Ordering drugs from online pharmacies.
Branded triptan medications are extremely expensive with one pill of Relpax or Frova costing $30 – $40. Fortunately, Imitrex, Maxalt, Amerge, and Zomig tablets are available in a generic form. However, even the generic version of Amerge is $3 to $4 a pill, although generic Imitrex and Maxalt can be found for $2. Unfortunately, some patients respond only to Relpax, Frova or Zomig nasal spray, which insurance companies tend not to pay for. Other people need medications that are not available in the US, such as domperidone, an excellent drug for nausea or flunarizine, a calcium channel blocker for the preventive treatment of migraine (not such an excellent drug because of its side effects).
Some patients who need a branded product or one not available in the US buy drugs from online Canadian pharmacies. But how do you know if the pharmacy is legitimate? Some sites that claim being a Canadian pharmacy in fact are not Canadian and the drugs they sell are fakes. One way to find a legitimate Canadian pharmacy is to check if it is certified by the Canadian International Pharmacy Association. You can also check if the pharmacy is certified by the PharmacyChecker.com and is listed on their free website.
When buying locally, you can find a pharmacy with the cheapest price for a specific drug by going to GoodRx.com. But do not assume that if a pharmacy offers the lowest price on one drug, its prices on other drugs will also be the lowest.
Art credit: JulieMauskop.com
There are a lot of fake drug providers in the market now, especially its very easy to cheat through the internet. The best way is to check whether the pharmacy is the Canadian International Pharmacy Association certified as you have mentioned.
It worked. My wife’s weight is coming down very quickly. But I had to keep the Lexapro. Reducing that even by 5mg allowed the migraines to return. Also I had to increase the Zonegran to 500mg/day. But it is working with no headaches, no side effects of any kind and good weight loss. Bupropion is 300mg/day SR. 150mg morning and 150mg approximately 5.00pm. If she misses the 5.00pm tablet her appetite returns for the evening.
Dear Dr Mauskop
I have emailed this message to you; but I will also post it here, in case other ladies find my comments and hopefully your reply to be of assistance.
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Did you ever write that blog article on migraine treatment for ladies without weight gain?
My wife Alison has/had crippling migraines that were more or less 24/7. As soon as one ended the next began. Botox had no effect. Only unrestricted use of triptans brought my wife any relief. Beta blockers and other prophylactics did nothing to help. Unrestricted use of triptans did NOT cause medication overuse problems. I simply do not believe that myth, other than for codeine or caffeine.
Topomax helped but she still had two migraines per day. But that was a big improvement! We added Amitriptyline and the headaches stopped completely but the weight gain was awful and the other side effects were severe. I swapped the Amitriptyline for Venlafaxine and the side effects greatly improved but the weight kept increasing. I swapped the Venlafaxine for Lexapro and the weight increase slowed and other side effects disappeared completely. I swapped the Topomax for Zonegram and the weight neutralized and stopped increasing. It might even be drifting down very, very slowly. I’m now going to swap the Lexapro for Bupropion to see if the headaches will remain cured and the weight will come down faster. I will have to see if she needs the serotonin from the SSRI or if Bupropion will do the same work as Lexapro.
If I stop either the Zonegram or Lexapro Allison goes back into massive migraines. She gets migraines every time I switch the medication, but they go away after a few days.
Allison is currently on 20mg Lexapro daily and 400mg Zonegran daily. Migraines on this mix are zero. Side effects are zero. Weight gain is zero. I propose to try 300mg Bupropion (Wellbutrin,/Zyban) with the 400mg Zonegran daily to see if this will reduce the substantial weight that she has already gained. I will report back here with the success or failure of this experiment.
Please let me know if you have had any success with any other migraine prophylactics that are weight negative for ladies; in case this does not work out as hoped.