Are you on cyclobenzaprine and are concerned about the side effects?
Is your back killing you and you were just given this medication
and are not sure whether you should take it? Keep watching because we are going to answer
the most common questions that you may have about this medication. As well, stay till the end
because we are going to give you 4 tips on what you can do to get your back pain under control.
Hi, I m Dr. Erik Richardson a board certified Family Practice physician.
I d like to welcome you to FamilyMed, a channel that focuses giving you practical and accurate
medical information to help you and your family. In today s video we are going to be
going over the most common muscle relaxant that is given called cyclobenzaprine or Flexeril.
Cyclobenzaprine is a medication that we use on a short term basis to treat muscle spasms,
most often in the back or neck. It works on the brain to interrupt signals that lead to
excessive spasms in the muscles. It is best used for short term
treatment of injuries involving the muscles and muscle spasms.
Cyclobenzaprine comes in tablets of 5, 7.5 and 10mg that can be taken up to 3 times a day
and an extended release version of 15 and 30mg that is taken daily.
There are some very real side effects that you can get with this medication.
The most common that we see are drowsiness, dry mouth and dizziness. These can range to mild to
more significant. Probably out of all the side effects, drowsiness seems to be the most common.
This isn t necessarily a bad thing at night but can be hard to take during the day if you need
to be up doing anything. The higher the dose the more significant these symptoms tend to be.
Other symptoms can be some fatigue, constipation, nausea, blurry vision and nervousness.
Since we are taking this to help for pain and most people are more concentrated on that,
smaller more mild side effects tend not to be noticed as much.
Rarely conditions such as seizures, some heart rhythm problems, stroke, heart attack and allergic
reactions can happen. These certainly aren t common, so unless you have some underlying
conditions that may put you at risk for these, I wouldn t let this be a reason not to take it.
Patients who suffer from severe liver disease, over active thyroid,
heart problems that include irregular heart beats, heart failure or a recent heart attack,
those who suffer from difficulty urinating due to an enlarged prostate and those with
eye problems such as glaucoma should be very careful or avoid taking this medication.
Also those over the age of 65 should be extra careful because you are at higher risk of
having complications from cyclobenzaprine. It also has some interactions with certain
medications so reviewing your medications with your doctor and pharmacist is important.
Because of its sedating nature, you should avoid taking it or be careful while taking
other sedating substances like narcotics, benzodiazepines, sleeping medications, alcohol
and marijuana, which can make the effects worse. Definitely avoid driving or other
dangerous activities while taking it. So those are the main questions that come
up when taking this medication it can be a real help in getting you through that back injury.
The biggest question you probably have though is related to the reason that you are taking
this medication. And that is what can you do to get rid of your pain. Here are 4 simple bonus
steps that you can do to help with if you just recently started having back and neck pain.
The first is, as much as possible, stay moving. One of the tendencies that we have with back pain
is to lay down. Sometimes you have to, but as much as possible you still need to move.
Staying still makes things worse and can make your recovery take longer.
You don t want to do things that make the pain worse, but if you are resting,
set a timer to get up every 20 minutes and walk and gently stretch.
Next is ice and heat. If you just injured your back using ice on the area can help decrease
inflammation. After a few days, applying heat in the from of a warm bath, hot water bottle,
heating pad or hot tub, can help relax muscles and improve blood flow. This can go far in helping
that muscle spasm start to calm down. Hint 3 is start taking otc pain medications
right at the onset of symptoms. If you are otherwise healthy and not taking a lot of
medications alternating anti-inflammatory medications like ibuprofen or Naprosyn with
medications like acetamenophin can do well to decrease swelling and improve pain.
Hint 4 is don t be afraid to incorporate other treatment options like massage,
acupuncture and spinal manipulation all of which can be great options in providing relief.
It s important to remember that most acute back pain gets better on its own within 3-4 weeks,
so being patient with it and incorporating the various treatment options can really help.
There are some symptoms though that should prompt you to seek care right away.
If you have any numbness or tingling around your groin or buttock, difficulty urinating, loss
of bladder or bowel control, fever, unexplained weight loss, swelling or deformity in your back,
if you had a significant injury or accident or if it just isn t getting any better.
You need to get into your doctor right away. So that s the rundown on cyclobenzaprine as well
as a few bonus pointers on how you can get some relief to that back pain that you have. I really
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don t miss out on any of our future content. It's been a pleasure sharing these few moments
with you. Good luck in your health journey and we ll see you in the next video.