Posted by Tony P on February 19, 2004, at 4:32:37
In reply to Muscle Relaxants, posted by Tom1982 on February 19, 2004, at 0:04:09
> I am currently taking Carisoprodol but I'm interested in finding something more potent with a longer duration of action.
>
> Can anyone tell me how Flexeril compares to Carisoprodol in terms of potency?
>
> Also does anyone know the half-lives of these medications?
>
> TIA
>
> -Tom
It seems to me carisoprodol has quite a LONG effective half-life - but measurements vary. It's slowly metabolized to meprobamate, which is also a muscle relaxant/tranquilizer, which complicates things.Most effective muscle relaxant I have found for serious spasms is Robaxin. Get plain Robaxin OTC or on Rx, 750 mg., 1 or 2 as needed up to 6g./day (9g./day in clinical use, i.e. under supervision). I avoid the compounds such as Robaxacet that are sold off the shelf, as they are too low a dose to be effective and I want to be the judge of whether I need a pain reliever as well. Unfortunately Robaxin has a SHORT half life - typically redose evry 4-6 hours. Also you can build some tolerance to Robaxin at steady high doses over period of months.
But that's even more true of carisoprodol - you may be experiencing what they're calling "inter-dose withdrawal symptoms" if you've been on it for some time. Your body may be metabolizing it faster than average or producing an antagonist response.
Incidentally, don't mix Robaxin with carisoprodol -- I did and got very impaired, to the point where I wasn't sure how many I had taken.
Haven't tried Flexaril.
Tony P
poster:Tony P
thread:315461
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040218/msgs/315507.html