imitrex for migraine?

Imitrex is a headache abortive medication known as a triptan. They are generally regarded as some of the most effective medications to stop a migraine attack. While triptans are indeed used for tension type headaches they are extremely commonly used in migraine treatment.

One important thing to understand is the difference between a drug like Ibuprofen and a drug like Imitrex. Ibuprofen is an analgesic medication, meaning that it is used primarily to treat and reduce pain that you are already experiencing. Imitrex is different in that it is meant to be used to literally "abort" an oncoming headache. It is meant to be administered at the first sign of an attack and it works by preventing the attack itself (or hopefully stopping it from progressing once it's begun) as opposed to treating the symptoms (like pain) that present after the attack has already taken hold.

I would also caution you against leaping from ibuprofen to fioricet. Most good neurologists would never prescribe a drug as strong as fioricet without at least first going through more common migraine abortives like other triptans or ergotamines. Unfortunately it does sometimes come down to having to take a drug like fioricet when the less hard-hitting (and typically more effective) drugs don't work. But most migraine sufferers respond well and can frequently control their migraines with triptan medications.

It should also be noted that Imitrex and other triptans are FDA approved for the treatment of migraine headaches while fioricet is actually FDA approved for treating tension type headaches as well as "muscule contraction" headaches--and not for migraines, though it is commonly used for many types of headaches. Do yourself a favor though and make sure to try the safer medications first.

If you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask!

Ben

stronglady4me said...
The doctor gave me an Imitrex injection and it was a miracle. 15 minutes later I walked out of the office with absolutely no headache. I use the nasal spray today and it takes about 30 minutes to work but it is great.

I just wanted to let the original poster know that Imitrex is available as a pill, an orally disintegrating tablet, nasal spray and as an injection.

There are plenty of other triptan drugs to try if you don't find that you like Imitrex too. They all work in a similar way but many people have different reactions to each.

Cheers,
Ben

When I have a bad migraine if I were to take Ibuprofen you might as well just give me tick tacks! It does nothing to get rid of the pain.
The triptan drugs are designed to abort migraines. They truly are great medications! There are many different kinds. I take relpax because Imitrex does not work for me... the only thing that works for mom is Imitrex. So really it just depends on your body and what works. Try the imitrex and if it doesn't work then try another. If the Ibuprofen ends up working better at taking your pain away I would talk to my doctor about that. There are lots of treatment options out there!

Beware of Imitrex and all triptans.  They cause rebound migraines!!  The more you take it, the more migraine attacks you will have.  I'd had migraine headaches 10 years before Imitrex was introduced in the US.  I had an attack every 2 to 4 months; had to be treated with narcotics in ER.  When Imitrex became available I was thrilled; no more trips to ER.  Gradually the migraines increased in frequency until last month I was out of the country for 21 days.  I had 18 100mg tablets of Imitrex with me.  After 14 days I had none left; I'd had a constant migraine, and I had taken all of my Imitrex.  I was terrified.  Don't let your life revolve around Imitrex or other triptans, like I did.  And don't forget that the pharmaceutical companies pull in billions of dollars a year in profit from selling triptans.  Billions made off of our suffering.  Only now is there beginning to be literature available stating that triptans do, in fact, cause rebound headaches.

When I returned home I found a new neurologist.  He prescribed to me Nortriptyline.  It's a preventative treatment, taken every day.  So far I've had remarkable success with it, after having migraine headaches for 29 years, and nearly daily tension headaches for 25 years.  So far, I'm taking only 1/2 of the recommended dosage of Nortriptyline, increasing very slowly to avoid side effects.  I've required only 8 Imitrex, 100mg tablets, in the 25 days since I began taking Nortriptyline.  I've had almost no tension headaches. 

Good luck!

First, my advice to all would be to stick to your doctor's orders about the amount, strength and frequency of medications REGARDLESS of another's post.

Yes, Rebound headaches (aka medication overuse headaches) are very real...but please research this yourself and discuss it with your private doctor.

I love Imitrex!!  Someone earlier said ibuprofen was like taking tic-tacs and I can totally relate!  Nothing ever touched my migraine pain until I was prescribed Imitrex.  I was re-bounding like mad from OTC pain meds. to the point of having a headache everyday, but once I got the rx for Imitrex that stopped (so did me taking OTC meds for nearly everything-even a cold).  And when I was still having several headaches (more than 5) in a month, my nuerologist put me on Topomax as a profolactic with Imitrex for break-throughs....worked like a charm!!  I was even able to stop taking both for over two years and took excederin for any pain (which wasn't often), but was just recently put back on Imitrex because the severity and frequency of my migraines has picked up again (loads of stress and some other health issues going on now).  My MIL used to take Maxalt (sp?) for years which would put her to bed for a minimum of one day and never really relieved the pain or migraine, now she finally has an rx for Imitrex and it seems to be helping her (when she takes it the right way...at the onset, she tends to wait until it's bad and then takes her meds...).  Good luck!!

The moderators post is correct about listening to your doctor. I had assumed the maximum was 4 pills per week. My previous doctor, and my previous neurologist at a headache clinic always told me the max was 4 pills per week, but after searching just now, I can't find anything else on the internet that verifies that.

But I do know it can cause rebounds just like asprin, if you take too much. Which I'm sure is the reason why my previous doctors said that. Either that or they changed how its prescribed since then.