Cyclobenzaprine in the Treatment of Low Back Pain

Some skeletal muscle relaxants (e.g., carisoprodol) have sedative properties so people may attempt to misuse a drug like cyclobenzaprine thinking that it will have similar sedating effects. Check with your doctor right away if you have anxiety, restlessness, a fast heartbeat, fever, sweating, muscle spasms, twitching, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or see or hear things that are not there. These may be symptoms of a serious condition called serotonin syndrome. Your risk may be higher if you also take certain other medicines that affect serotonin levels in your body.

• Cyclobenzaprine (Flexeril) is structurally similar to TCAs and, as such, demonstrates significant anticholinergic side effects.
• Check with your doctor before taking any of the above while you are using this medicine.
• As management of overdose is complex and changing, it is recommended that the physician contact a poison control center for current information on treatment.
• A long-acting formulation of cyclobenzaprine has been introduced and is believed by some clinicians to have a lower side effect profile than the immediate-release formulation of this drug.
• During pregnancy, this medication should be used only when clearly needed.

It works by acting in the brain and nervous system to allow the muscles to relax. Although rare, deaths may occur from overdosage with FLEXERIL. Multiple drug ingestion (including alcohol) is common in deliberate cyclobenzaprine overdose. As management of overdose is complex and changing, it is recommended that the physician contact a poison control center for current information on treatment.

During pregnancy, this medication should be used only when clearly needed. Ell your doctor if your condition lasts after 2 to 3 weeks or if it gets worse. Cyclobenzaprine may also be used for purposes not listed in this medication guide. Safety and effectiveness of FLEXERIL in pediatric patients below 15 years of age have not been established.

Finding Treatment For Flexeril Addiction

This medicine will add to the effects of alcohol and other CNS depressants (medicines that slow down the nervous system, possibly causing drowsiness). Check with your doctor before taking any of the above while you are using this medicine. Another potential side effect of Flexeril is overdose if an individual takes too much of the drug.

Physostigmine is not recommended except to treat life-threatening symptoms that have been unresponsive to other therapies, and then only in close consultation with a poison control center. Pharmacologic similarities among the tricyclic drugs require that certain withdrawal symptoms be considered when FLEXERIL is administered, even though they have not been reported to occur with this drug. Abrupt cessation of treatment after prolonged administration rarely may produce nausea, headache, and malaise.

Always discuss possible side effects with a healthcare professional who knows your medical history. Cyclobenzaprine is a centrally acting skeletal muscle relaxant structurally related to tricyclic antidepressants. Cyclobenzaprine is a tricyclic amine salt that works in the central nervous system (CNS) as a depressant that reduces muscle hyperactivity. Clinical indications for cyclobenzaprine are described below.

Medical Professionals

Elderly patients seem to tolerate cyclobenzaprine less and may develop hallucinations as well as significant anticholinergic side effects, such as sedation. The use of significant lower dosing schedules in elderly patients may be prudent. The most common adverse reactions to cyclobenzaprine are somnolence, dry mucous membranes, dizziness, and confusion. Less commonly, tachycardia, dysarthria, disorientation, and hallucinations have been reported [2].

Although Flexeril doesn’t produce a euphoric high like many other drugs, people still misuse it due to its relaxing effects; many will increase dosages to amplify those effects. A Flexeril overdose can cause severe health problems such as cardiac arrest, dangerously low blood pressure, and seizures. Central nervous system depression, seizures, heart attack, and even death can occur. Cyclobenzaprine is a centrally acting skeletal muscle relaxant structurally related to tricyclic antidepr[7]essants.

Using Muscle Relaxants in Chronic Pain – Medscape

Using Muscle Relaxants in Chronic Pain.

Posted: Fri, 27 Apr 2012 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. When you are taking this medicine, it is especially important that your healthcare professional know if you are taking any of the medicines listed below. The following interactions have been selected on the basis of their potential significance and are not necessarily all-inclusive. Cyclobenzaprine is used with rest, physical therapy, and other measures to relax muscles and relieve pain and discomfort caused by strains, sprains, and other muscle injuries. Cyclobenzaprine is in a class of medications called skeletal muscle relaxants.

Protect the patient’s airway, establish an intravenous line and initiate gastric decontamination. Observation with cardiac monitoring and observation for signs of CNS or respiratory depression, hypotension, cardiac dysrhythmias and/or conduction blocks, and seizures ld50 flexeril is necessary. If signs of toxicity occur at any time during this period, extended monitoring is required. Monitoring of plasma drug levels should not guide management of the patient. Dialysis is probably of no value because of low plasma concentrations of the drug.