Kickas.org Forums Treatments, Drugs and Alternatives AS Pharmacy Muscle relaxers, what does everyone think?

so sorry to hear that zanaflex gives you headaches. i've been taking it every day for about 10 years and never noticed that.

it does semi-dehydrate me: dry mouth. are you taking plenty of water with it? i know dehydration gives me migraines.

what dose are you taking? could you take less, get the effects, but not the headache side effect? or are you currently taking the lowest dose possible.

i only take the 2 mg pill at a time. that drops my BP so low that i'm afraid to take any more than that at one time.

i got migraines from lyrica and it definitely wasn't worth it. i hated waking up with a migraine every day that i just couldn't shake.

there are other muscle relaxants out there. maybe one of those would work for you?

Thanks Sue,
I am taking 4mgs at a time. I found that when I was taking 2mgs I would wake up about 3 hours later and not able to get back to sleep for hours. The headache could very well be from dehydration. I try to drink my usual amount, about 6-8 cups a day, but I might need even more than that if I am taking Zanaflex regularily. Maybe next time I am at the Dr. I will ask her to try a different muscle relaxant.

hey sue,

i asked for some muscle relaxer at doc. i had used zanaflex before so thats what i asked for. doc gave me flexoril instead cuz she said zanaflex and LDN dont go together. i havent googled it but i thought id share on this thread.

that's interesting, never heard that before? do you know what the problem is? i've been on both, taken at night together for the last 20 months with no problems i am aware of. is it a problem only at the higher doses of naltrexone that we don't take? why a problem with zanaflex but not flexeril? no doctor has ever mentioned this to me, no pharmacist either, though i'll ask the pharmacist just to be safe. thanks for the heads up, if it really is a problem?

I took flexeril for a couple of years at night before bed. I think it literally saved my sanity and life. When I went off it and changed to a regular regimen of taking calcium/magnesium/zinc to control the spasms, I noticed that the flexeril had been making my quads really weak. My legs are much stronger now that I'm off it. Weird, eh?

i really dont know sue i didnt research it further. doc was typing in my scripts and cross referenced i guess and said 'zanaflex and naltrexone dont go together, u wanna try flexeril?'. maybe it is the higher dose of naltrexone? in any event, i just thought id share. im growing more curious now so ill prob go look it up.

thanks donette for your interesting experience. i do have cal/mag/zinc and will try as u do. is yours all in one pill or seperate? whats your dosing? i only really got the script to use as needed on days that i feel realllly balled up.
btw i see rutin is goes well with vit c. synergistc effect.

thanks guys

do let me know if you find out anything. i'd like to know.

i was taking vioxx and zanaflex in the early 2000s. was only after i was off vioxx and reading about P450 liver enzymes for a biochemistry class i teach that i found that vioxx interferes with the P450 that works on zanaflex, so essentially the vioxx was causing a dangerous overdose of zanaflex in my blood stream, even when taking my low dose.....

i'll go research P450 drug drug interactions and see if that is where the naltrexone - zanaflex incompatibility lies.

i'll report back if i find anything.

go to www.drugs.com and use their interactions checker. it does say something about liver. but like u said, maybe the doses r so low it should b ok.

ill b using that checker more often now that i found it.

u find anything?

thanks. yes, about what i found yesterday. think its mostly something at high dosages of naltrexone. though i suppose if i weren't already on the drugs, i might consider a different combination.

it does say that if one chooses to take the combo to have liver function tests done routinely. but that is true if on just the zanaflex. i've gotten liver tests done every few months to yearly since i've been on the drug as it has been known to cause liver failure in otherwise healthy individuals, though here too in larger quantities of drug than i take. so think if it hasn't bothered me yet, i'm probably safe. but testing so easy so that's what we do. my doctors like blood tests: cheap (to me) easy quick way to get data.

this is what i found when i used your search tool:

http://www.drugs.com/drug-interactions/naltrexone-with-zanaflex-1684-0-2205-1453.html

thanks for the heads up
think i will stick with the drug combo as its worked well for me thus far. and my liver seems healthy.

no problem

yea i was gonna say, heck if its doing the trick to this point why not stick with it. like u said, blood tests.