Sumavel DosePro Injection: Uses, Dosage, Side Effects, Precautions and Alternates

Quick overview

Sumavel DosePro Injection contains sumatriptan and belongs to the serotonin 5-HT-receptor agonist and antimigraine drug class. It is a needle-free injection used to treat acute migraine and cluster headache attacks in adults, delivering medicine under the skin using a burst of pressurized gas. It works by narrowing blood vessels around the brain and blocking the release of pain-causing substances. It carries warnings about serious heart, circulation, and allergic reaction risks.

What is Sumavel DosePro Injection

Sumavel DosePro is a needle-free injection medicine used to treat migraine headaches and cluster headaches in adults. It delivers sumatriptan under the skin without a needle, using a burst of pressurized gas.

Sumavel DosePro Injection uses

• Acute migraine with or without aura in adults.
• Cluster headache attacks in adults.
• Sudden migraine headache episodes.
• Migraine accompanied by nausea or light sensitivity.
• Acute headache attacks diagnosed as migraine or cluster headache.

Benefits of Sumavel DosePro Injection

• Helps relieve acute migraine attacks.
• Helps reduce migraine headache pain.
• May relieve nausea associated with migraine.
• Helps reduce sensitivity to light and sound during migraine.
• Provides rapid medicine delivery without a needle.

How Sumavel DosePro Injection works

Sumavel DosePro contains sumatriptan, which attaches to specific serotonin receptors on blood vessels and nerves in the brain. This causes the blood vessels around the brain to narrow and blocks the release of substances that cause pain and inflammation, which helps relieve migraine and cluster headache symptoms.

Sumavel DosePro Injection dosage

Use this medicine only after a doctor has clearly diagnosed migraine or cluster headache. Use the injection as soon as headache symptoms start, but it can be given at any time during an attack. Give the injection only to the abdomen (stomach area) or the thigh — do not use the arm or any other body part. Do not inject within 2 inches of the belly button, and change the injection site with each use. Do not inject into scars or moles, or through clothing.

Do not use the device if the tip is tilted or broken off when you take it out of the packaging. If you get no relief after the first dose, talk to your doctor before using a second dose for the same attack. A second dose may be used only if there was some relief from the first dose, and only at least 1 hour after the first dose. This device is for a single use only — throw it away after one injection.

Certain people may need to receive their first dose in a doctor's office or medical setting. A healthcare provider should teach you how to use the device before you try it yourself. This medicine is not approved for people younger than 18 years old. Older adults should generally start with caution, as they may have reduced liver, kidney, or heart function.

Available forms and strengths

• Injection

Side effects of Sumavel DosePro Injection

Common

• Pain, redness, swelling, bruising, or bleeding at the injection site
• Flushing (warmth, redness, or tingling)
• Numbness, prickling, or heat sensations
• Weakness, drowsiness, or feeling tired
• Dizziness or spinning sensation
• Mild headache (not a migraine)
• Pressure or heavy feeling in any part of the body
• Discomfort in the nose or throat
• Muscle pain
• Neck pain or stiffness

Serious

• Heart attack or other serious heart problems
• Stroke
• Seizures
• Serotonin syndrome
• Severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis)
• Significant rise in blood pressure
• Problems with blood circulation to the legs and feet (peripheral vascular ischemia)
• Stomach and intestinal blood flow problems (gastrointestinal/colonic ischemia) with stomach pain and bloody diarrhea
• Changes in color or sensation in fingers and toes (Raynaud's syndrome)
• Medication overuse headache

Warnings and precautions

This medicine can cause serious heart problems, including heart attacks, which can lead to death. These can happen even in people without known heart disease. Do not use this medicine if you have heart disease, uncontrolled high blood pressure, a history of stroke or mini-stroke, a heart rhythm disorder called Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, or severe liver disease.

Do not use this medicine within 24 hours of taking an ergotamine-type medicine (such as dihydroergotamine or methysergide) or another triptan medicine, since this can cause dangerous additive effects on blood vessels. Do not use this medicine if you have taken a monoamine oxidase (MAO-A) inhibitor in the last 2 weeks, as this can significantly increase the amount of drug in your body.

A rare but serious condition called serotonin syndrome can occur, especially when this medicine is combined with certain antidepressants (SSRIs or SNRIs). Symptoms include mental changes, fast heartbeat, high body temperature, and muscle problems. Serious allergic reactions, including life-threatening or fatal reactions, have happened in people using this medicine.

Seizures have occurred in people using this medicine, including some who had never had a seizure before. Using too many doses of migraine medicine can actually cause more headaches, known as medication overuse headache. This medicine is not approved for treating hemiplegic migraine (which causes temporary paralysis on one side of the body) or basilar migraine.

Sumavel DosePro should only be used during pregnancy if the possible benefit is worth the possible risk to the baby. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or planning to become pregnant.

Sumatriptan passes into breast milk. Talk to your doctor before using this medicine if you are breastfeeding; infant exposure can be reduced by avoiding breastfeeding for 12 hours after a dose.

The effects of kidney problems on how this medicine is processed by the body have not been studied. This medicine is not recommended for people with severe liver problems, since its effects have not been studied in this group.

This medicine can cause dizziness, weakness, or drowsiness. Do not drive a car, use machinery, or do anything that requires you to be alert if you have these symptoms.

Storage

• Store at 68°F to 77°F (20°C to 25°C), with brief excursions allowed between 59°F to 86°F (15°C to 30°C)
• Do not freeze
• Protect from light
• Keep Sumavel DosePro and all medicines out of the reach of children

When to see a doctor

• Get emergency help right away for signs of a heart attack, such as chest, throat, neck, or jaw discomfort, pain spreading to the arms or back, shortness of breath, cold sweats, nausea, or lightheadedness.
• Get medical help right away for signs of a stroke, such as sudden weakness or numbness (especially on one side of the body), sudden severe headache, or trouble speaking or seeing.
• Call your doctor right away if you notice symptoms of serotonin syndrome, such as hallucinations, agitation, fast heartbeat, high body temperature, muscle stiffness, or trouble walking.
• Get medical help right away if you have sudden or severe stomach pain, bloody diarrhea, or other signs of reduced blood flow to the intestines.
• Seek help if you notice signs of poor circulation in your legs or feet, such as cramping, heaviness, numbness, burning pain, or color changes.
• Get emergency help for signs of a severe allergic reaction, such as hives, swelling of the face, lips, tongue, or throat, or trouble breathing.
• If you think you have used too much of this medicine, seek emergency medical attention or contact a poison control center right away.

Alternatives

• Relpax (Eletriptan)
• Zomig (Zolmitriptan)
• Imitrex (Sumatriptan)