Yes, I take it 1-2x a day for muscle spasms from degenerated cervical discs. I think it helps me better than other muscle relaxants I’ve tried. What exactly did you want to know about it?
I have severe neck spasms which have been treated by a variety of methods - acupuncture, massage, baclofen, flexeral, physical therapy- but the spasms persist. When the drug was suggested to me, I had never heard of it and so I was curious to see if anyone else had experience with it. Thank you for your response and I'm happy that it helps you!
Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Oct 29, 2017
I'm tagging a few other members who have also taken tizanidine. Perhaps @babs1@bstephens@lauriedr @sistergoldenhair can add their thoughts along the JenaPower.
I was prescribed this for low back pain which resulted from a long ago fracture. I wouldn't describe my pain as muscle spasms just deep steady pain that results periodically from heavy lifting, etc. I was told that this drug is recommended specifically for lower back. It's interesting to learn from the posts that it is also prescribed for other pain.
Hey @AlwaysHopeful I had recently had 2 back surgeries and the doc wanted to prescribe me flexeril for my back spasm during the healing process. I had two rods and about 50 screws put in my back. I told them they would have to do better than flexeril because I couldn't tell I was taking anything when I took it. So I take tons of meds, mainly for bipolar 1, and told them to find me something strong that doesn't interfere with all my other meds and zanaflex is what they came up with. I can tell that it works pretty good but you get the best relief when you take it with baclofen 2 a day. My ms doc said they could both be taken at the same time and the 2 of them together work really well.
I am unable to take enough to give you a truly helpful answer. I do take 2mg when going to the chiropractor so that the spasms will relax enough to allow my spine to properly adjust. This does cause drowsiness for a while. When needed I am able to take 1mg at bedtime, which is not enough for sleep. (I have to take a sleep aid every night with my fibro.) More than that causes over relaxation during sleep and my cervical spine falls out of alignment, causing severe spasm and migraines. I will add that when my chiro is able to properly realign my spine, the spasms/headaches calm down.
Hey @AlwaysHopeful I had recently had 2 back surgeries and the doc wanted to prescribe me flexeril for my back spasm during the healing process. I had two rods and about 50 screws put in my back. I told them they would have to do better than flexeril because I couldn't tell I was taking anything when I took it. So I take tons of meds, mainly for bipolar 1, and told them to find me something strong that doesn't interfere with all my other meds and zanaflex is what they came up with. I can tell that it works pretty good but you get the best relief when you take it with baclofen 2 a day. My ms doc said they could both be taken at the same time and the 2 of them together work really well.
Several of you have talked about tizanidine and how it works and how much you are taking. Since prescirption drugs can be much different for each user, we took your questions to a Mayo Clinic pharmacist for some additional information. Here is what she said:
"Taking more than 1 muscle relaxer at the same time or taking high doses of muscle relaxers increases the risk of respiratory depression (slowed breathing) that can be life threatening. Taking muscle relaxers with alcohol or other medications that slow breathing may also cause respiratory depression and is usually avoided.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a condition that can require specialty, individualized care like that provided by our Mayo Clinic Specialty Pharmacy. Every patient is different. While an individual may be tolerating 2 muscle relaxers (baclofen and Zanaflex) dosed together, this could be very dangerous for another patient with acute pain or even a different MS patient.
Tizanidine can cause drowsiness, dizziness, weakness and low blood pressure. Patients should avoid activities that require mental alertness like driving while taking tizanidine because of these effects. It can also cause dry mouth for quite a few patients. Staying hydrated, sucking on hard candies and OTC products like Biotene can help ease these effects. Each treatment plan should be personalized and communicating with your healthcare team regarding your response to prescribed medications is essential."
She also mentioned, "Tizanidine inhibits motor and sensory neurons to reduce muscle spasms and pain. It has been effective in some patients not responding to baclofen. Sometimes it takes a mix of drug and non-drug treatments."
@AlwaysHopeful, are you having any better response with tizanidine?
Hey @AlwaysHopeful I had recently had 2 back surgeries and the doc wanted to prescribe me flexeril for my back spasm during the healing process. I had two rods and about 50 screws put in my back. I told them they would have to do better than flexeril because I couldn't tell I was taking anything when I took it. So I take tons of meds, mainly for bipolar 1, and told them to find me something strong that doesn't interfere with all my other meds and zanaflex is what they came up with. I can tell that it works pretty good but you get the best relief when you take it with baclofen 2 a day. My ms doc said they could both be taken at the same time and the 2 of them together work really well.
I did not have success, but I followed the titration schedule on the bottle, however, my doctor was sending me by mail a different schedule for titration and I thought the schedule on the bottle was the one I should follow. Now I have taped down the tizanidine and we are going to try tramadol and lidocaine patches 5% for four days and see how that goes.
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Yes, I take it 1-2x a day for muscle spasms from degenerated cervical discs. I think it helps me better than other muscle relaxants I’ve tried. What exactly did you want to know about it?
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Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionI have severe neck spasms which have been treated by a variety of methods - acupuncture, massage, baclofen, flexeral, physical therapy- but the spasms persist. When the drug was suggested to me, I had never heard of it and so I was curious to see if anyone else had experience with it. Thank you for your response and I'm happy that it helps you!
I'm tagging a few other members who have also taken tizanidine. Perhaps @babs1 @bstephens @lauriedr @sistergoldenhair can add their thoughts along the JenaPower.
I was prescribed this for low back pain which resulted from a long ago fracture. I wouldn't describe my pain as muscle spasms just deep steady pain that results periodically from heavy lifting, etc. I was told that this drug is recommended specifically for lower back. It's interesting to learn from the posts that it is also prescribed for other pain.
I think the tizanidine is helpful with spasms but I can only take it st night. It makes me very drowsy.
Thank you for your reply. Do you ever take it during the daytime ? What is the effect on the spasms?
Hey @AlwaysHopeful I had recently had 2 back surgeries and the doc wanted to prescribe me flexeril for my back spasm during the healing process. I had two rods and about 50 screws put in my back. I told them they would have to do better than flexeril because I couldn't tell I was taking anything when I took it. So I take tons of meds, mainly for bipolar 1, and told them to find me something strong that doesn't interfere with all my other meds and zanaflex is what they came up with. I can tell that it works pretty good but you get the best relief when you take it with baclofen 2 a day. My ms doc said they could both be taken at the same time and the 2 of them together work really well.
I am unable to take enough to give you a truly helpful answer. I do take 2mg when going to the chiropractor so that the spasms will relax enough to allow my spine to properly adjust. This does cause drowsiness for a while. When needed I am able to take 1mg at bedtime, which is not enough for sleep. (I have to take a sleep aid every night with my fibro.) More than that causes over relaxation during sleep and my cervical spine falls out of alignment, causing severe spasm and migraines. I will add that when my chiro is able to properly realign my spine, the spasms/headaches calm down.
Several of you have talked about tizanidine and how it works and how much you are taking. Since prescirption drugs can be much different for each user, we took your questions to a Mayo Clinic pharmacist for some additional information. Here is what she said:
"Taking more than 1 muscle relaxer at the same time or taking high doses of muscle relaxers increases the risk of respiratory depression (slowed breathing) that can be life threatening. Taking muscle relaxers with alcohol or other medications that slow breathing may also cause respiratory depression and is usually avoided.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a condition that can require specialty, individualized care like that provided by our Mayo Clinic Specialty Pharmacy. Every patient is different. While an individual may be tolerating 2 muscle relaxers (baclofen and Zanaflex) dosed together, this could be very dangerous for another patient with acute pain or even a different MS patient.
Tizanidine can cause drowsiness, dizziness, weakness and low blood pressure. Patients should avoid activities that require mental alertness like driving while taking tizanidine because of these effects. It can also cause dry mouth for quite a few patients. Staying hydrated, sucking on hard candies and OTC products like Biotene can help ease these effects. Each treatment plan should be personalized and communicating with your healthcare team regarding your response to prescribed medications is essential."
She also mentioned, "Tizanidine inhibits motor and sensory neurons to reduce muscle spasms and pain. It has been effective in some patients not responding to baclofen. Sometimes it takes a mix of drug and non-drug treatments."
@AlwaysHopeful, are you having any better response with tizanidine?
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionI did not have success, but I followed the titration schedule on the bottle, however, my doctor was sending me by mail a different schedule for titration and I thought the schedule on the bottle was the one I should follow. Now I have taped down the tizanidine and we are going to try tramadol and lidocaine patches 5% for four days and see how that goes.