I first tried this in pill form several years ago, with mixed results. Sometimes it worked; sometimes it didn't. I was told by a friend that I needed to inject it in order to get the best results. At that point, I needed to wean myself off of the Vicodin I had been using for several years to deal with the pain, so I was agreeable. The first time I tried using it, I was hesitant about sticking a needle into myself; my vision was fuzzy with the migraine "aura", I kept thinking about that scene from "Coming Home" where Robert Carradine injects an air bubble into himself and dies, and I managed to persuade my friend, who lived downstairs from me at the time and was knowledgeable about Imitrex, to shoot me up on her sofa. I've suffered from migraines all my life, and I've tried a variety of medications over the years. The injectible Imitrex is the only thing that has really worked for me on a consistent basis. It stops the pain, and I'm able to function relatively well. Not that the picture is entirely rosy. It stops the pain, but it does make me feel "weird" and I don't mean "weird" in the wonderfully euphoric way that Vicodin used to. In other words, an injection of Imitrex will stop the intensity of your suffering, your nausea and other complications, but you're not going to be able to go out and run a marathon. Too, carrying around the "kit" to inject yourself can be cumbersome and potentially embarrassing (life-long diabetics are probably sneering at me and muttering, "Pansy"). I once was in upstate NY when an attack came on suddenly, as they always do. It was winter, I was in an area that I wasn't too familiar with, and I wasn't sure what to do. At that point, I thought I had to inject myself in my thigh (actually, I think you can inject yourself in any fleshy area). The only likely place was a cemetery. I drove to the back of it, pulled down my trousers, got my "works" together, and shot up. My thought at the time was, "If a cop drives in here now, I'm dead. I'm sitting here with my pants down and a needle sticking out of me. I'll be arrested for taking drugs, loitering, and indecent exposure, at the very least." Sometimes, a few hours after injecting myself, the headache will re-occur, and I'll have to inject myself again. Bottom line? It works for me, but my headaches seem to be lessening in intensity somewhat as I get older, and I haven't renewed my prescription in several years. I guess I'm just a lazy SOB, but it's too much of a hassle for me. When I get a migraine now, I take several aspirin and try to just tough it out.I wasn't aware, as Donovan mentions, that it was dangerous to take it more than a certain number of times a month, but I guess that makes sense. I'm actually thinking about asking my doctor whether they make it now as a nasal spray. If they do, that eliminates the more annoying aspects of injecting Imitrex, and certainly will be something I'll be investigating.

Imitrex is a Triptan drug. They constrict blood vessels in the brain and trigger changes in brain chemicals, inflammation, and reduce pain. Imitrex is the most effective drug I have used for migraines; the problem is over the long term they may be dangerous. You are only allowed 9 pills per month and when you get migraines as often as I do, you have to choose which days you want to feel good.