Question posted by mitjason on 21 Dec 2009
Last updated on 12 January 2025
I'm about to start a skeletal muscle relaxant for physical therapy and need your help! Here are a list of skeletal muscle relaxants. Please select the one you have had the best results with and let me know about it! I would appreciate it so much! Thanks in advance!
-Carisoprodol (Soma)
-Cyclobenzaprine (Flexeril)
-Metaxalone (Skelaxin)
-Tizanidine (Zanaflex)
-Dantrolene (Dantrium)
-Baclofen (Lioresal)
-Chlorzoxazone (Paraflex)
-Orphenadrine (Norflex)
The information on this page reflects personal experiences shared by our community members. It is not reviewed for medical accuracy and should not replace professional medical advice.
I have used soma since 1998, and would not do without it. I have tried them all, however soma is by far the only one that has given me any relief. the only other one that has helped was Norflex, however this only helped when I see my pain doc and he will give me an injection of it, however pill form did not do a thing for the spasms.
So I would def go with soma
dm
I have used all of these.Zanaflex works best for me with the least side affects/ That being said, I would probably say I am addicted to Soma. There is a sense of euphoria and extreme relaxation felt with them. Unfortunately I am 25 and I have been on them most my life . I can sometimes take 30 in a day. In other words,I would suggest avoiding Soma because of its addictive properties (at least for me). Good Luck
Wow, if I took 30 in a day, I would be in a drug induced coma... the most I've every taken was 4, but I had built up to that amount. I would take them and go for a walk. Now I wouldn't even take more than two at a time.
Please be careful, because they are considered a controlled substance now.
Not advocating abuse of any of them but soma is the strongest (350mg) and the best working. Take only as prescribed. They will have you stutterring, trembling when you talk and running into walls if you take too many. I have used them on and off for years. Just use your head and don't overdo it.
Excellent comment, and yes the Soma's are by far the best. I have taken them all. Baclofen did absolutely less than nothing and all the others where not much better. Soma's made the dramatic difference that I needed. Like Robert said don't abuse them. Some physicians will not prescribe them and make up excuses for not prescribing them because of the abuse issue. I think it is funny because they will say things like "Soma's don't work, it has been my experience that baclofen is the best" and nothing could be further from the truth. They expect you to buy what they are selling because they are doctors, but most of them have no idea since they have not suffered from muscle pain themselves. I don't think Soma's are addictive though... hmmm don't know about that. Anyone... Ferris... Robert do you know?
Take one or two at night, you will be out before you have the chance to feel the effects of it. Don't try to do anything after taking it. You won't remember anything either. Soma's are the only muscle relaxant that I can wake up in the morning without drowsiness and be almost completely pain free, until I start moving around and my muscles go back into spasm. Hee Hee.
I think the thing that makes Soma's different, but I am not absolutely sure about this, is that it works best if your muscles are tight, constricted or spasming due to or contributed by stress. It seems to me and I repeat, I have no proof but for me Soma's act almost like a muscle relaxer combined with a Valium. It doesn't have any Valium in it, of course, I am just saying it helps the muscle pain that I have as a result of a lot of mental and emotional stress. I hope you find what works best for you sooner than later. Good luck!
Yes Somas can be addictive.
yes, i agree that soma is good, but if ur taking it on the regular , the tollerance u bulid up is soo soo fast, also my motto has always been "the smaller the pill the bigger the punch" and it has held true to almost every substance ive tried. GO WITH FLEXERIL 10MG TABS they work like really work, and they also help with sleep and and several Joint disorders, so even on like those rainy days where all ur bones hurt..take a flexeril and its all gone... most likely u got prescribed like oxycodone 5mgs or somethin + a MR , ive tried almost every MR on ur list, and again my vote goes to FLEXERIL. also keep in mind everybody is different, and some ppl may be more sensitive to drugs that slow things down and someone else may not be sensitive to that and feel nothing (as in euphoria)
I agree with your comment about taking too many. Way back I did that and I felt very drugged, shaking hands and slurring speech, almost as if I was drunk.
I generally take 2 at night and they put we right to sleep, but if I wake up I can still function. I have taken many of the others on the list, but Soma is the only one that works for me. The only way I can get it is through my pain management doc.
I have taken both the, flexerill and the soma. I have found the soma is more gentle after it starts to wear off. In other words if taking it prior to bed i found the soma allows me to get up and get going with out the sleepy draging feeling the flexerill gave me. I take it for disc issues in my back and neck. I find it helps with all areas effected. Hope this helps Mit
Hey thank you! I'm going to talk to my doctor about it on Thursday and see if I can get on a muscle relaxant along with the narcotics he prescribed or if the narcotics will work for both the muscle pain and back pain. Thanks again!
i agree, when i took flexiril i would feel drowsey the next morning, but with somas felt great the next morning ,
I also have used both flexeril & soma. I like soma because it doesn't dry my mouth out as bad!
i have used most all.soma works well but gives me dreams.robaxin works well.for chronic back pain i would use valium in combination with tylenol 4,lorcet,or morphine 15.tylenol 4 and lorcet are almost the same except lorcet is less sedating,but taking at bedtime lorcet can make falling asleep difficult
I take flexeril 10mg and it works well for me hope this helps
Soma by far... kimmie
i agree that the soma is by far the most effective and best muscle relaxer out there, however the DEA has changed the laws governing it and if a patient is already on 2 other narcotics they will not allow this unless one of the narcotic pain meds. is removed and replaced with the soma. this really stinks and i feel after having been on soma for about 20 yrs or more this is ridiculous to enact a new law that is just stupid and i feel the DEA is just in a panic cause of the idiots out there that are misusing the Soma, all patients that really need it and can benefit from it have to suffer. we are screwed.
Amen. I've tried every muscle relaxer out there and nothing even compares to the fast relief of Soma and have no side effects from taking them. It seems like when something works well they change your prescription to something that doesn't work and has serious side effects, so why bother? I've been taking Soma for 20 years. I don't abuse them. I just had a serious shattered ankle because my back locked up on me. Bones are replaced with rods and I can't walk again for at least 6 months, maybe longer. Just because I hadn't taken my Soma. Now the doctor is giving me something for MS patients. I guess now I'm wheelchair bound.I can't take the chance of another nightmare accident. I hope the DEA doesn't cut you off, too. God bless and good luck to you.
Yes, Soma seems to work the best or at least be the strongest muscle relaxer, and yes, the rules & policies have changed to make it more difficult to obtain, especially if the patient is also taking opiates and/or benzos. However, instead of sharing your complaints on an online forum, perhaps you should find out why Soma is being so strongly controlled and post that. Some of the comments on this thread are plain irresponsible.
Soma, even by itself, is killing people and is amongst the most abused prescription drugs, especially by teenagers. Combined with opiates or benzos, Soma's effects and dangers are intensified. A combination of an opiate, a benzo & a Soma is nicknamed "a holy trinity cocktail" by drug abusers & the DEA, and it has caused an unbelievable number of deaths.
I was hit by a drunk driver over 10 yrs ago & had a failed c-spine surgery, and I live with constant debilitating pain & muscle spasms. Soma was the strongest muscle relaxer for my spasms hands down, but it also caused me to be excessively dopey & to have seizure-like episodes. I repeatedly asked my previous doctor if Soma could be "building up" in my system & causing these episodes and was told no. The last day I took Soma, I "came to" in an ambulance on my way to the ER with NO memory of how I got there. I learned my husband had found me in bed shaking, staring wide-eyed at nothing & unresponsive and spent 20 mins trying to get me to come out of it before calling 911. A team of EMTs, police & firemen filled my bedroom and spent several more minutes trying to get me to respond before lifting me onto a gurney and wheeling me out of my house and into an ambulance; yet, I didn't even break my stare, and I don't remember a thing. It felt like I was coming out of a dark tunnel with loud noises all around me as I pulled out of it minutes from the hospital, and I had no clue how I got there. The last thing I remembered was saying, "I feel funny" during dinner and going to lie down probably 20 mins after taking a single Soma. I had several smaller episodes prior to this (& who knows how many I don't remember), but this was the final straw. I have a high tolerance to most drugs (genetically verified by a "MAP" DNA test), have woken up under anesthesia during major surgeries a few times & even spoke to the doctors twice (I once asked for "a pretty scar" lol), and I was even roofied once. However, my experience taking Soma AS DIRECTED was so intense & scary you couldn't pay me to take it again! Sure, it works, but it's certainly not worth dying over.
My pain doctor recently started me on Lorzone, and so far I am having success with it. I have found most other muscle relaxers aren't even worth taking, but topicals have been helpful. Voltarin is a prescription topical that often works well for me. I don't know what state you live in, but I've also had success with marijuana-based topical lotions even though injesting marijuana hasn't helped my pain or spasms. Both THC & CBD topicals have helped me; although, I did a blind test for a local manufacturer and found the THC lotion to be the better of the two.
Good luck finding what works best for you! As I said, I have constant severe pain, but my spasms "get to me" more than anything, so my heart truly goes out to other sufferers. We deserve adequate relief from our pain (& muscle spasms), but this thread proves that laws & policies are also necessary to protect us and our loved ones from irresponsible prescribers if we won't do the research and protect ourselves. Unfortunate.
I would have to say soma is the best, it's the only muscle relaxer that ever worked for me! I know for sure that the skelaxin made me sick to my stomach and had to be taken off of it. hope this helps...
I agree Soma, is the only thing working for me. I've been taking it for about 6+ yrs.
Skelaxin made me very sick in the stomach also.
Flexeril works the best that I have found and I have used several on your list.
Hope this helps you
I agree, Flexeril is the best of all as a muscle relaxant. I've tried Robaxin, Soma, and a few others I do recall what they were. Flexeril worked the best and in the shortest amount of time. It had the least side effects for me and was relatively inexpensive.
Flexeril has worked for me for 13 years now. It used to make me sleepy, but not anymore. A doctor once told me that it has some anti-depressant qualities to it, which can help when dealing with chronic pain.
Soma is the only one i have found that works the best.All the others is like taking nothing at all to me!! Well,sometime the flexeril makes my legs hurt and are restless to were i can't sleep.I also have muscle jumps in my sleep.Do not like flexeril,maybe others can get a better use than me.
Different drugs help different people. My husband takes flexeril & it works great. Flexeril did not work for me. Parafonte forte works best for me. If the doc prescribes something that does not help, ask for something different. I went through 3 before I found one that helped
i used flexeril too and it works great !but i had to change to soma's cause they were cheaper .and they work great too!only problem i have is sometimes they make me drunk and it comes and goes while med is in my system! i guess if i would lay down and go to sleep i wouldn't get the drunk feeling ! but some times you can't just go to bed !
i took my the first time before i went to church ,i was fine at church but we had old timers lunch after church and at 2:00 pm i left to go home and i was afraid to drive because i felt drunk but i had no choice !thank God i made it home !
Flexeril too. Although I can only compare it to Soma. Soma made me groggy, Flexeril does not. Thanks
Flexeril can leave you feeling like a useless bag of cement if you wake up in the night or wake up too early after taking it too late in the evening. In the long run I prefer less invasive approaches but used on a very limited basis it has its merits. Definitely not a good plan to mix this with alcohol although used in concert with anti-inflammatories such as Lodine, Flexeril can give a resltess night's sleep.
Muscle relaxants really vary from person to person. Hope you will take the previous advice to try until you get the best one. I've tried most of these and am taking skelaxin.Soma and tizanidine made me stupid. I felt ill on flexeril although if I neede something regularly say for a back injury I would go back to flexeril. Good luck
Flexeril did not work for me and I have tried several different muscle relaxers, I like Tizanadine. at first it makes you drowsy and tired, but once you start taking it you can take it during the day to. I have 3 bulging discs in my neck and degenerative disc desease in my lower back
i am currently taking the flexaril 10 mg. as my pain dr. had to switch me to this after having taken soma for many many yrs. dr. had to make this change cause the DEA changed it's catagory on the drug class. Soma is now considered to be a comtrolled drug and narcotic drug and the DEA will not permit soma to be prescribed when a patient is already taking other narcotics as a part of their treatment. dr's cannot prescribe more than 2 controlled substances or narcotics and now that the DEA has changed rules and laws soma cannot be obtained to patients who presently take 2 narcotic medications. the only way a patient can have a dr. prescribe soma now while a patient is currently taking other narcotics for severe pain is if the patient agrees to drop one of the 2 narcotics that are being prescibed and that is not an option for me with my chronic sever pain.
i am extremely angry at the DEA for making such a foolish move and feel that's it's not legitimate for them to make such a decicison. they are just panicked out over this issue cause of a few idiots out there who are misusing it, they make everyone who really needs it suffer by making such a stupid inconsiderate decision such as this. it's nonsense.
as far as flexeril i have found it has absolutely no side effects whatsoever. i am surprised, as a matter of fact when people say they experience drowsiness even at the start of this medication. i presently take it and i have never felt a single effect and it's unclear to me as of yet, which is about a month i've been taking it whether it is completely effective. i cannot verify whether it does relieve muscles spasm or not. i cannot notice it like i was able to while on the soma for so many yrs. the soma definitely helped but with the flexaril i can't say for sure. i certainly do not have the same relief as soma. i was on soma for over 20 yrs. and i find it appalling that i had to discontinue use of it because the DEA decided to classify this drug as a narcotic/controlled substance. thanks alot DEA, your panic move is not welcome. get your facts straight and rereview this drug cause it's just nonsense
Flexeril knocked me out.. Some isn't bad but again.. sleep a lot. If you are active in any way. I suggest Robaxin, its the only one out of all you listed that didn't put me in bed.. nodding off.
I agree that Soma works the best, however, my doc. won't prescribe it for me. I have tried them all, and take Robaxin like PW. Last month my dr. switched it to Zanaflex, and it just makes me so tired, but works well on the muscle spasms. I say Robaxin. Everyone's different. Have a great day all. Ruthie
dantrium, flexeril, lioresal, norflex, paraflex, skelaxin, soma, zanaflex, pain, back pain, muscle pain, neck pain, carisoprodol, breakthrough pain
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