I had the misfortune of the family history catching up to me with heart attacks, at age 42 I had a heart attack and that ended my use of Imitrex that was the only thing that worked for my migraine headaches. I do not get any relief from codeine, vicodin nor any other normal pain pills that have been prescribed for me, I am on 300 mg of Topmax and am trying desipramine along with the regular medications that I take since my heart attack (no stents nor surgery). I really wish the drug companies would work on this issue since I've been told I can't take sumatriptans any more. I think I've tried just about everything out there: Relpax, Maxalt, Midrin with no luck, about the only thing I haven't tried is Botox but I don't think my insurance will cover that. The only thing I have left now is trips to the emergency room for the demerol shots to knock me out and trying chiropratic treatments as well. Any suggestions would be helpful! Thanks!
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Q: what other options for pain if you can't take imitrex any more?
Dawn,
When I was told not to take triptans because of a heart issue, my Migraine specialist prescribed a indomethacin and compazine for me to take when a Migraine hit. He said that combination was his frist and most successful choice for patients who couldn't take triptans and for whom Midrin doesn't work.
How frequent are your Migraines? Talk to your doctor about what you can use at home to keep you out of the ER. If your Migraines aren't too frequent, there are other options including oral demerol or even giving yourself injections at home.
If your doctor isn't able to help you, it may well be time to consult a Migraine and headache specialist. It's important to note that neurologists aren't necessarily Migraine and headache specialists. Take a look at the article Migraine and Headache Specialists - What's So Special? If you need help finding a Migraine specialist, check our listing of Patient Recommended Migraine and Headache Specialists.
The pharmaceutical companies ARE working on other abortive options. There's a new class of abortives in development now that may be safe for people in our situation. That's not going to be certain until more trials are done. The first drug in this class is in clinical trials now. You can read about it in New Migraine Abortive Telcagepant Performs Well In Trials.
I know you're in a tough situation. If you'd like some additional support, come join our discussion forum. You'll need to register again once there because it's a separate membership database, but you can use the same member name, email address, and password that you used here. You can find our forum at http://forums.healthcentral.com/discussion/migraine/forums.
Good luck,
Teri
I too can not take triptans. Stinks since everybody else raves about how wonderful they are. For me they are the fast track to a heart attack. My 2nd choice was DHE, which you can get as injectibles and it worked wonderfully. Unfortunately, for my I developed an allergic reaction to those over time also. But they did work great. Ergots area also a great drug for those that are not allergic.
I wish you luck!
Ergotamines such as DHE and Migranal Nasal Spray carry the same warnings and contraindications about stroke and heart attack as the triptans do.
Teri
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