Maxalt
Maxalt tablets hold rizatriptan 5mg or 10mg, a triptan for treating a migraine attack already under way, sold in packs of 8 to 52.
All strengths and pack prices
| Strength | Pack | Price | Per tablet |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5mg | 8 tablets | $39.36 | $4.92 |
| 5mg | 12 tablets | $57.12 | $4.76 |
| 5mg | 20 tablets | $90.40 | $4.52 |
| 5mg | 28 tablets | $125.16 | $4.47 |
| 5mg | 36 tablets | $158.04 | $4.39 |
| 5mg | 52 tablets | $217.88 | $4.19 |
| 10mg | 8 tablets | $64.88 | $8.11 |
| 10mg | 12 tablets | $94.08 | $7.84 |
| 10mg | 20 tablets | $150.80 | $7.54 |
| 10mg | 28 tablets | $205.52 | $7.34 |
| 10mg | 36 tablets | $260.28 | $7.23 |
| 10mg | 52 tablets | $375.44 | $7.22 |
- Category
- Neurology
- Active ingredient
- Rizatriptan
- Route
- Oral
- Form
- Tablet, Orally disintegrating tablet
- Strengths
- 5/10mg
You will receive a quality generic equivalent, depending on stock.
Shipped in a discreet, unmarked envelope.
Details
- Conditions
- Migraine headache
- Therapeutic Class
- Triptan
- Pharmacological Class
- Serotonin receptor agonist
- Minor Side Effects
- Drowsiness, Tiredness
- Moderate Side Effects
- Dizziness, Tingling sensations
- Dosage Forms
- Tablet, Orally disintegrating tablet
- Administration Route
- Oral
- Originator
- Merck
- Onset Time
- 30 minutes
- Duration
- 24 hours
- Storage Instructions
- Store at room temperature in original packaging.
- Drug Interactions
- Sumatriptan, Antidepressants, Ergotamine
- Age Restrictions
- Not recommended for children under 18.
What you will receive
Maxalt is the originator brand name, made by Merck. We use it to identify the medicine; the pack you receive is a generic equivalent, not the original Maxalt.
- The same active ingredient (Rizatriptan) at the same strength.
- The exact brand supplied depends on what is in stock when your order ships.
FAQ
Which Maxalt strengths and pack sizes can I order?
You can order Maxalt 5mg and 10mg tablets. Both strengths come in packs of 8 to 52 tablets. It is generic rizatriptan, not the original Maxalt. Larger packs cost less per tablet.
What happens if my Maxalt parcel goes missing?
If your generic Maxalt parcel does not arrive within the delivery window or arrives damaged, it is sent again free. If that is not possible, the order is refunded. Orders can be cancelled within 24 hours if not yet dispatched.
Can I take Maxalt with paracetamol or ibuprofen?
Yes. They work on different pathways from rizatriptan, so there is no clash — a paracetamol or ibuprofen tablet can go alongside Maxalt, or be saved for when the worst has eased. Aspirin can be used in the same way.
How often is too often to take Maxalt?
Keep it to no more than 10 days out of any month. Beyond that, the brain adapts to the medicine and headaches start arriving more often while each tablet does less — medication-overuse headache. Attacks that frequent are usually managed with a preventive medicine instead.
Can I drink alcohol with Maxalt?
Alcohol and rizatriptan do not interact directly, but drinking during an attack deepens the dizziness and can set a migraine going in the first place — water is the better bet until the head clears.
Is 10mg Maxalt stronger than 5mg?
Both strengths are rizatriptan; 10mg simply delivers twice the amount. The higher strength may ease an attack more completely for some people, while drowsiness and dizziness are a little more likely at 10mg than at 5mg.
About Maxalt
What Maxalt is for
Maxalt holds rizatriptan, one of the triptans — medicines made for migraine attacks. A tension headache, a hangover or a fever headache will not shift, and taken daily it will not keep migraines away. Aura changes nothing: shimmering lights, blind spots or numb fingers before the pain make no difference to how it is used. Rizatriptan acts on what a migraine does in the head — swollen vessels and irritated nerve endings — so the pounding pain, the queasiness and the flinch from light and noise tend to lift together.
How to use a tablet
Take a Maxalt tablet as soon as the migraine starts to build; a strip kept in a bag or desk drawer makes that easy. Swallow it whole with a drink. If the pain eases and comes back two or more hours later, a second tablet is fine, up to two in a day. A first tablet that does nothing is rarely helped by a second. Used on more than ten days a month, it can cause medication-overuse headache and lose its effect. Maxalt is sold as 5mg and 10mg tablets.
What you may notice afterwards
Drowsiness and dizziness are the usual complaints, sometimes with a dry mouth or a washed-out feeling. A brief flush of warmth, or tightness across the chest and throat, passes on its own. Do not drive until you know how drowsy the tablet leaves you. A few things need help quickly: chest pain that will not let up, a racing or skipping heartbeat, sudden weakness or numbness down one side, slurred speech, or a spreading rash with a swollen face, lips or throat and trouble breathing.
Combinations to avoid
Serotonin-raising antidepressants such as sertraline, fluoxetine and venlafaxine add to rizatriptan's effects and have been linked to serotonin syndrome, which shows as agitation, shivering, sweating, fever, a fast pulse and stiff muscles. MAO-A inhibitor antidepressants (phenelzine, tranylcypromine, isocarboxazid) must be out of the system for two weeks beforehand. Any other triptan, sumatriptan and zolmitriptan included, and ergotamine-type migraine medicines, call for a gap of 24 hours either side of a Maxalt tablet.
When Maxalt is not the right choice
Skip it after a heart attack or angina, a stroke or a mini-stroke, or with uncontrolled blood pressure. Poor circulation in the fingers and toes — Raynaud's, where cold turns them white and numb — or in the gut, where ischaemic bowel disease brings cramping pain and bloody diarrhoea, rules it out too.
Sources
- Rizatriptan: MedlinePlus Drug Information — MedlinePlus / U.S. National Library of Medicine
- Rizatriptan (oral route) - Mayo Clinic — Mayo Clinic