AMERGE (NARATRIPTAN)

Amerge Description

Your doctor may prescribe Amerge or generic Naratriptan to treat your migraine headaches and enable you to carry on with your day instead of enduring the pain while sitting in a darkened room. Amerge is only prescribed to treat a migraine that is in progress; it will not prevent future migraines from occurring. Amerge can also benefit those who experience cluster headaches. These are more rare but more painful than migraines. The generic alternative is not manufactured by the company that makes the brand product.

What to Expect When You Take Amerge

One of the brain chemicals you have is called serotonin or 5HT (hydroxytryptamine). Serotonin attaches and binds to specific receptors located on various cells of your body including your brain which causes your blood vessels to widen. For regular headaches, this is what you want serotonin to do. For a migraine? No; you want the blood vessels to constrict so the pain messages have a difficult time getting through. This is how Amerge works as a 5HT1 agonist to bring you relief from the intense pain a migraine can cause.

Conditions Treated by Amerge

A migraine without aura is the more common form of migraine and has been associated with a woman’s menstrual cycle. These migraines appear to occur more often and can be more disabling than migraines with auras. There are no warnings that a migraine is imminent and they can last from 4 to 72 hours. The intense throbbing is usually only on one side of your head.

If you experience a migraine with aura, you will have a range of neurological disturbances about 20 to 60 minutes before the pain hits you. These can include seeing flashing lights, slurred speech, or pins and needles sensation on one side of your body that can spread from your fingers to your face. As with a migraine without aura, you will then experience the head ache, nausea, and sensitivity to light, smells, and noises.

Before You Take Amerge

Before taking Amerge, tell your doctor if you are pregnant, may become pregnant, or are breast feeding as it may be harmful to your unborn or nursing baby. Discuss other medical conditions or allergies you have with your doctor and provide a list of any prescription drugs or over the counter medications you take or use, including herbal remedies and dietary or vitamin supplements. Your doctor can then determine if Amerge is the right medication for you.

Precautions for Amerge

You should take Amerge the moment you feel the headache start. If taken too soon, the treatment may not be as effective or may not last as long for you. You should not take more than 2 doses in a 24 hour period. Do not drive or perform other tasks that may be unsafe until you know how your body will react to Amerge. Only take Amerge if you are certain that your head pain is due to a migraine. Taking migraine meds for regular headaches can cause worse headaches to occur.

Possible Side Effects of Amerge

• Dizziness
• Skin flushing
• Fatigue
• Nausea
• Numbness or tingling