Does anyone use Imitrex for migraines

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Hi    I am a long time migraine sufferer (since I was 12)    Since going through withdrawal  I have had alot and use imitrex to treat them.. It works but I am not sure if it will prevent me from healing.  The symptoms I have have all occurred after stopping benzo.  Wil I heal and the tingling and tightness, anxiety go away

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I never had any problems with imitrex in the past.  Are these symptoms benzo withdrawal related.

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anyone    I am so afraid that if I cannot take Imitrex that I will not make it through withdrawal because I cannot tolerate the migraines and imitrex is the only thing that helps but I don't know if the withdrawal symptoms are caused by my imitrex use or benzo withdrawal.  Never had these symptoms before withdrawal        Can anyone reassure me.

 

[[Ch...]]

Pegasus,

I use Imitrex injections regularly for chronic migraine.

 

It is not a GABA-acting medicine: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imitrex#Pharmacokinetics

 

If you are taking an anti-depressant, your only concern should be with an interaction between Imitrex and SSRIs/MAOIs. You can use epocrates or another drug interaction checker to investigate this or talk to your pharmacist. The interaction is called seratonin syndrome, and although rare, is very serious, so you just need to be aware of it. You can also get it if you take natural supplements like 5-HTP, St. John's Wort, etc. in conjunction with Imitrex, although it is rare.

 

I have noticed no problems using Imitrex that correlate with my taper and w/d.

 

Sorry about your migraines. I have had them almost 24 years now.

 

Best,

CB

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Thank you SO MUCH CherryBlossom      Your reassurance is wonderful.  I hope your recovery is improving.  I am going through a very tough time right now and I guess, like everyone else, am starting to think something else is causing me to feel so bad. 

How often do you use imitrex.  I find that I need it almost every day  sometimes I will go up to five days headache free.  I really don't want to think that the imitrex is causing more problems.

 

Thank you again

[[Ch...]]

Hi Pegasus,

You should not use any type of ABORTIVE or RESCUE migraine medicine, be it Imitrex, OTC tylenol, Rx painkiller more than NINE days per month, because this will cause rebound headaches (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/rebound-headaches/DS00613).

 

If you are getting chronic daily headaches, look at this: http://www.sandianeurology.com/Chronic_Daily_Headaches.html and see if you can make modifications to your daily routine to see if you can help eliminate the headaches. Unfortunately, having to reduce the abortive and rescue meds to a strictly PRN basis, is part of this.

 

I take a daily preventative medicine (Topamax) as well as a muscle relaxant (Baclofen) and I also receive Botox injections 4 x per year. I also use Imitrex and Oxycodone sparingly, PRN.

 

I think from your signature, which I can't see when I go into reply mode, you were on K. K acts a muscle relaxant, I noticed that I got a lot more headaches when I tapered it, simply because I have a lot of my myofascial trigger points in my neck, head, and shoulders that get activated. The K was probably helping those. You may be noticing more muscle tension in the areas that trigger migraines. Getting some trigger point or myotherapy could really be beneficial. I made a post about that. I will have to find it and send it to you, on how to find a myotherapist.

 

Hang in there.

CB

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Thank you CherryBlossom

 

I have found that the only thing that helps for my headaches is imitrex.  If I did not use it than the headache would become very severe.  I had tried many preventative medications over the years without any success.  I also found that I could not pinpoint any food or weather triggers.  I have been using imitrex for many years without problems.  My withdrawal symptoms are very disturbing and have only occurred since stopping clonazepam and zopiclone.  Since I did not have these symptoms before benzos is it safe to assume that this is withdrawal and need to give it time to heal?

[[Ch...]]

Hi Pegasus,

Usually a lot of symptoms that you didn't have prior to w/d that pop up after w/d are probably w/d related.

 

If your headaches are getting worse, and severely impacting your life, I always err on the side of checking things out with a neurologist to make sure there isn't anything physical going on. I can't tell you what is w/d for you or not.

 

I have a lot of physical problems and some I know are w/d related and others I know or not. Some are made worse by w/d and some just showed up out of the blue b/c of w/d.

 

For me, because neuro symptoms have always been constant in my life, any worsening of them, I get checked out for my own piece of mind. Sure, it's probably w/d, but I'd rather know that then miss something.

 

But that matter is, your w/d symptoms will abate with time. The time is individual for all of us, but we do heal. You will heal too.

 

Best,

CB

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Thank you so much CherryBlossom

 

I find that my migraines during withdrawal are aggravated by the pressure in my head.  If the pressure would leave I am sure that my headaches would decrease.  Thank you for posting the web sites.  They are very helpful

 

I hope you recovery is going well and that you are feeling better

 

Thanks again