There are around 650 muscles in the human body! This is a lot of muscles. We may be able to name a few of them such as quadriceps and biceps. But unless we are a medical styudent there are muscles that we have not even heard the names of.
My muscles sometimes go into spasms like cramps and this is especially bad and immobolizing when the larger muscles are involved. One day I stood up but could not move for about 15 minutes due to pain in my buttocks. This has happened 3 times now. It was quite frightening the first time but now I understand what is happening, at least.
My muscles are in pain, even as I sit here on a comfortable lounge writing this. My wrists and forearms ache from typing and my legs are just in constant pain. I also get restless leg syndrome quite often where my legs are so irritated I cannot get to sleep. The best way I can describe it is that they feel electrified.
I am explaining all this because I have just heard about a medication used in Fibromyalgia for relaxing the muscles called Cyclobenzaprine. It's brand name is Flexeril and I don't understand why it has never been recommended to me by a doctor as it seems to cover these muscle symptoms. As a matter of fact I have never been prescribed any of the muscle relaxants:
- Cyclobenzaprine (Flexeril)
- Methocarbamol (Robaxin)
- Diazepam (Valium)
- Carisoprodol (Soma)
So on first investigation Cyclobenzaprine gets a good rap:
Cyclobenzaprine has also shown effectiveness in the treatment of fibromyalgia symptoms, with a report of 4.8 patients needing treatment for each (1) patient reporting pain reduction (but no change in fatigue or tender points). Conclusion: Cyclobenzaprine-treated patients were 3 times as likely to report overall improvement and to report moderate reductions in individual symptoms, particularly sleep. Treatment of fibromyalgia with cyclobenzaprine: A meta-analysisOn further investigation many people suffer side effects from Cyclobenzaprine which can range from headache and a tired feeling to dizziness, drowsiness, trouble concentrating, blurred vision, dry mouth or throat, altered sense of taste, nausea, upset stomach and constipation. In elderly patients it can cause confusion, delirium, and cognitive impairment according to the Duke Clinical Research Institute. (PDF)
I would love to hear from you if you have taken any of these muscle relaxants to help your muscle pain or for any other reasons.
I did not have any luck with this medication but found a different muscle relaxant that works for me called Zanaflex. It works similarly but is stronger at least for me. It is the ONLY thing that has been able to help me sleep! That alone is worth it!
ReplyDeleteMe too! And I have tried them all. Thanks for your input.
DeleteYes, zanaflex is fantastic! Much better than flexaril.
DeleteThanks for sharing your success with Zanaflex. i have started investigations into this medication and found it is a muscle relaxer to treat spasticity, it works temporarily relaxing muscle tone of the tense, rigid muscles. sounds interestin. i will discuss it with my GP
DeleteMy Dr explained Flexeril is addictive and with all I have going, I already take some highly addictive meds. I personal found Flex causes drowsiness and leaves me lethargic into the next day! I like Zanaflex but only as needed, not as maintenance. Just my 2 pennies...
ReplyDeleteIt's great to get your '2 pennies'. Addictiveness is a whole different ballgame. Glad you have a good doctor who explained this.
DeleteJust to say i use Zanaflex every 12 hours. It helps quite a bit. It doesnt stop the muscle spasms completely but it does help and it is not addictive. Zanaflex plus Elavil to sleep at night is great!
ReplyDeleteso many people with fibromyalgia have problems sleeping at night and it is good to hear that something has worked for you. Sleep is essential to healing.
DeleteI also use Flex. Can't say it or any other relaxer I've used helps. I've had more luck with the taking 800 mg of magnesium, just take some time to build up in your system.Good luck to all.
ReplyDeletetry magnesium maleate!!!! that gets rid of the cramping in legs, feet, hands fingers and toes. the regular magnesium without the maleate did nothing for me. I have been taking it for 8 months now and I tell every Dr I see to tell their other pts. about it and I tell people in my support groups because it really does help.
DeleteI have heard and read a lot about the magnesium going to give it a try after I see my fibromyalgia specialist tomorrow!! I do know that when I soak in Epsom salts with the Magnesium that I do feel quite relaxed and can go to sleep usually
DeleteYES! Magnesium is what is helping me and the best thing is it can't do any harm. I discovered I was actually deficient in it and apparently many people are. Not just people with fibromyalgia muscle pain.
DeleteI'm too afraid of any medication that causes fatigue. I just don't need more of that. Magnesium and Low Dose Naltrexone is helping me, about 70%.
DeleteI took it for neck problems and discovered if I only took 1/2 of one I got relief without side effects. If I took a whole one I ran the ris of waking up with my neck locked.
ReplyDeleteI have restless legs, Live in South Africa and take PEXOLA 025mg . Works excellent for legs.
ReplyDeleteI have resless legs also.I take Ropinirole.2mg Generic for Requip.I have to take around 4pm because it take so long to take effect before I go to bed..After I take it I get so sleepe for about 1 hrs..how Pexola work??
DeleteI was on lyrica forever did nothing for me. Went on Cymbalta which just kept causing me to pass out, once so bad I fell head first into the floor and needed 30 stitches. Now I'm on Vanaflaxine and it's really helped. Yes I'm still in pain and all but it's managable
DeleteOh, the long list of meds I am on for fibro. I have been on flexiril for over a year and until I stopped working I am now able to take it as directed, (twice a day) because it makes me super sleepy. I tried getting off most of my meds, and that did not work well. I was under the impression that they did not work well, and now I know that they do work.
ReplyDeleteI totally understand 100% what you are saying I've been on Flexeril for over 10 years I've had fibromyalgia for 30 years now went through all that craziness with doctors telling you it's all in your head and so many different meds, my Med protocol now is morphine 30 mg twice a day 15 mg Lortabs every 4 hours Cymbalta two different doses small dose for at night so that it don't keep me up and a large dose for morning so that it does keep me up! Crazy I know and I'm supposed to take 3 flexerils a day but I only take one at bedtime because it causes sleepiness and I'm always in the bed anyways.... I am also on Klonopin two heart medications Glimmer Pride and Insulin twice a day which that has only started in the last two years I was in bed a full year taking farxiga for my type 2 diabetes and thought it was the fibro keeping me down but come to find out I was highly allergic deathly allergic to farxiga and now I have an enlarged heart and fluid around my heart from it so that's why I have heart medicine. I also have to take Chlor trimeton for allergies an aspirin a day and I have to take stool softeners at night and I'm still very constipated from the morphine and Lortab 😢😢 I have been on most of this medicine for over 10 years I want to get off and get my green card and it's going to be a very hard and long process and I'm scared but I know that this man-made synthetic drugs are definitely harming my body more than the disease!!! So I hope I get my green card and I'm looking for all natural remedies but first I have to see what the fibromyalgia specialist found in the 45 blood work test he took I can't wait to find out tomorrow!!! But I completely understand everyone's issues with medicine it does wicked stuff to you God bless everyone!!!
DeleteI have used flexiril for years and get lots of relief from it. I take nightly so I can wake up and get out of bed when needed and I take as needed during the day. Sometimes, I experience drowsiness but not enough to affect my day.
ReplyDeleteIt actually works with the aid of utilizing remaining off nerve driving forces (or ache sensations) which can be despatched to your mind.However, within the equal cyclobenzaprine dosage high can not be considered as the first elegance of remedy. Is applied collectively with relaxation and physical answer for control skeletal muscle occasions, as an instance, torment or harm. cyclobenzaprine dosage high cyclobenzaprine 10 milligrams will likewise be utilized for purposes not ordered in this pharmaceutical guide.You need to now not utilize cyclobenzaprine high at the off threat which you have a thyroid pain, coronary heart rectangular, congestive coronary heart sadness, a heart musicality disorder, or you have got these days proven a few kindness assault.Do at no time in the future make use of #cyclobenzaprine if you have taken a MAO inhibitor within the previous 14 days. Cyclobenzaprine, the mainstream kingdom of the logo call capsules Flexeril and Amrix, side effects for cyclobenzaprine is a muscle relaxer that assuages throb and uneasiness coming about due to strains, sprains, and other muscle mischances.
ReplyDeleteThank you, but the translator that you are using is extremely confusing.
DeleteI take Flexeril too 5mg during the day and 10mg at night for a few years now. I recently tried to switch to something else, because you are really not suppose to be on this for an extended period of time. What a mistake, after almost a month I am back on it and of course it is not working as good this time, so i am just going to give it some more time and hope for the best.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes and thatnks for taking time to share here
DeleteI have had Fibromyalgia for over 20 years. I have tried pretty much everything out there. Flexeril did nothing for me. Soma was helpful for a few years but Zanafex has been the most help for muscle pain. It does make you drowsy but just take half and you should stay awake.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to you you! I hope everything works out okay! I know it’s very frustrating! Prayers!
ReplyDeleteThanks and good luck to you too!
DeleteI've had really good luck with zenaflex also. I switch off of it for a month or two every 18-24 months. Robaxin and flexeril worked too. Robaxin just not quite enough and flexeril knocked me out. Whatever works for you, go for it. I've gotten in some seriously tough discussions with my pain management team. They work with me...within limits and living in Ohio, the top opiate overdose capital of the US (so it seems). I hope you all find something that helps.
ReplyDeleteFor me the side effects of Flexeril were really bad. However I do get some relief with Soma (Carisoprodol) without any side effects. I have had Fibromyalgia for 10 years now and my best friend is my heating pad. Potassium is also good for leg cramps. Low Potassium can be found in blood work. Bananas are a good source of Potassium if you like them.
ReplyDeleteI've used cyclobenzaprine 5mg or 10 mg (depending on need) for more than 15 years, just before bedtime. It doesn't make me sleepy but relaxes my muscles and helps me sleep. Before I was prescribed it for an arm injury, I hadn't slept through the night in a decade. Now I do. I have fibromyalgia, etc. and cyclobenzaprine is one of just a couple of medicines that I've liked. I don't take it if I'm going to drive in the next eight hours. And I take it most nights, but not every night. If I've had a bad day with muscle pain, I can take two.
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear how you use cyclobenzaprine to help you sleep. So many people have this issue with fibro. Great to hear a success story especially after 10 years of not sleeping well.
DeleteI've had fibromyalgia for 23 years. The first med prescribed was flexerol. Been taking it for most of that time. I was originally prescribed 10 MG twice a day. The first day I took it I actually slept a good 10 hours for the first time in over 5 years. I felt sooo much better being able to sleep.. I have also tried going off all drugs except my thyroid meds but also found out the hard way that those meds DO help. For me, I can only take 5 MG at night and only if I have at least 9 - 11 hours until my alarm goes off. It's been a long time but I believe my doctor had told me it was not an addictive drug so I was surprised to read that some say it is addictive in other responses. I am very sensitive to many meds. I can't take most pain meds without vomiting for hours..
DeleteI have NOT found flexerol to be addictive at all and I consider myself a lightweight I have had no problems going off if it as long as I want to... at this point I have figured out how to balance my work life with managing my fibro. I take the flexerol on nights when I have enough time to sleep it off as it DOES cause extreme fatigue...but that is also why it is good...so I can get some much needed sleep. I have found that if I don't fall asleep soon enough, it will cause restless leg syndrome. For that I take a homeopathic drug called restful legs. On the nights I don't take flexeril I use Epsom salt bath or hot shower, heating pad and I use magnesium, calcium and melatonin... my other go to depending on my body is benadryl to help me sleep with less hangover. it will help me sleep more soundly. I do have to add that my 1st doctor told me to exercise. I thought he was nuts because if I over did it, I would be down and out for 2 to 4 days recovering. So he advised me to give him 8 weeks of trying that first. Dang if he wasn't right. Exercise is actually the very best thing you can do to help yourself. You just have to work your way up to it and never go beyond your limits. As of today, I only use flexerol about 3 - 4 times a month. The rest of the time I use the magnesium, calcium, and melatonin along with hot baths, heating pads and massage. You have to find your own balance through trial and error. This is a health issue that has to be managed.
Talking about sleep as well, it's very funny that last year 2021 I used to have chronic fatigue and would sleep up to 19hrs a day sometimes. Now I have chronic insomnia and can't sleep at all unless I take the following:
ReplyDelete2 lorezapam
2 seroquel
2 seroquel xr
2 stillborn
2 vanaflaxine
2 xanax
And those are just my night meds.
Have you ever heard of Plasma-Rich-Platelet Therapy(PRP)?
I've done it a bunch of times when my pain is at it's worst
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy uses injections of a concentration of a patient's own platelets to accelerate the healing of injured tendons, ligaments, muscles and joints. In this way, PRP injections use each individual patient's own healing system to improve musculoskeletal problems.
Hi
ReplyDeleteDon’t do the Flexiril…it tears up the rest of the body. I take Cymbalta, Lyrica, Tramadol, & Klonopin at night for the restless legs.
ReplyDelete