommended dosage... well... I can only tell you that I have taken 4 of those 100mg pills a day for MONTHS at a stretch with no ill effects except to bankrupt me. I was told by a doctor that the reason those limits are there on the information paper is not because exceeding those limits will NECESSARILY do you harm, but because there have, as yet, been no CLINICALLY CONTROLLED TESTS with higher amounts. He said that it is entirely possible that doing 400 mg every day for the rest of your life may be harmless, but since this has not yet been proven, the drug company MUST list the limits for which it has data.
Try my method, try the injectors, try Zomig (a "newer generation" drug that is very similar to Imitrex) or try a small dose of psilocybin mushrooms or LSD. Unfortunately your disability benefits will not pay for the latter two.
pinky