Some of the side effects include rebound headache, vasoconstriction of the coronary arteries and nausea and vomiting. They are dangerous to use in the presence of MAO inhibitor drugs, but can be used with the tricyclic antidepressents. They should never be used in pregnant women because they may cause termination of the pregnancy. Often doctors will add a beta blocker to this to be taken daily. Calcium channel blockers like verapamil are commonly prescribed, however there is no clear evidence that they help.
Some patients require occasional low dose narcotics.
To this mix of medications, we may add anti-seizure medications such as Neurontin or Depokate, dopamine inhibitors and the triptans. Sumatriptan is available as a nasal spray, subcutaneously and as an oral tablet. After the first dose of sumatriptan, one third of patients will have a return of headache after an initial response. The Imitrex may be repeated one time safely. Overdosing with this drug will cause nausea, vomiting and vasoconstriction which leads to rebound headache.