How supplied: 25mg, 50mg, 100mg tablets, 5mg and 20mg nasal spray for adults, 10mg nasal spray for ages 11-17 (available in the UK at this time), StatDOSE Pen injector, and single-dose vials for injection.
Precautions:
Sumatriptan is generally not prescribed under these conditions:
- presence or risk factors for coronary artery disease
- uncontrolled hypertension
- basilar or hemiplegic Migraines
- Do NOT take Imitrex within 24 hours of taking any other triptan unless specifically told to do so by your doctor.
- Do NOT take Imitrex within 24 hours of taking any ergotamine medication such as DHE or Migranal.
Pregnancy and Breastfeeding:
- FDA pregnancy category C. This means that it is not known whether this drug will harm an unborn baby. Do not take this medication without first talking to your doctor if you are pregnant or could become pregnant during treatment.
- It is not known whether this medication passes into breast milk. Do not take without talking to your doctor if you are breast-feeding a baby.
Other medical conditions:
The presence of other medical problems may affect the use of sumatriptan. Make sure you tell your doctor if you have any other medical problems, especially those listed below. Heart or blood vessel disease and high blood pressure sometimes do not cause any symptoms, so some people do not know that they have these problems. Before deciding whether you should use sumatriptan, your doctor may need to do some tests to make sure that you do not have any of these conditions.
- angina, heart or blood vessel disease
- fast or irregular heart beat
- uncontrolled high blood pressure
- kidney disease
- liver disease
- stroke (history of)--The chance of side effects may be increased.
- basilar or hemiplegic Migraine
Other medications:
Be sure to tell your doctor if you are taking any other prescription or over-the-counter medications, especially other prescription medicine for Migraine or depression.
- Do not take sumatriptan if you have taken a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) such as isocarboxazid (Marplan), tranylcypromine (Parnate), or phenelzine (Nardil) within the last 14 days. The combination could cause seizures, nausea, vomiting, sweating, flushing, and dizziness.
- Do not take sumatriptan if you have taken any of the following medicines within the previous 24 hours:
- ergot-based medications such as methysergide (Sansert), ergotamine (Ergostat), dihydroergotamine (D.H.E., Migranal Nasal Spray), and ergotamine combination products (Cafergot, Ercaf, Wigraine, Cafatine, Cafatine-PB, Cafetrate).
- another triptan such as rizatriptan (Maxalt, Maxalt-MLT), naratriptan (Amerge), zolmitriptan (Zomig), almotriptan (Axert), frovatriptan (Frova), or eletriptan (Relpax).
Potential side effects:
- Stop using this medicine and check with your doctor immediately if any of the following side effects occur:
- an allergic reaction (difficulty breathing; closing of your throat; swelling of your lips, tongue, or face; or hives)
- severe or prolonged chest pain or an irregular heartbeat
- changes in skin color on face
- Check with your doctor right away if any of the following side effects continue for more than 1 hour. Even if they go away in less than 1 hour, check with your doctor before using any more sumatriptan if any of the following side effects occur:
- chest pain (mild)
- heaviness, tightness, or pressure in chest and/or neck
- difficulty in swallowing
- pounding heartbeat
- rash, hives, itching, or bumps on skin
- Some of the following effects, such as nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, dizziness, and general feeling of illness or tiredness, often occur during or after a migraine, even when sumatriptan has not been used. However, check with your doctor if any of the following side effects continue or are bothersome:
- Burning, discharge, pain, and/or soreness in the nose
- burning, pain, or redness at place of injection
- change in sense of taste
- discomfort in jaw, mouth, tongue, throat, nose, or sinuses
- dizziness
- drowsiness; feeling of burning, warmth, heat, numbness, tightness, or tingling; feeling cold, "strange,'' or weak
- flushing
- lightheadedness
- muscle aches, cramps, or stiffness
- nausea or vomiting
- anxiety
- general feeling of illness or tiredness
- vision changes
Brand Names:
- U.S.: Imitrex
- Canada: Imitrex
- U.K.: Imigran
- Australia: Imigran
More Information:
- New Migraine Abortive for Adolescents
- Sumatriptan (Imitrex) Safe During Pregnancy?
- FDA-approved prescribing info, tablets (Requires free Adobe Acrobat Reader)
- FDA-approved prescribing info, injections (Requires free Adobe Acrobat Reader)
- FDA-approved prescribing info, nasal spray (Requires free Adobe Acrobat Reader)
