It seemed to be everything a migraine sufferer could want - fast relief with few side effects. Certainly for some people that was the case but for others Imitrex proved to be a curse rather that a cure. Side effects for them range from extreme discomfort to outright heart attacks. Vomiting, nausea, sensitivity to light and sound are also frequently indicated. Around 70 percent of sufferers are female and about 50 percent of people with migraines experience severe, debilitating pain that prevents them from performing everyday activities.
Attacks can last from several hours to several days.
Glaxo's press release said the drug was effective for up to 83 percent of patients, and its side effects were usually mild, self-limiting and short lived. Patients who took the tablets would begin to get relief within 30 minutes. Patients who used the auto-injector would get relief in 10 to 15 minutes. A patient's doctor told her that there were no side effects because that is what a representative from the drug company had told the doctor. So, even though she initially had trouble breathing and burning pain where she had injected the drug into herself, she continued to use it because it did relieve her migraine pain.