wink     ; )

Imitrex Tip

Today was a three cluster day. Ugh. In an effort to conserve my few remaining Imitrex shots, I tried something new. Imitrex comes in an auto-injector just like insulin shots or epi-pens. Basically, I took the packaging of the Imitrex apart so that I had the bare needle. Then I injected it manually, but only used half of the Imitrex. This way I can get two doses out of every needle. (Right now Doc is reading this and shaking his head. Sorry Doc. Yeah, I know, I know just enough about medicine to be dangerous.) It worked. I only needed half a dose to abort the headache, and I have reduced chances of rebounds!

I was holding the needle just above my skin and for a long time, I couldn't bring myself to plunge it into my body. It's one thing when using the auto-injector--you can't see the needle. It's another when you are holding the bare needle. I finally mustered the courage to stick myself, and I couldn't feel the needle at all. That was pretty cool. The stinging didn't come until I actually started injecting the meds into my bloodstream, but since I wasn't injecting all of it, and I was able to do it slowly, it was much less painful than using the auto-injector.

I'm excited that this works! I can get a lot more mileage out of the few shots that my insurance will let me get. (Insurance only allows me to buy four shots every 30 days. Anyone in the midst of a clusted can go through four shots in less than a week. Grrrrr.) Now I don't have to be as worried about running out of meds all the time.