Triptan Nasal or Injection?

[Matthew Funk]

This forum is such a blessing and curse, as most of you know. A blessing to know there are other's who have been where I am, who can understand, give advice etc... and a curse because it breaks my heart to hear about other's suffering. Anyway, with that said, I'm trying to figure out a way to lessen the cost of my imitrex (sumatriptan) and wondering if anyone has ever taken apart the nasal spray and hacked it to be injectable. Please excuse my ignorance on this. I just got the cartridge injection form (here in Manitoba they can't get the vials) and will divide it up for smaller doses with the needles/syringes I procured. This will save cost for sure, but the nasal sprays are even cheaper and if the liquid therein could be used for injecting I would save even more. Anyway, just wondering if anyone knows anything about this or has tried it? Thanks so much.

 

 

[spiny]

Hi Matthew. I am not aware if anyone trying this. I highly suspect that there are different ingredients in the nasal vs the injection. So, I doubt that it would be a good thing to try!!!! You could spend some time on the Net to see what are the ingredients of each. They likely are rather different due to the method of administration at the very least.

Please, take care! 

What else are you doing for your CH? O2? Energy drinks? Are you Episodic? Have you tried the D3 Regimen?

ATB! 

[Nick198]

Hi guys, new here. Just after some advice on Sumatriptan. It says max daily dose is 200mg but I need to take 100mg per 6 hrs, meaning I'm double daily dose. Is this dangerous? To be honest, I'm still going to keep taking withrr way, was just wondering. 

[drewbie]

If you're taking that much sumatriptan, there's a possibility you'd be creating rebounds. But that's not definitive. Also, it seems you're taking tablets - how come you're not on injections or nasal spray? Tablets are generally considered somewhat useless for CH in that they take too long to work.

Finally, do you have oxygen as an alternative abortive? 

[drewbie]

With regard to whether it's safe/dangerous to overdose, I guess it's not recommended. However, I've read stories of people injecting sumatriptan more than ten times a day without it killing them. That said, I really don't think it's a good idea to consistently overdose.

[Pebblesthecorgi]

Nasal imitrex is buffered differently than sq injection.  I don't think its a good idea because it might cuse cell damage locally or not be absorbed.  This is a theoretical answer but dividing cartridge doses into 2 mg aliquots is a good alternative if vials not available.  It odd that vials arent available because Canadian pharmacies sell them to the US.

 

Imitrex overuse can cause chest tightness or stomach pain because of vasoconstriction.  Generally speaking younger folks (sub 55 or so) can tolerate more doses.  Using oral version isn't much help for acute pain of a cluster.  Rebound headaches seem to be dose and frequency related.  Oxygen properly used is your best friend for acute attacks 

[mit12]

Mathew,

My doc and I took apart a Zomig to see if there was a way to reduce the dose. The nasel spray is 5 mg. I tried it with a Q Tip with no success. I don't think I would risk injecting it. 

Edited July 4, 2021 by mit12

[mit12]

On 7/1/2021 at 3:32 AM, Nick198 said:

Hi guys, new here. Just after some advice on Sumatriptan. It says max daily dose is 200mg but I need to take 100mg per 6 hrs, meaning I'm double daily dose. Is this dangerous? To be honest, I'm still going to keep taking withrr way, was just wondering. 

I know that you can take 15mg of zomig nasal spray and still live. I had a killer hit one time and took the 3rd dose within 1 hour after the first one. It did abort the hit but I had rebound headaches that went on for well over a week. Looking back on it I don’t know if it was worth it. Desperate times can make you do desperate things. Kind of a weird thing, I found that if I snorted the spray rather than spraying it in like the direction said It was more effective. 

Edited July 4, 2021 by mit12

[jon019]

.....mit...i've always used the 5 mg zomig ns, but there is a 2.5 mg version......at least as seen online. never used more than one per hit/dy, but they worked nearly every time, and better all ways around than suma. also used very judiciously as i was petrified of rebounds, and the thought of my "last resort abort" causing MORE hits was too much to contemplate...

....interesting your methodology.....i found that a certain tilt back of the head, plug opposite nostril and with just the right amount of inhale (less than a snort) was ideal. not enough and it dripped out, too much and the awful flavor coated my throat.....neither effective....

....goes to show....we gotta find how our meager tools work for our specific case...it's beyond sad when folks only try one dosage for a med like verap,  or poor mask/technique/flow for O2, and give up because "it don't work for me".....when more likely it may just be that that way or that dose doesn't....keep trying.....

best

jonathan