muscle relaxers

does any know if a muscle relaxer would help with leg cramps i hate them so no worry of addiction but during the worst part of the rls whould they help my wife asked her dr. for some xanex to help me with the process but i hate those as well so im thinking if day 4 and 5 are real bad ill take one of each to see if thell help me sleep through the night

[worried878]

muscle relaxers//other than soma//are not usually a problem..soma is not for most people but it can be a problem for some...zanaflex, flexeril, baclofen are some muscle relaxers that could help with cramping and sleep....it is important to get ur sleep to make it thru the physical part of wd...good luck to u..there r also supps etc that can help..read thru the health pages..there is also an article in my journal about rls..good luck and keep posting

[outotown]

I have heard of some people using soma to help with w/d Good luck

[broknbck]

hey, you know that may be a good idea. but they really make you groggy for hours afterward.  whenever i took one , i would always go right to sleep. and then i was useless for most of the next day. it should help with the leg thing too.
let us know how it works for the legs

[Chymist]

In my personal experience, muscle relaxants are not very effective for acute leg cramps or rls -- they are much more effective for sustained muscle tension, spasm and limitation of movement. It depnds on the cause of the leg cramps, but most often mineral supplements are the most effective - calcium, magnesium and potassium.  A banana (potassium source) at bedtime can work wonders!

RLS (restless leg syndrome) is a different matter.  Muscle relaxants other than benzodiazepines (Klonopin, Valium, etc.) are not very helpful and many medications actually cause RLS.  Ropinirole (Requip, Ropark, Adartrel) -- Rx only --  has been approved in the last couple of years for treatment, and I have personally found it effective.  There is a good detailed article in Wikipedia on RLS.