migraine
"I am a long time sufferer of frequent (chronic) migraines, up to 15+ a month. I have used sumatriptan since it became available, both in pill form and self-injection. Yesterday I tried the new patch “Zecuity” for the first time (and likely the last). The actual cost per patch is about $300.00. The packaging is ridiculous: a box overnight delivered which was about two feet square with a weight of about 15 pounds. It contained a large, thick styrofoam container, six special, red “PureTemp Bricks”, designed to keep the drug at room temperature (it must be kept between 68 it 77 degrees Fahrenheit–NOT refrigerated), and a box of four patches. The patches themselves contain the medication, but also the “release/delivery” system which includes a computer chip, the red light to indicate activation and completion of medication delivery (four hours–then the light turns off and patch can be removed) and two lithium-manganese dioxide batteries (perchlorate material), which are considered TOXIC WASTE by the federal government and cannot be thrown away in the regular trash. Instructions say to contact your local authorities to inquire how to properly (and legally) dispose of the used patches. The above in and of itself should give most people pause as to whether this is all worth it. But, as anyone who is suffering from a migraine will tell you, the pain and other symptoms are so bad you feel like you’d try practically anything. So, hey, even though this is the same drug, maybe this fancy delivery system is the magic relief we have been searching for. Personally, sumatriptan lessons the duration and severity of my migraines but has never “relieved’ them. It may for some, but not for me. Other than the powerful narcotics I take for other chronic pain, it’s the only other thing that helps at all. Of course, there are strict limits on the number of times it can be used per month for safety reasons, so I can only use it for my worst migraines. The limit on the patches: no more than four per month. So, okay, I decide to give them a try. I followed all of the (somewhat detailed and involved) instructions and “activate it”, apply it, and push the “start” button and the little red light comes on. Within a few minutes, I start to feel a tingling, itchy, burning sensation, though not too bad and certainly not unbearable, or even anything as bad as the pain of the migraine. Within about five minutes, the gel (I assume the medication), starts to ooze out the sides of the patch, making a sticky mess and of course causing the adhesive of the patch to stop working and the thing starts to practically fall off. Okay, the directions say if there are problems with the patch staying in place to use medical tape. So I use medical tape. All around the entire patch I use medical tape. Five minutes later, even the medical tape starts to come loose due to the ozzing gel, so I apply even more tape, a lot of tape. I am also concerned that there is more medicine sticking to the tape than being absorbed into my body. I also only feel, very slightly, any effect of the sumatriptan. I felt a mild burning sensation the entire time the patch was on, as well as red, irritated, itchy, rashy skin upon removal. Oh yeah, and now what the heck do I do with this environmentally hazardous medical waste? Are most users really going to properly dispose of these things? As far a headache relief, obviously intramuscular injection is a quicker way of getting this drug into your body, to provide whatever amount of relief you are going to get from it as quickly as possible. Another consideration: my health insurance required Prior Approval to cover the patches, part of which was a statement from me and my doctor that the other forms of ingestion of sumatriptan (pill, self-injection, intranasal spray) were inadequate and that I required the patches. When I found that out, I refused and told my doctor to do the same. I had little faith that a 4-hour patch of the same drug would work better than a 5 second injection, and I did not want to give up my ability to keep receiving the injections. The drug company provided the one month free trial (four patches), so I agreed to try them. Several years ago, I remember how happy I was when Imetrix finally went generic and I was able to obtain sumatriptan much cheaper. It saved me (and my insurance company) a lot of money. I don’t really want to give that up either. So, I suppose that there are people who may find these patches amazing and effective, especially those who for whatever reason are unable or unwilling to use the self-injections. For me however, considering all of the factors above, I think I’ll stick with the injectable (pun intended), and sometimes the pills, as I don’t like to carry the auto-injections around in my purse (I already have to carry an epipen with me…). I wish the best to other migraine sufferers; perhaps the patches will give them the relief they seek. For me however, they are not the answer."