Muscle Relaxers: How They Work, Common Types, Side-Effects, Abuse

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Muscle Relaxers: How They Work, Common Types, Side-Effects, Abuse

There is insufficient evidence to suggest that one skeletal muscle relaxant is better than the others. It is important to note that while muscle relaxers may provide some pain relief, they do not eliminate the underlying cause of the pain. Some muscle relaxers can cause drowsiness, dizziness, and blurred vision, so it is vital to take caution. Additionally, it is essential to follow your doctor’s instructions when taking these medications and to be aware of any potential side effects. Get the facts about prescription muscle relaxers before you use them.

Overdose symptoms may include severe drowsiness, vomiting, fast heartbeats, tremors, agitation, or hallucinations. Follow all directions on your prescription label and read all medication guides or instruction sheets. Some medicines can interact with cyclobenzaprine and cause a serious condition called serotonin syndrome. Ask your doctor before making any changes in how or when you take your medications.

  • Muscle relaxants are ideally prescribed for acute rather than chronic pain.
  • In case of urgent pain relief without getting a prescription, OTC muscle relaxers can be a drug of choice.
  • Our team does their best for our readers to help them stay informed about vital healthcare decisions.
  • FLEXERIL may enhance the effects of alcohol, barbiturates, and other CNS depressants.

Muscle relaxers are not a class of drugs—meaning they do not all have the same chemical structure or work the same way in the brain. Rather, the term muscle relaxer is used to describe a group of drugs that act as central nervous system depressants and have sedative and musculoskeletal relaxant properties. Almost all cases of addiction and abuse are due to the drug carisoprodol (Soma), which is considered a schedule IV controlled substance. That’s because when the drug breaks down in your body, it produces a substance called meprobamate that acts like a tranquilizer.

What do muscle relaxers do?

These drugs can help with conditions that cause spasms, such as cerebral palsy or multiple sclerosis (MS), as well as spinal cord injuries. This will depend on your individual needs, as some types can form a dependence. Always discuss the benefits and risks of a muscle relaxer with your prescribing doctor and be sure to follow any instructions with care. Muscle spasticity is caused by injury to parts of the brain or spinal cord involved with movement.

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These medications make it hard to think and function normally, even if you take a low dose, so combining them with alcohol can increase your risk of an accident. There are risks involved in taking prescription or OTC muscle relaxers. Consult a doctor or pharmacist first and follow the instructions closely.

Off-Label Drugs

Muscle relaxers should not be paired with alcohol or other medications that can lead to drowsiness such as antihistamines or sedatives. You should consultwith your FAA Regional Flight Surgeon or designated Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) to determine if your condition or treatment precludes flying. You can find contact information for your Regional Flight Surgeon or your AME  on our website. Pilot performance is affected by both the underlying medical condition(s) and medication (s); we must consider both in individual cases. In light of these findings, therapy with FLEXERIL in the elderly should be initiated with a 5 mg dose and titrated slowly upward.

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While there aren’t any OTC muscle relaxers, some over-the-counter medications may help treat back pain, spasms, and other conditions that muscle relaxers also help. The overall incidence of adverse reactions among patients in the surveillance program was less than the incidence in the controlled clinical studies. Chiropractic care, another form of manual therapy, aligns the spine through spinal manipulation. It demonstrates similar therapeutic effects to physical therapy for neck pain (26).

Compare Over-the-Counter Muscle Pain Relief

There are six muscle relaxants approved to treat back or neck aches, headaches, and other conditions that are due to painful muscle spasms. A few are available in combination with aspirin, codeine, and/or caffeine. If you’ve ever had a back or neck muscle spasm, you know it can be exceptionally painful, and even debilitating.

Its analgesic effect has been confirmed by some studies, including by a study published in The Pharmaceutical Society of Japan. In fact, the researchers concluded that antihistamines provide better pain relief than NSAIDs when used for temporomandibular disorders (TMD), osteoporosis, and osteoarthritis. But some medications is baclofen or flexeril stronger have the same effects of relieving muscle pain. Perhaps the best over-the-counter muscle relaxers, as they are the most commonly recommended over the counter muscle relaxers, are ibuprofen and naproxen. Depending on the severity of your muscle pain, your doctor may also recommend a topical muscle-relaxing cream.

The combination of magnesium carbonate, valerian root, and passiflora is available in Formula 303 Muscle Relaxant. Formula 303 Muscle Relaxant is deemed to provide a natural blend for relieving tension. If you are considering using kratom or have to take a drug test for work, sports, or another reason, you might wonder if kratom can be found in drug tests.