Tizanidine and Blood Pressure: What Users Say

• Tur...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• September 6, 2012

Tizanidine for Muscle Spasm "Zanaflex is great for muscle spasms as I have them from Osteoarthritis in my spine, also spinal stenosis. If you are on any heart meds, please use the interactions checker because it may cause severe drops in blood pressure. I am taking Lisinopril, Hydrochlorothiazide, and Metoprolol for heart arrhythmias and my blood pressure was dropping to dangerous levels. All of my specialists knew what medicines I was taking, but none of them noticed the interactions. I checked them myself here at Drugs.com and found the RED FLAGS myself, so be careful."

• egg...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• April 22, 2015

Tizanidine for Muscle Spasm "I've been on these for about 8 years. They work well on low back pain, DJD, and a bulging disc in my neck. Along with other painkillers, they work well, but don't drive while on them. They do make you sleepy quickly, and they also tend to lower your blood pressure, making you dizzy when standing up. You can get a good night's sleep on them. I take one 4 mg tablet 2 times a day."

• Str...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 11, 2019

For Muscle Spasm "I am a chronic pain patient since 1999, been on many meds. I have lower back fusion, future neck fusion, and scar tissue problems. Flexeril did nothing but make me feel sick, others just didn't work. The doctor prescribed this, and only at 4 mg 2 times a day. For me, I finally get sleep. It wouldn't be anything to go 4 days or more without any rest, now I get a few hours a night. The big issue is to be careful when getting up, as blood pressure will drop quickly. My only concern is tolerance and when it's time to stop, the withdrawal. I hope this review helps in some way."

• Bel...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• January 17, 2015

Tizanidine for Muscle Spasm "I was prescribed Zanaflex for muscle spasms and to help me sleep. I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, osteo/degenerative arthritis, sciatica, and an unspecified autoimmune disorder. It was prescribed as 3-4mg tablets at bedtime but that was too high a dose for me. Sometimes, I have the side effect of really low BP, although I have been taking high BP meds for 5+ years. It doesn't happen all the time when I take it but it is very scary when it does happen. I have blackouts, feel incredibly high, and can't hold my eyes open at times. The blood pressure drops have happened in the past when I was not on Zanaflex, but this medication just seems to make it worse and I am not going to take it anymore. The side effects are too scary."

• can...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 18, 2014

Tizanidine for Muscle Spasm "I was prescribed this medication for muscle pain related to rheumatoid arthritis and chronic tendonitis. Personally, I'm VERY sensitive to this medication and suffer the 'rare' side effects: slurred speech, hallucinations (only at night), disorientation (I've gotten lost in my own room twice when I take 4 mg), low heart rate. The highest dose I have taken is 8mg with Xanax for my anxiety. Once I stayed awake, although drowsy, I watched a movie; the second time I woke up in the ICU for bradycardia, hypotension, and change in the level of consciousness. Despite taking this daily for 2 months, I still have side effects. My husband says this medicine makes me drunk. I have been taking 1mg at a time. It does work well."

• Tee...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• October 26, 2019

"I know I left a review once before, but this medicine is truly the cure-all for me. I either get, or receive and cure horrible brain zaps from this drug. Haven't taken an SSRI in over 3 years. Rarely take 1 Klonopin. Doctors don't understand brain zaps yet, but they are horrible! I take it for insomnia primarily, then headaches and the brain zaps. Also, be careful not to let your blood pressure drop too low when taking tizanidine. That's a legitimate problem that I seem to survive nightly, except for some rare mornings when it gets too low. I have somewhat new nasal allergies and rosacea, and suddenly new joint pain at 39. My only cure-all is tizanidine, it really makes everything feel better and helps me sleep. I have had lower back pain for about 14 years, and it does nothing for that, but it's wondrous for falling asleep without waking up groggy and nixing my random ailments. Hope this is helpful for someone."

• Bea...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• May 31, 2020

For Muscle Spasm "After several years, tizanidine started to drop my blood pressure. I mean, my systolic pressure was 80 or less! I had to be taken off and switched to something else. The new drug doesn't work nearly as well for the muscle spasms. I understand tizanidine is a cousin to a blood pressure medicine. True?"

• Nat...
• October 3, 2019

For Muscle Spasm "Tried Flexeril with no real improvement and switched to Zanaflex. I thought it was great for sleep for about a month until I dropped to the floor for no apparent reason. Took my blood pressure and was surprised that I was still alive, it was so very low. I normally have high BP, so that was some drop! I handled the situation by taking a BP reading first. If it was high, I could take 3/4 of a tablet or whole, lower BP meant half or quarter. After a year, that still works, but I’m noticing that it takes more and more to relieve the muscle, so I guess soon I will stop."

• Sca...
• December 15, 2015

For Muscle Spasm "My doctor gave this to me for I had to get off my meloxicam for a month. Three days into taking this medication, I have had the worst nightmares ever, things that you couldn't even imagine to the point that I thought dead people were in my house and I'm talking to myself and my husband getting mad because I'm talking and screaming very loud in my sleep. Heart rate is very high, dropped my blood pressure just from three days. I would take some serious precautions when taking this medication. And I still don't know if it works or not, the dreams scared me so bad that I think I'm cured...."

• R J...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 5, 2023

"I developed increasingly bad side effects while taking (and even worse when withdrawing from) tizanidine. At first, it did help with my insomnia and aching legs - I fell asleep immediately after taking just 4 mg - but had to take it twice a night as it always wore off only 3 to 4 hours after each dose. Within a week, I started developing new problems that I didn't immediately associate with the tizanidine: I began to feel extremely fatigued all day long, had 'roller coaster' blood pressure from unusually low at night to extremely high during the day, started having scary shortness of breath (gasping for air) every morning, had 'scalded' eyelids, painful urination, and horrible blisters on my genitals! I had not studied drugs.com's extended list of tizanidine side effects until yesterday, but I'm stunned that these new afflictions are all there! Even the blisters - that's like Stevens-Johnson syndrome. No more tizanidine for me - ever."

• Ang...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 24, 2019

For Muscle Spasm "I was given Tizanidine 4 mg tablets to take for muscle spasms in my back and hips. The first time, I was so thirsty I couldn’t drink enough, then I started seeing drawings and writing on the wall. I was convinced that spiders were coming down on webs on my bed. The worst experience I had was after I had taken it the night before my blood pressure bottomed out, and I split my face open in my living room. Nine stitches and a broken kneecap came from that. This medicine is not the one for me. I’ve passed out more than once with it, but the last time I done it, and I’m taking Baclofen now."

• Ale...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 22, 2019

For Muscle Spasm "This caused me to have extremely low blood pressure, and I fainted and sustained an open head wound in my bathroom. Will not be taking it again."

• bac...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 20, 2013

Tizanidine for Muscle Spasm "This medication caused my blood pressure to drop, but did not relieve the muscle spasms in my back."