Will it wire them instead of relaxing the patient's muscle pain and discomfort?
How does carisoprodol or soma react in a patient that has narcolepsy?
- Asked
- 10 Feb 2016 by appley1
- Updated
- 12 Feb 2016
- Topics
- soma, narcolepsy, pain, muscle pain, carisoprodol, sleep, muscle, discomfort
Responses (1)
Hi, I hope I can help by telling you my experience with this. I'm a retired nurse nearing 60yr old & I've been living with Narcolepsy since I was a teen, even tho I didn't know what was wrong with me back then. I was diagnosed with it in my 20s & I started on methylphenidate, generic Ritalin, then & have been on it ever since. Altho you don't say if there's any medication for the narcolepsy, I mention mine because it's a significant part of helping me handle my daily doses of soma which I began roughly 20yrs ago following a serious accident that has left me with permanent damage from multiple injuries.
In my case I can tell you that the soma works just as it's expected to. I have a lot of muscle spasms & the soma, which I take 4 times a day, Really helps settle them down. My muscle spasms greatly decrease, as does the pain produced by my tightly "knotted" muscles. I find I have better energy & am able to do much more with the relief the soma provides. However, at times, I'm very grateful I am on the methylphenidate, as the relief of some of my muscle pain by the soma can make me sleepy & the generic Ritalin then can help me remain awake. But with such a frustrating condition as Narcolepsy, it can also be quite confusing since, for me, my Narcolepsy is worse(ie:more sleeping bouts), the more pain I have to deal with. I know others with Narcolepsy who find similar increases in "falling out"-a very apt description of suddenly falling asleep during waking activities- & for several of us it happens much more when we're dealing with increased physical OR emotional pain/stress. For me, any time I have to deal with extra pain or discomfort, it causes me more emotional stress... which all in turn causes my Narcolepsy symptoms to increase & there I am, nodding off in the middle of whatever I'm doing, lol. (I figured out long ago to laugh about a lot of things in my life I can't always control) :D
That last point about some of us with both Narcolepsy & pain can at times, really confuse what seems to be going on. Is the soma helping relieve some of our muscle pain & spasms, thereby allowing us to relax some & perhaps sleep better or more? Or is the soma possibly causing "opposite or reverse" effects when used on someone with Narcolepsy, as sometimes it seems to produce unexpected bouts of activity when it's administered? Because I've only ever experienced relief to varying degrees, I asked my son what he's seen thru the years as my response to taking soma. He surprised me by laughing, then he reminded me of the times he has occasionally asked me what has me so "wired" as he'd watch me suddenly really working hard on one project or another that had been left sitting for a while. This usually happened when I'd been without my soma for a bit for whatever reason & I'd just gotten back on it. As he learned, it wasn't that I felt 'jumpy' or 'wired', it was simply that I could get better sleep with a decrease in overall pain & I was also again, able to move better & be more interested in what I could again work on.
I hope this helps some with your question. I also, will be interested in others experiences & answers :-)

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