This worried me a little because I know many migraineurs (me included) have suffered from depression and taken an SSRI (Prozac) at the same time I was taking a triptan med (Imitrex). Please check your meds and talk with your doctor to make sure your meds are okay and that he/she isn't concerned about this warning request. I am doing more research on this right now and will post anything more that I learn.
One of my local news stations just aired a story about this, but their angle was that the combination of the two, in certain people who experience aura and visual disturbance during migraine, can increase incidence of heart disease. Now, that wouldn't be good. Something we need to make sure we know about in case our doctors don't.
F-D-A calls for warning about mixing migraine and depression drugs
WASHINGTON Health officials say mixing a certain class of migraine drugs with some antidepressants can put patients at risk of a life-threatening condition.
What's called serotonin syndrome can produce a long list of symptoms including hallucinations, fast heart beat, blood pressure changes, fever, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.Drug regulators say it can occur when migraine headache drugs called triptans are taken with antidepressants classified as S-S-R-I's and S-N-R-I's. The two together can dose the body with too much of the nervous system chemical serotonin.Some of the commonly prescribed antidepressants include Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil and Effexor. The migraine meds include Imitrex and Zomig.The F-D-A wants the makers of all the drugs involved to issue warnings about the potential hazards.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
AHA! I KNEW my tachycardia was somehow caused from almost daily use of triptans!!! ARGH!
Is this permenant? Just wondering because I only developed this rapid heartbeat after taking triptans all the time and so I stopped taking them years ago but I am on meds for the rest of my life now because of it. I didn't realize it was because of an interaction.
Posted by: thrasher | March 14, 2008 at 07:12 PM