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Welcome to the Sumavel Forum

Does anyone have any experience with Sumavel yet?

I did the needless Sumavel injections, after having been on the Imitrex injections for a year, and they worked a lot better. It’s the same medication (sumatriptan) but a different brand, and instead of a needle.. air breaks your skin to insert the medicine. I will tell you that they are more painful than the needle Imitrex injections… but to me, they worked SO much better. I have to stop taking them because they interact with a preventative I will be trying, and I am upset I have to stop them because they were successful for me. I suggest them. They are painful, but NOTHING compared to a migraine.. so I recommend trying them!

melissadwyer13, can you tell us a little about the very first time you tried it? Were you afraid of it at all? What did you tell yourself to get up the nerve to give the first “injection”?

I had previously been doing the Imitrex injections with the needles, so I suppose I wasn’t as afraid of the injection itself… I will say that I was extremely nervous because I didn’t know what to expect, all I knew is that it was needless, so I didn’t know how it would help. The first injection, and EVERY one after that… did take about 10 minutes of building myself up for it to be honest. My mom gives them to me, you are supposed to be able to do it yourself, and you could but I just can’t knowing it will hurt. But for about ten minutes before each one, she would go to do it, and I’d back away and tell her to stop. It does take a lot to get the nerve to do it, but finally I just remind myself that it won’t hurt anymore then the pain of my migraine! Hope that helps!

MelissaDwyer13, Thank you for your input. Hopefully there will be others that read your post and about your experiences and will be less intimidated or frightened about using it!

I hope so! It is a good medicine if you can get it! And my insurance was willing to pay for A LOT more a month than the Imitrex injections, so many might find that financially helpful! I wish I could still use them as a first resource!

I agree that this works very well, and is rather uncomfortable. Personally I would prefer it being a needle (it would be much more comfortable I am a dentist, so have plenty of experience with needles and they are not near as uncomfortable as this system). The cost is extremely high at per dose $101. I was very surprised my BlueCross paid for a 12 dose supply for a month. Greg

I have used the Sumavel several times. Although it feels like a wasp sting and works very well, I found that it made my chest hurt shortly after the injection. Therefore I stopped using the medication. I do have a few left just in case I need them. I will just have to watch the chest pain.

Heather, if you haven’t already, you should report the chest pain to your doctor. Please let us know what he or she says?

Teri

Update: I have used Sumavel 3 times now. It states you can apply it against your thigh, or the side of your abdomen. For me, anyway, the abdomen is considerably less uncomfortable. Also,although this is subcutaneous, it appears to work very quickly, as I get the initial jaw pain side effect (like I do with the Maxalt) very quickly. Greg

Just saw a post on another board agreeing that this is far less painful when injected into the side of the abdomen instead of the thigh. I have used this 8 times now.

The jaw and chest pain are typical triptan reactions. You are going to see this more with subcutaneous sumatriptan.

(This is of course assuming your doctor has cleared you from a cardio-cerebrovascular standpoint)

Hi, Dr. Yes, I am fine from a cardio standpoint. I am not worried about the jaw pain, (have only had the chest pain a couple of times), as it goes away relatively quickly.

I have had 5 injections in the past 5 weeks. I normally have a high tolerance for pain, but when I have a migraine, everything hurts. The Sumavel needless injections are definitely painful and I absolutely dread them. 45-60 seconds after the injection, my pain begins to intensify significantly and it feels like my head will explode (once the head pain starts, I forget about the sting at the injection site). The pain and pressure extends to every area of my head (even if I wasn’t experiencing pain there before) for about 15 minutes, and then it begins to subside. 60-90 minutes later, my migraine and its symptoms are gone 4 out of the 5 times I’ve taken it. PHEW. I’m starting back on my preventive meds tonight (topamax) since I’ve had 3 migraines this week and I’ve switched from oral contraceptives to the IUD, Mirena, in hopes of some relief from my hormonal migraines.