Answers (4)
neferteri113 Feb 2012
I have been on Soma for over 8 years and my memory is great. However, I am now tapering off of it and the withdrawals are very bad. Now, coming off of it, I am having some brain freezes but they don't last long. How long have you been on it or intend to be on it? I did not know it was addictive when it was prescribed for me years ago... I never took more than recommended, etc. If you are getting off of it, it can affect your memory. If you are not on it, don't start unless you plan to be on it the rest of your life. Hope this helps you!
DzooBaby13 Feb 2012
Soma can cause memory loss in some people. It can cause drowsiness, dizziness, vertigo, difficulty with balance, agitation, irritability, headache, depressive reactions, insomnia, fainting, fast heart rate, facial flushing, nausea, vomiting, hiccups, itching rash, and confusion in some too.You should avoid alcohol and other CNS dperessants while taking Soma, also some cold meds will make the drowsiness more pronounced. Drowsiness usually gets better after you are on it for a while.
madhatter...14 Feb 2012
Hello: I am also one of the lucky ones who has never had a problem with Soma--and I have been taking the same dose since 2006. I tried a lot of pain meds, and nothing worked--it was like eating candy...
Soma has been a life saver for me. It was prescribed by a Sports Med doctor for my extreme chronic neck and shoulder pain, which is supposedly caused by cervical stenosis. I take it only at bed time, as it LETS me sleep--not MAKES me sleep, and I wake up clear headed--something that the regular sleep meds never did (plus, they would not work after a couple of weeks, without upping the dose!).
You do have to be careful if you take them during the day--until you get used to them, as they can make you drowsy, etc.
I think Soma is a godsend, as it is the ONLY med that has ever worked for my pain.
pugmax
14 Feb 2012
madhatterbash, Thank you for answering my question on Soma. I also have had good luck with it controlling my pain. I use it as a break through med, I also have a morphine pump in my spine. It drips all the time but when we try to go out , be a little active the pain gets out of control. That is why my doctor put me on Soma.
He explained all of the side affects and possible addition . Also that it is hard to come off of . My only real complaint is it has given me a terrible hunger problem. Have gained fifty lbs since i went on it. I also take as directed, I at times possible do not take enough as prescribed, my injury is a back injury. It is over twenty years old, so my pain path is already set and cannot be undone. I am very up on all of my meds because I was told it is "forever". So I need to be able to take what ever the doctors prescribe for me as instruction. It is helping me but just concerns me about coming off it.
madhattersbash
14 Feb 2012
Hi: I have always found that many of the 'old timers' here are the best at answering questions you may have. This is the only sight I am active on right now, as I really don't have much 'spare' time to read emails...
There is another site called Patients Like Me that you could try--but I haven't asked any questions on it yet, so really can't tell you much about it.
Have you joined the individual Groups on this site that pertain to your problems and issues?
Yes, I'd like to keep in touch also--- just know that sometimes I am not able to be online for a couple of days at a time--- so please don't take it personally.
Again, best wishes to you,
Mary, the madhatter.
neferteri1
Mary63200914 Feb 2012
Pugmas, I would like to answer your question about the groups etc... Join the group on pain, backpain, muslcespasm, muscle, muscle pain, muscle twitching, nerves,sciatica, degenerative joint disease, & drug dependance. These groups have a lot of people just like yourself, & are a wealth of info about what helps or doesn't for your problem.I too have this type of back pain from a failed back surgery. I joined this stie a little over a year ago, & not only found lots of info, but also a lot of friends. When you try to answer a question of someone else, you are given the option of joining that group pretaining to what the qestion was about. You need to go back to your profile & add the support groups to your profile. If you ask another question, it will ask if you are wanting a direct answer, which only allows 1 response from each person or a conversation which is the better choice because others can answer more than once & make comments too.
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Thank you for taking the time to let me know about Soma. I have been on it for several years now. My doctor told me it could become hard to come off of. It does help with controlling my pain. But I have been having some memory fog at times. Also I have gained several lbs. while on it. As soon as I began it I was starving. No matter what I ate I was still hungry. I want to get this extra weight off of me so I thought I'd get off Soma and possible try other med.
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I have metal rods in my back to fuse my spine, they were supposed to come out after three years. While to make a long story short that did not happen. The doctor left the area and no other doctor will touch me, they say it's too dangerous. Due to that I have nerves trapped in back that causes me terrible constant pain. So when I was put on Soma, doctor said it could be addictive. As time went on he became concerned for some reason that I was using it daily. So that is why I have decided to go off them and try to find a safer muscle relaxer.
It's really sad when we are given meds but not all of the information, I am from the medical field. Now I am experiencing what other patients had told me over the years. It is sad the situations we are put into just to get out of pain.
Thank you so very much for answering my question. I hope you have done well getting off them. Love to keep in contact with you if that is possible. pugmax68
I ALWAYS look up each and every medication that is given to me or my family so that I know exactly what I am taking and what it could do. Try not to be too scared of side effects because some people never have any but be aware that they are possible. There are many drugs that can cause dependency. Soma is one that can cause dependency.
I also want to add that I was on Soma for years then changed Drs who told me he never writes for Soma for any of his patients because it is too addictive (but yet he DID write for OxyContin-hello??? ) anyway, I went along with it and let him change me to Tizanidine (which knocked me out and it is a rare drug that knocks me out! I've taken sleeping pills that didnt make me sleepy! Hard core ones like Seconal and Halcion) It was nice to get the sleep but I could only take it at night where with the Soma, I could take that in the day if I needed to because it didnt make me so sleepy. I never had any withdrawals coming off the Soma though.
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I guess I was lucky but I always did feel like I could take it or leave it (and that is what I told the Dr when he told me it was too addictive and he doesnt write for it-I wasnt about to point out that I thought OxyContin was WAAAY more habit forming!) Anyway, I changed Drs again, within the same practice, and I told her that after a while the Tizanidine got to where it felt like it was actually CAUSING more spasms because I would take it at bedtime then go brush my teeth before bed and all the sudden my back would start grabbing up and I couldnt even stand up straight. She asked me what other muscle relaxants I'd used in the past and I told her, so she wrote for the Soma again saying "Well it can be addictive but we are already turning you loose with OxyContin and if you can handle that then surely some Soma is not going to be a problem!" So I'm back on my Soma again.
I did some research on Soma... the POST MARKET information talks about the fact that it may be "habit forming"... so what that means is that when the med was marketed to the Drs... nothing was mentioned years ago about the habit forming nature of this med. Yes, we should all know about the meds we take... and even my physician didn't know it was habit forming... I say it is up to the drug manufactures to REALLY do those double blind studies and not use patients as their "test" models... look what happens. Interestingly enough, I called the manufacturer of Soma and asked them what the proper way was to come off of it as many pain clinics and physicians were stopping writing scripts for it..their answer was "we are working on it"... wouldn't it have been nice to have that information BEFORE the Drs. stopped writing scripts for it and shooting in the dark as to how to get people off of it? You are right... consumer beware... and beware that what you are told is not always the truth.
Soma breaks down in the body into Meprobamate which is the same compound that is in the old sleeping pill Miltown (if you are old enough to remember that one-it was big in the 70's)that they took off the market years ago due to its addictive properties so how could Soma NOT be habit forming. I've heard rumors that it was coming off the market (Soma itself) but so far those have only been rumors. I attended a seminar about a year ago and that Dr predicted it was going to come off the market sometime in the next year and that was about a year ago. So it remains to be seen. You are right, beware and they truly dont know ALL about medications until they are out on the market for several years. Look at Tramadol. I remember all the Drs taking people off Tylenol #3, Darvocet and Vicodin and putting them on Tramadol and prescribing Tramadol like crazy because it was said to be non-narcotic or not an opioid.
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Well it is non-narcotic and not chemically related to the opioids but it acts on the very same receptors and is billed as "opioid-like". Well if it acts on those receptors, it stands to reason that it will still cause withdrawal when it isnt filling those receptors. Now they know that it is every bit as addictive as any opioid-maybe more so because it is similar in chemical make up to antidepressants too. This is what? About ten years after Tramadol made its big debut? Any time you take a medicine you have to know it can have ill effects and decide if those ill effects are worth the risk. In some medications like heart meds and blood pressure meds, meds to control diabetes and even for some, opioid pain meds are definitely worth the risk. Without some meds some people would die or have no quality of life but if it is not worth the risk and doesnt improve your quality of life then you are best to not take it, simple as that, really.