Sumatriptan for Cluster Headaches User Reviews (Page 2)

• Momkid
• June 27, 2016

"Had these headaches since I was 11. In my 20's did every test scan etc... No explanation. Only help offered was a highly addictive narcotic. I chose to skip it. My life was severely affected- I had headaches when happy, sad, having fun, pms, special occasion, etc.... Everyone knew my headaches were 3+ days of barely functioning. Then my daughter started getting them- game changer for me. Could not let her suffer the same way. Dr prescribed Imitrex (generic). It works for both of us!! We feel like we can live without fear of the next one. She is out of the country for 6 weeks- without this she never could have gone! Our lives are totally different now!"

• Desty
• Taken for 10 years or more
• November 7, 2023

Imitrex (sumatriptan) "I discovered Imitrex about 13 years ago (35 YO now) by accident as my doctor could not diagnose my headache and classified it as a migraine. I was born in an EU country with a population of 1.2 million. Cluster headaches are rare, and I assume my doctor had never even heard of it. I have headaches once per year lasting 2-4 weeks with 2 episodes per day. It's not the worst, but the pain is so severe that I have cut my finger multiple times to shift the pain from the eye. During this period, anything can trigger it! Imitrex 50mg works exactly as others have described; it takes 30-60 minutes. I am writing this review to add something: for me, this drug also works to prevent clusters from forming. Alcohol is a big trigger, as most know. If I take the pill an hour before having a cocktail, I will not develop a headache. Just FYI for others with cluster headaches! Oh, and I have had zero side effects. The price of a 4-pack (50mg) in Spain is 7 EUR."

• Dan...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 19, 2015

"Sumatriptan is a life changer. I've suffered from cluster headaches for 24 years having one at least once a week and NOTHING has ever come close to helping. Now I haven't had one in 3 months. I take a pill when I feel a cluster headache coming which successfully aborts it. Even hours into a full blown attack I took a pill and relieved 95% of the pain. Another great thing? My insurance covers it 100%. Even better: it is only $16 for 9 pills (you can break them in half and have 18) without insurance."

• Zonie
• March 31, 2008

Imitrex Statdose (sumatriptan) "These injections are a God send for Clusterers. The ONLY drawback that I experienced was the expense which forbids me from using them on a regular basis...but the tablets are a good substitute... just takes much longer to work. The injections work almost instantly.."

• clust...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• January 8, 2018

"I have chronic cluster headaches. The injections are the only medicine that will abort an attack. I have used the injections with no side effects for over 10 years. I get the vials and inject 2-3 ml. I have overused this medicine at times knowing it can cause rebounds, but the pain of a cluster headache is so severe, I will do anything to make it stop. I have no history of heart disease and am relatively healthy otherwise. This medicine has saved my life."

• tinaw...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• November 14, 2015

Imitrex Statdose (sumatriptan) "Had clusters 37 years now. I've tried literally EVERYTHING out there. The only thing that works for immediate relief is imitrex injections. If med takes too long (nasal or pill), it simply doesn't work. Gabapentin (sp) regime should be started immediately, they eventually stop the nerve from spasms. Imitrex is now available generic (sumatriptan), however, still expensive. I pay $75/shot only available as a two-pack."

• Tracy
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• January 7, 2021

"I have been having cluster headaches for 15 years now. I was just diagnosed 5 years ago, so for the first 10 I was told, "Oh, its just migraines", and was given multiple different medicines to prevent migraine, which obviously didn't help. So now I'm finally taking Verapamil 3 times a day. Every 2 years or so, my clusters come back, and usually only last about a month, I am currently in my episodal period, and has lasted over 2 months now. I take Sumatriptan for when I get a Cluster, but insurance only pays for 9 pills a month. And they work, but 9 a month does not work, because anyone with cluster's, know that you could have 5 or 6 a day."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 17, 2019

Sumavel DosePro (sumatriptan) "These Sumavel shots are amazing. Whenever I wake up with a cluster headache, I take one of these and within 5 minutes, the headache is completely gone. The injections site swells, and is sore for a while, but I'll take that over the headache any day. My neck and shoulder on the side of the cluster pain end up feeling exhausted after I take it, like I've just been working out, but since the headaches typically wake me up, feeling exhausted helps me get back to sleep pretty quickly. My insurance only covered so many shots, so the last box of 6 shots were out of pocket at $100 a piece."

• Angela...
• February 8, 2013

"This is the first time I have used Sumatriptan , it was Arrow-Sumatriptan injection. I immediately felt a slight pressure in my chest and a pushing in my temples and the base of my skull and felt tired and weak. There was a tingling sensation in my nose and my throat was ultra sensitive. It is an hour since I injected and my cluster headache has eased but not gone away yet. My eye has stopped streaming and nose not running so fast and I look slightly more human. I had hoped for better than this but it is an improvement."

• dr_da...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• March 12, 2015

"I can make the injections last by using only 1/3 a vial per cluster attack. I take the vial out of the auto injector and use a q-tip to press in the amount. After this I wait exactly 9 minutes and the headache is gone. I had a very hard time getting enough injections from my insurance to cover all the cluster headaches I was getting and this method helped me handle 3x more than I could before! I do feel my headache pain jumping from a 3 -> 10 immediately after injection. Taking the 100mg tablets does not cause this increase in pain, but the wait is about 25-30 mins for relief. Sometimes I can tell which headaches to use either the injection or pill for."

• tk7643
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• September 8, 2020

"I told my primary care physician of headaches I was having. Not especially severe but very persistent and not responding well to otc meds. It would often require several otc doses over two to three days to obtain relief. He gave me some Relpax samples and I took one at the onset of the next headache. I had relief in about thirty minutes. I was extremely pleased and continued use of the Relpax for perhaps two years until my insurer refused to cover that med any longer due to cost. My primary care prescribed sumatriptan as a replacement. It was equally effective, usually providing relief in as little as fifteen minutes. I used sumatriptan for perhaps three more years, then my headaches simply stopped - completely. Have not had a headache requiring medication in the last six years. Can't explain it, but I'll take it. I never experienced noticeable side effects with either medication. Am currently (sept 2020) 71 year old male."

• Scarl...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 1, 2016

Imitrex (sumatriptan) "Well I was having really bad cluster headaches, I took an imitrex for the first time. With in 15 mins I was projectile vomiting and having bad stomach cramps. The taste stayed in my mouth for hours. My headache has went down some but it was still there."

• Jake
• May 1, 2017

"This is a comment about my own use, this stuff is a joke because the box only comes with 6 single shot nasal sprays, meanwhile during a cluster period I'll get from 3 to 6 excruciatingly painful Cluster headaches in a 24 hour period. Box will cure Basically 6 headaches, which lasts no more than 3 or 4 days during cluster period and that's while trying to conserve. The problem is most insurance will only pay for 1 box per month which leaves me missing work and banging my head against the wall for the other 25-27 days of the month. I don't know who made this medicine and why they would market it for clusters knowing that when people are in a cluster attack period get up to 6 or 7 "Suicide Headaches" per day. Terrible overall medicine."

• GK - ...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• March 26, 2015

"I have been a cluster headache suffer for 25 years.....My Dad suffers as well....I remember him sitting in a chair day after day, night after night with no real relief. I never could understand or know how intense the attacks were until I started with mine...lucky my dad was prescribed Imitrex in the 90's at the beginning of mine... his words and mine are that this drug is a god send for us suffers.......My issue is now my insurance company will only approve 2 boxes of shots (4) per month. So my only way is to stock pile these 2 boxes every month until my next attack....well I'm out and now I wiil use coupons or any other way to purchase these on my own to try to save $ ...Sad UHC will not approve the number of shots needed for each episode"

• Bobo
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• September 26, 2020

"I have to take sumatriptan for my cluster headache but wish I didn’t, the side effects are horrendous. I have to take it in bed otherwise I’d never be strong enough to get into bed. As soon as I take the injection I start having chest pains and pounding on my chest then I get complete weakness of legs and arms and start feeling tightness of my hands. I feel like I will throw up and go all sweaty, the only thing I can do is try to sleep straight away so I sleep through the symptoms while people keep checking on me. The thing is with all these horrendous side effects it’s still a million times worth it to stop the pain of a cluster headache! So have to take them. Just be very careful and make sure someone is with you when you take them, if the symptoms are too bad go straight to the doctors or a & e."

• heada...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 9, 2016

"I first experienced cluster headaches at age 18 in the spring, several times a day for about a month, just suffered through with OTC pain meds which did nothing. Finally got to see a neurologist in my 30s who was awesome, diagnosed as classic cluster headache, got on verapamil prophilaxis (80mg x3/day) which I take when "shadows" start coming, also oxygen (10-12L/min) for aborting attack. This has been working but if start oxygen too late then attack progresses. I tried sumatriptan injection for the first time when oxygen failed and attack was in full swing, tried sumatryptan injection (6mg s.c.)...amazing, all symptoms were gone within 10minutes!! I will keep trying the oxygen, but will definitely use sumatryptan as back-up!"

• Hines...
• September 3, 2018

"I started experiencing severe gut wrenching migraines out of no where, Jan 2 2018. As if a catastrophic storm had arrived in my head. 9 months later; still here. No infections or inflammation. But where after pulling myself off of steroids, advil became my new friend. After 30 min..alleviated. All I had to do was hold on. Neurologists here I come. I was given 2 choices, in which was Indomethacin and Sumatriptan 50mg tablets (9). As much as my headaches agonize I am scared of the side affects to be frank. Stroke, heart attack and/or symptoms. I ended up taking the indomethacin. It is 2 to 3 steps higher than advil but less riskier. I reach for the Sumatriptan box but at the last minute I pull away. Here's to something else coming along my path that won't give me such horrendous side effects. Until then it's the indomethacin and my friend advil."

• Brady
• January 29, 2016

"I've suffer from cluster migraine on and off for 10 years. They last about 1-3 hours everyday for 30-40 day and this happens usually once sometimes twice a year. When they first started doctors really didn't tell me much they about then 5 years ago I seen a new doctor he prescribe me Sumatriptan nasal spray it get rid of them in 10-20 min. I can not say enough good things about this drug it's really helped he get on with everyday life"

• Beila
• Taken for 10 years or more
• May 19, 2017

"My experience with generic imitrex has been bad. It sometimes works, sort of, but a day or so after, I have debilitating muscle aches. It took me a while to make the association, but once I switched back to the real medication, that problem went away."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 10 years or more
• July 22, 2022

Imitrex (sumatriptan) "Suffered for years from cluster h/a. Tried many meds no help. Till 10 years ago they tried Imitrex inj. 6 mg. 20 minutes after injection 6 mg my headaches was completely gone. I still have cluster h/a. I have never taken a injection of Imitrex that my h/a doesn’t go away sometimes in 10-15 minutes. Take as soon as u feel h/a. However doesn’t prevent them. I am happy happy after years of living in a migraine nightmare. Hope it works for u also."

• mikey...
• April 15, 2012

"I've had clusters for as long as I can remember ... but they've gotten worse as I've gotten older. First doc prescribed Frova which didn't help at all, but the most recent doctor I've seen prescribed sumatriptan. I can't believe how quickly this worked. My headaches usually lasted 3 hours even after taking 3-4 Aleve. Sumatriptan has knocked them out in 15 minutes. I feel a bit jittery after, and have extreme taste sensitivity for a few hours, but it's well worth it. This medicine is a miracle."

• Bart
• Taken for 10 years or more
• June 10, 2022

"This medication is like a miracle drug for me. The pain of a full blown headache can be excruciating (my mind wants to escape my head but has nowhere to go), but if I can take a dose (50mg) within 5-10 minutes of onset, the pain will subside within 10 minutes, and be almost gone within half an hour. Results are not so rapid or complete if there is a delay in taking it. I shudder to think of having to endure a full headache without it. Fortunately, I only have to use it for a couple of weeks every couple of years."

• Clust...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• April 12, 2022

"The scientists and doctors behind this need some recognition, saved my life, 3 clusters a day for a month before I got this and I was ready for ending it all but now I have my injections life is good, stick it in your leg and 10 mins later no cluster, if only you could see the smile on my face, love it, love i,t love it!!!!!!"

• matth...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• June 22, 2021

Imitrex (sumatriptan) "I’ve been having cluster headaches for about 5 years! I take the pill form of imitrex I sometimes have to take two of them! The first one seems to take the edge off but after two hours I end up taking another one which eventually gets rid of the awful pain in the eye!! I wish they would work quicker and better but at least it helps!! I have chronic cluster headaches so when there’s a short lived period of no headaches I’m relieved! I’m not tried the other forms of Imitrex but I might mention it to my doctor!"

• Marti...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 9, 2015

"I was recently prescribed Imigran, the European version of Imitrex for Acute Cluster Headache, in the injection form pretty much life changing. I'd previously tried Oral Sumatriptan for Cluster Headaches but that just did not seem effective and once a full blown attack had started the pill did not seem to abort the headache. Injectable Sumatriptan though has proved to be a totally different thing and even when the pain is at its peak, once injected its probably 10 minutes maximum before the headache is gone, totally gone. I've suffered from Cluster Headaches for many years and only wish I'd tried this sooner, for me, it has been just brilliant. Having used it several times now have not had any side effects whatsoever, fantastic."