What special precautions should I follow?
Before taking Sumatriptan:
Tell your doctor if you suffer from epilepsy or other seizure disorder, or coronary artery disease (or risk factors that include diabetes, menopause, smoking, being overweight, having high blood pressure or high cholesterol, having a family history of coronary artery disease, being older than 40 and a man, or being a woman who has had a hysterectomy).
Sumatriptan can cause serious side effects on the heart, including heart attack or stroke. Tell your doctor if you have any history of heart or circulation problems. You may not be able to use sumatriptan.
You should not use sumatriptan if you have any of the following: heart disease; angina (chest pain); liver disease; blood circulation problems; ischemic bowel disease; history of a heart attack or stroke; high blood pressure; or a headache that is not like other headache you have had.
Moreover, do not use sumatriptan if you have taken a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) such as isocarboxazid (Marplan®), tranylcypromine (Parnate®), selegiline (Eldepryl®, Emsam®), or phenelzine (Nardil®) in the past 14 days.
Do not use sumatriptan within 24 hours after using any of the following medicines: ergot medicine such as methysergide (Sansert®), ergotamine (Ergostat®, Medihaler®, Cafergot®, Ercaf®, Wigraine®), or dihydroergotamine (D.H.E.®, Migranal Nasal Spray®); or almotriptan (Axert®), eletriptan (Relpax®), frovatriptan (Frova®), naratriptan (Amerge®), rizatriptan (Maxalt®, Maxalt-MLT®), or zolmitriptan (Zomig®).
You may not be able to use sumatriptan, or you may require a dosage adjustment or special monitoring during treatment, if you have any of the conditions listed above.
Sumatriptan is in FDA pregnancy category C. This means that this medication may be harmful to an unborn baby. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant during treatment. Additionally, your name may need to be listed on a sumatriptan pregnancy registry when you start using this medication.
Furthermore, sumatriptan can pass into breast milk and may harm a nursing baby. Do not use this medication without telling your doctor if you are breast-feeding a baby.
Why is this medication prescribed?
Dosage and using this medicine
What should I do if I forget a dose?
What side effects can this medication cause?
What storage conditions are needed for this medicine?
In case of an emergency/overdose