Brand Names

How to Use

Do not use sumatriptan for a headache that is various from your usual migraines . Instead, check with your family doctor.

To relieve your migraine as soon as possible, use sumatriptan as soon as the headache pain begins. Even if you get warning signals of a coming migraine - an aura, you must wait until the headache pain starts before using sumatriptan. Using sumatriptan during the aura probably will not prevent the headache from occurring. However, even if you do not use sumatriptan until your migraine has been present for few hours, the drug will still work.

Lying down in a quiet, dark room for a while after you use this drug may help relieve your migraine.

If you are not much better in 1 or 2 hours after an injection of sumatriptan, or in 2 to 4 hours after a tablet is taken, do not use any more of this drug for the same migraine . A migraine that is not relieved by the first dose of sumatriptan probably will not be relieved by a second dose, either. Ask your family doctor ahead of time about other drug to be taken if sumatriptan does not work. After taking the other drug, check with your family doctor as soon as possible. Headaches that are not relieved by sumatriptan are sometimes causing by conditions that need other treat. However, even if sumatriptan does not relieve one migraine, it may still relieve the next one.

If you feel much better after a dose of sumatriptan, but your headache comes back or gets worse after a while, you may use more sumatriptan. However, use this drug only as directed by your family doctor. Do not use more of it and do not use it more often, than directed . Using too much sumatriptan may increase the risk of side effects.

Your family doctor may direct you to take another drug to help prevent headaches. It is important that you follow your family doctor's directions, even if your headaches continue to occur . Headache-preventing medication may take few weeks to start working. Even after they do start working, your headaches may not go away completely. However, your headaches must occur less often and they must be less severe and easier to relieve. This can reduce the amount of sumatriptan or pain relievers that you need. If you do not notice any improvement after few weeks of headache-preventing treat, check with your family doctor.

For diseaseds taking sumatriptan tablets :

• Sumatriptan tablets are to be swallowed whole with a full glass of water Do not break, crush, or chew the tablets before swallowing them .

For diseaseds using sumatriptan injection :

• This drug comes with patient directions Read them carefully before using the drug and check with your health care professional if you have any questions.
• Your health care professional will teach you how to inject yourself with the drug Be sure to follow the directions carefully. Check with your health care professional if you have any problems using the drug .
• After you have finished injecting the drug, be sure to follow the precautions in the patient directions about safely discarding the empty cartridge and the needle. Always return the empty cartridge and needle to their container before discarding them. Do not throw away the autoinjector unit, because refills are available.

• This drug comes with patient directions Read them carefully before using the drug and check with your health care professional if you have any questions.

Dosage

• For nasal dosage form - nasal solution:
  • For migraine headaches:
    • Adults 5 milligrams - mg or 10 mg - 1 or 2 sprays into each nostril or 20 mg - 1 spray into one nostril. If pain is not relieved, another spray - 5 mg, 10 mg, or 20 mg must not be using for the same migraine attack. Another spray - 5 mg, 10 mg, or 20 mg may be using for a migraine that occurs at a later time as long as it has been at least two hours since the last spray. Do not use more than 40 mg in a twenty-four-hour period - one day .
    • Children Use and dose must be determined by your family doctor.
• For oral dosage form - tablets:
  • For migraine headaches:
    • Adults 25, 50 or 100 mg as a single dose. If you get some relief, or if the migraine comes back after being relieved, another dose may be taken two hours after the last dose Do not take more than 200 mg in any twenty-four-hour period . If you are taking the tablets after using an injection, you may take single doses up to 100 mg a day with two hours between doses. Do not take more than 200 mg in a twenty-four-hour period.
    • Children Use and dose must be determined by your family doctor.
• For parenteral dosage form - injection:
  • For migraine or cluster headaches:
    • Adults One 6-mg injection. One more 6-mg dose may be injected, if necessary, if the migraine comes back after being relieved. However, the second injection must not be given any sooner than one hour after the first one Do not use more than two 6-mg injections in a twenty-four-hour period - one day . However, some people may be directed to use no more than two 6-mg doses in a forty-eight-hour period - two days.
    • Children Use and dose must be determined by your family doctor.

Storage To store this drug:

• Keep out of the reach of children since overdose is especially dangerous in child.
• Store away from heat and direct light.
• Do not store tablets in the bathroom, near the kitchen sink, or in other damp places. Heat or moisture may cause the drug to break down.
• Keep the injection and nasal solution forms of sumatriptan from freezing.
• Do not keep outdated drug or drug no longer needed. Be sure that any discarded drug is out of the reach of children.