Tizanidine and Drowsiness: What Users Say (Page 2)

• mig...
• April 20, 2015

For Muscle Spasm "I take 8 mg a day. 2 mg in the morning and noon, and 4 mg in the evening. Effective in spasm relief and perfect for the night. Before, I was constantly tired, but unable to rest at night due to discomfort and pain in the neck. Now I am alert during the day with some exceptions. An hour after I take a 2 mg pill, I feel sleepy if I am relaxed, but if I am outside or active, sleepiness goes away. However, this does not apply to the 4 mg. After taking this dose, I am out."

• LKW...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• February 25, 2020

"I've had migraines (chronic) for 25 years and have tried 30+ medications and multiple treatments. I've also seen multiple specialists. Zanaflex is the only medication that really works for me. I started at 2 mg, at bedtime and slowly increased to 4 mg, 3 times daily. The effectiveness doesn't last long (roughly 4 hours) but the dulling of pain, if only temporary, is worth it. The only side effect I've experienced throughout years of use is extreme drowsiness. The first dose of the day is the worst. It sometimes 'knocks me out.' I cannot drive or function well after taking it; roughly an hour after taking, I become a zombie and NEED a power nap. After that, I'm okay. I am so thankful for this medication; it's by no means a cure, but it has given me some relief where virtually nothing else has."

• Mag...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 5, 2018

For Muscle Spasm "I first tried Tizanidine in 1992 in Egypt, where I used to live. It worked wonders for a neck strain I suffered from. It was sold under the name Sirdalud. When I came back to Canada, my general practitioner never heard of it and prescribed Flexeril, which gave me horrible side effects and no relief. I had a spinal cord injury three years ago, in 2015, and since then, I've been paralyzed. The muscle in my back “rolled” up my leg and would continue rolling up my back and down my chest, making my spine lurch forward that I would yelp in pain! My fentanyl for pain and hydromorphone wouldn’t even touch this pain. I searched on the internet about muscle relaxers, saw Tizanidine, and I instantly remembered Sirdalud from Egypt. The second day I was on Tizanidine, spasms at all, zero! This drug is a blessing for me, and the drowsiness is not that bad. I take 4mg twice a day. This drug has given my life back because if those muscle spasms continued, I would’ve ended my life for sure!"

• cpr...
• May 8, 2009

Tizanidine for Muscle Spasm "I have been put on every muscle relaxant from Flexeril to Soma, and then my neurologist tried me on Zanaflex last week for the first time. I have to say, so far it's working pretty well. I feel a little drowsy, but hopefully that will pass as my system gets used to it. At this point with my MS, I am willing to try anything in order to feel better and not hurt all the time. I'm thinking we are on to something here. At least that's what I'm praying for."

• Chr...
• April 14, 2010

Tizanidine for Muscle Spasm "I have been living with chronic neck, back, and migraine pain for several years now. In the beginning, my doctors had me go to physical therapy, take ibuprofen, or aspirin. None of these things ever really helped. After trying Flexeril and numerous anti-inflammatories, my pain management doctor did an MRI and found that among the many tension knots and twisting of my spine, I had bulging discs in my neck. He gave me Zanaflex to take at night. It knocks me out within 20 minutes but helps relax my back and neck so that I can get restful sleep - been on it for 3 months now! I highly recommend it for continuous back pain and it has even helped with my migraines. Be ready for bed though - very powerful!"

• Anonymous
• March 22, 2012

Tizanidine for Cluster Headaches "I suffer from migraines and also have difficulty falling and staying asleep. Following, a sleep study, my doctor put me on Zanaflex to help me fall asleep faster and reduced random leg movements during the night. I took it for about a month and it really helped me sleep, although I did have a groggy feeling in the morning that was hard to shake off. However, it aggravated my migraines so that instead of getting them 2 or 3 times a year, I got a migraine every week during the month I was taking Zanaflex, so unfortunately I had to stop taking it."

• GgG...
• June 18, 2017

Tizanidine for Muscle Spasm "Strained my rotator cuff, MD acute care practice prescribed 4 mg. I asked both the doctor and pharmacist if it was okay to take with Allegra D. Both said yes. Luckily, I was safe at home. It was scary how sedated I was. I had set an alarm for an appointment 2 hours after taking mess. I got out of bed and could hardly make it to the restroom. Needless to say, I canceled the appointment. Next time I took the medicines separately and broke the 4 mg tablet into 1 mg. I'm no lightweight, but this was too strong for me."

• Cat...
• February 5, 2016

For Muscle Spasm "I have chronic pelvic pain of unknown origin. This medication reliably relaxes me and knocks me out enough to sleep. It also sedates me enough to have conversations I don't recall and to pass out mid-sentence. Needless to add, perhaps, I do not take it during the daytime. Like many users, it tends to wear off after about 4 hours, and I find an additional dose doesn't promote longer sleep. The sleep I do get is so good that I can put up with the short duration. I am taking the 4 mg tablet. A time-release formulation would be ideal, I think."

• Bam...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• October 10, 2019

"My rheumatologist put me on tizanidine 4 mg 3 times a day for fibromyalgia. The tizanidine works well with other meds to help my fibromyalgia. Due to the medicine making me drowsy, I only take it at bedtime. This has helped me tremendously considering I was having major flares with the fibro."

• Anonymous
• August 11, 2009

Tizanidine for Muscle Spasm "I also have taken many muscle relaxants, including soma. When my doctor suggested this medicine to me, I made sure that it was not a narcotic and habit-forming. It is not. This has really been a blessing for me. It still makes me sleepy, but if taken with food, wow, it works!"

• GMR...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 18, 2018

For Muscle Spasm "I was prescribed this for numerous symptoms. I’m in the process of being diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder, and I experience full body pain that nothing else touches, difficulty sleeping, and migraine-like headaches. This medication has helped me tremendously. I can only take it at night as it does make me extremely sleepy. And if I take it too late in the evening, I have a difficult time waking up on time."

• Wre...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 20, 2019

For Muscle Spasm "Was prescribed tizanidine after being involved in a serious auto accident. Seemed to help with my lower back pain. Be careful because it will definitely put you to sleep. I passed out straight away at night."

• MHM...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 6, 2023

Tizanidine for Muscle Spasm "I was prescribed Zanaflex after breaking my left ankle, which caused muscle spasms in both legs and my lower back as I started walking again. The medication provided some relief from the spasms, but I encountered an unexpected side effect: temporary hearing loss in both ears. Initially, this alarmed me, but the hearing loss resolved after a few hours due to the drug's relatively short half-life. However, I still experience hearing abnormalities about 30 minutes after taking a dose. It's worth noting that somnolence (sleepiness) is a common side effect, but it doesn't concern me. I'm curious if others who have taken Zanaflex have also experienced temporary hearing loss as a side effect. While hearing abnormalities are not currently listed as a side effect, it may be beneficial to include them if others have had similar experiences."

• Geo...
• October 22, 2010

Tizanidine for Muscle Spasm "I have been using Zanaflex since 2003. I suffer from chronic pain and spasms due to herniated discs in my neck and back. I have already had fusion done on my neck, and the pain and spasms never went away. That was due to the discs below the fusion herniated just after the surgery. I also have fibromyalgia. I am supposed to take 4 mg 3 times a day, but I only take it at night since it makes me sleepy most of the time, and I am already on Percocet and Savella. I need to function during the day. My doctor says I can take all 3 at bedtime if I want, but I have only taken 2 at a time. Dry mouth is a side effect, and sometimes I will have grogginess in the morning, but I found that it is mostly due to taking it so late and getting up early."

• TXG...
• February 8, 2020

For Muscle Spasm "I fell off a 10-foot ladder onto my left knee, resulting in a stage five tibia plateau fracture and broken tibia. Anyway, my muscles do get very tight. He prescribed 4 mg every eight hours as needed. I could feel the muscles relaxing, especially my calf, but I had hallucinations so bad I wound up in the hospital for three days. I mean, it was bad!! So bad they restrained me after I punched out five nurses. Seriously, I feel bad about that today, but it was the medication. I’ve taken Flexeril before, Soma helped someone so much, got me kind of loopy though. I’m sure not everyone experiences hallucinations, but it’s true I did. For me, it was so bad even in the hospital they called in psychiatry before I could even think of getting discharged. Praise God, by then the meds were out of my system. I can say Zanaflex never made me drowsy."

• SAa...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 24, 2020

"I suffer with muscle tightness in my neck and shoulders, migraines. I think the tightness in my neck has gotten maybe a little bit better since taking this tizanidine. However, I’ve all of a sudden since taking it gotten bad acne. Also, about 30 minutes after taking it before bed, I get suddenly extremely sleepy to the point I fall asleep immediately, and my body feels super weak and tired... but then I wake up 3-5 hours later and cannot fall back asleep the rest of the night. It doesn’t seem to leave me tired or weak past the initial “high” of feeling extremely sleepy and weak. I don’t know that the benefits of this drug outweigh the side effects for me."

• Tak...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 19, 2017

For Muscle Spasm "My pain doctor just gave me this because Flexeril 10 mg three times a day was not working for me. My muscles were just in knots constantly. I can take Ativan 2 mg, hydrocodone 10 mg, and that all at once and work just fine. But this just knocked me out. I had a really hard time staying awake. So I'm just gonna take half while at work. But this medicine works amazing for me. No bad side effects thus far other than making me super drowsy. I highly suggest this medicine if you suffer from fibromyalgia or severe muscle spasms like me."

• Las...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 28, 2016

For Muscle Spasm "I have a bunch of issues in the cervical and lumbar spine. I'm delaying neck surgery indefinitely and am still in the injection phase of attempted treatment for lumbar. I take pain meds and had used Flexeril, but it didn't work well at all. So, the doctor replaced Flexeril with this at 4 mg 3 times a day. It helped, but not enough. Now on 8 mg 3 times a day. This dosage helps the spasms, but had to lower the AM dose back to 4 mg or I can't stay awake. The second dose I take either 4 or 8 mg, depending on pain and spasms. At bedtime, I take 8 mg, which pretty much knocks me out. At least this way, I get a couple hours of deep sleep, which is hard to come by with constant spinal pain. Side effects: sleepiness, very dry mouth, some constipation. Worth it - it helps!"

• Mic...
• September 17, 2009

Tizanidine for Muscle Spasm "I was given Zanaflex 6 years ago to help me sleep. The rheumatologist claimed my diagnosis of fibromyalgia required straight sleep. He forgot to do radiographs for arthritis. It works well, I would never recommend taking it during the day, though. I don't react to medications well, I did to Zanaflex. It makes me groggy, and I would never do anything that needed full attention while taking it. I take it at night only for sleep. It's a good medication, but be careful if you go on Cipro or Levaquin (antibiotics). In 2007, they found a problem with the combination, you must come off Zanaflex while taking those and a few other antibiotics. Speak to your pharmacist, but usually, insurance coverage tells them that they can't be taken together."

• Hur...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 8, 2020

For Muscle Spasm "Have had what I believe to be acute tendonitis for over a week, with excruciating pain that radiates from my neck to my lower arm. Finally broke down and went to the sawbones (Dr.). Was given this drug Tizanidine/Zanaflex. Was told that it makes one drowsy. I have not slept more than 4 hours at a time this past week, and am literally exhausted, yet this and the Naprosyn have not stopped the pain or made me sleepy enough to actually get some rest. After an hour, I'm still awake, still in pain and ready to be put out of my misery."

• Kar...
• September 13, 2010

For Cluster Headaches "This medication is very sedating for me. I cannot take so much as 1 mg during the day unless I want a nap. I take 4 mg at night and get about 4 hours of deep sleep. Then I wake up, and the rest of the night is restless with very vivid dreams. If I take more, I get leg/foot cramps. When I tried to taper off of it, I got some intense jaw pain that I had never experienced before. I believe it helps my daily headaches somewhat by working on muscle tension and jaw clenching at night, however, I do believe there is some addictive property such that coming off of it can be difficult due to increased muscle tension. The leg cramp side effect seems to be really rare, and not all people find it so sedating."

• Sug...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 3, 2018

For Muscle Spasm "Tizanidine works for me. It does make me very sleepy, so I can only take it at night. It usually knocks me out within 30 minutes, but I won’t stay asleep. I was originally on tramadol (four 50 mg pills) and, after 5 years, weaned myself off. I’m currently taking ibuprofen and 1-4 mg tizanidine daily. I find that it works much better than methocarbamol for my back. So far, no side effects other than drowsiness."

• DaX...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• July 9, 2016

For Muscle Spasm "I have nerve damage and muscle spasms from a spinal cord compression. This helped with the muscle spasms, but I could only take it at night as it made me so incredibly drowsy. Then, I developed severe night sweats. I spoke to my doc, who said it wasn't a reported side effect of this drug and must be something else, so I kept taking it another month, but eventually, it became unbearable. I was able to determine it really was the drug by taking nothing else and not taking it a few nights, then giving it another try. Sure enough, the drenching night sweats returned. After definitely demonstrating it was, in fact, the tizanidine causing the problem, the doc switched me."

• Pai...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• May 29, 2016

For Muscle Spasm "I've had chronic pain for decades. I have 6 mg, taking 2 for sleep, also with pain medication as needed. I do drink a large amount of water. But you should when you're forced to take medication. It does work sometimes, but on really bad nights, I'm up walking about, doing chores, anything to get through the pain. I do notice sometimes I'm a tad groggy, but nothing compared to what people are saying here. I did try it at first during the day, as a way to hopefully limit my pain levels. It did nothing for me. Have to be in bed resting if it's going to work. I'm pretty much half and half on this. Sometimes it does, or not. I also do not take it nightly, on average 2-3 nights per week if I have had a few sleepless/painful nights."

• Anonymous
• September 21, 2011

For Cluster Headaches "This has been great so far. I've been on it for 7 months and it has helped reduce the amount of migraines and constant neck and shoulder tightness/pain. I can only take it at night, as I still will become sleepy even after this long, but it's way better just at night than not at all. The dry mouth hasn't lessened either, but it only lasts about 4 hours, so if you don't fall asleep right away, it can be annoying."