[leana]

hi, is there anyone out there who is knowledgable about the different muscle relaxers.which one works the very best, with the least side effects. i have chronic back pain, and they think i also have alot of nerve damage as well.i have a tethered spinal cord,he said it was stretched way down for some reason.im still waiting to find out what can be done, in the meantime, my family doctor pretty much will let me try which muscle relaxer i want, but i dont know which one works best.do valium and ativan both work just as good ? or is soma better than those two, but it seems so sedating. any advice please?

[Cats Meow]

Valium and Ativan aren't true muscle relaxants, but CNS depressants which does cause sedation and therefore relaxation. Soma is both a relaxant and CNS depressant, it's one of the best that I've tried, of the others that I've tried, I found Flexeril to be among the most effective. All pills have side effects to some degree and effectiveness varies from person to person, as to the best, that depends on who you talk to. You may want to try a couple and see what works best.

[Vcamo]

I take Methocarbamol (sp?) and it works very well for me. Sometimes I get these attacks which causes my upper abdomen, chest, neck, jaw and left arm hurt really bad and the first time I had one I thought I was having a heart attack but my doctor said I was having muscle spasms in my upper abdomen so he prescribed the above medication. Whenever I have them I can't even stand up straight but as soon as I swallow 1 tablet the pain is gone instantly. I know that might sound hard to believe but it's the truth and I always make sure I have some with me whenever I go anywhere.

I also have Arthritis in my neck and the muscle relaxer helps that too.

A few years ago my husband had to have a polyp removed from his throat and while I was sitting in the room with him waiting for him to go to the surgery room I had one of those attacks and I didn't have my medication with me and the pain was so severe I could hardly stand it but finally after around 45 minutes it finally stopped hurting.

[Painful_Fate]

Originally Posted by leana

hi, is there anyone out there who is knowledgable about the different muscle relaxers.which one works the very best, with the least side effects. i have chronic back pain, and they think i also have alot of nerve damage as well.i have a tethered spinal cord,he said it was stretched way down for some reason.im still waiting to find out what can be done, in the meantime, my family doctor pretty much will let me try which muscle relaxer i want, but i dont know which one works best.do valium and ativan both work just as good ? or is soma better than those two, but it seems so sedating. any advice please?

I would suggest some skeletal muscle relaxers (much like Flexeril) such as: Soma (Carispodal..sp?) and Robaxin (methocarbomal). I have noticed VERY surprising relief from Soma, which I have been on in the past for quite some time. I've also used Robaxin which also helped. The key thing I noticed about above stated muscle relaxers is that they did not cause the extreme drowsiness I experienced from Flexeril.

Hopefully you will find relief soon!