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What side effects can this medication cause?
Stop using this medicine and check with your doctor immediately if any of the following side effects occur:
Chest pain (severe); changes in skin color on face; convulsions (seizures); fast
or irregular breathing; puffiness or swelling of eyelids, area around the eyes, face, or lips; shortness of breath, troubled breathing, or wheezing
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What is this medicine
Imitrex ( Sumatriptan ) is a headache medicine. It is believed to work by causing vasoconstriction (narrowing) of arteries and veins that supply blood to your head. Imitrex ( Sumatriptan ) tablets and
injections are used to treat vascular headaches such as migraine and cluster headaches. Imitrex ( Sumatriptan ) will not prevent migraines or cluster headaches or reduce the number of attacks. It wil
l only treat a migraine or cluster headache that is already occurring. Imitrex ( Sumatriptan ) may also be used for purposes other than those listed in this medication guide.
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Overdosage
Seek emergency medical attention. Symptoms of a Imitrex ( Sumatriptan ) overdose might include tremor, redness, or a warm feeling in your arms and legs, irregular breathing, large pupils; an uncoordin
ated feeling; and chest pain.
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Possible food and drug interactions when taking this medication
Tell your health care professional if you are taking any other prescription or nonprescription (over-the-counter [OTC]) medicine, especially other prescription medicine for migraine headaches, or if y
ou smoke tobacco.
When you are taking .Imitrex, it is especially important that your health care professional know if you are taking the following:
Monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitor
activity (isocarboxazid [e.g., Marplan], phenelzine [e.g., Nardil], procarbazine [e.g., Matulane], selegiline [e.g., Eldepryl], tranylcypromine [e.g., Parnate])¡XTaking .Imitrex while you are taking
r within 2 weeks of taking MAO inhibitors may cause sudden high body temperature, extremely high blood pressure and severe convulsions;
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What special precautions should I follow?
tell your doctor and pharmacist what prescription and nonprescription medications you are taking, especially fluoxetine (Prozac, Sarafem), fluvoxamine (Luvox), paroxetine (Paxil), sertraline (Zoloft),
and vitamins. If you have taken an MAO inhibitor [phenelzine (Nardil) or tranylcypromine (Parnate)] during the past 2 weeks, do not take sumatriptan. If you have taken another medication for migraine
headaches such as dihydroergotamine (D.H.E. 45, Migranal), methysergide (Sansert), naratriptan (Amerge), rizatriptan (Maxalt, Maxalt-MLT), or zolmitriptan (Zomig) during the past 24 hours, do not tak
e sumatriptan.
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How should this medicine be used?
Do not use .Imitrex for a headache that is different from your usual migraines . Instead, check with your doctor.
To relieve your migraine as soon as possible, use .Imitrex as soon as the hea
dache pain begins. Even if you get warning signals of a coming migraine (an aura), you should wait until the headache pain starts before using .Imitrex. Using .Imitrex during the aura probably will no
t prevent the headache from occurring. However, even if you do not use .Imitrex until your migraine has been present for several hours, the medicine will still work.
Lying down in a quiet, da
rk room for a while after you use this medicine may help relieve your migraine.
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