Muscle relaxers anyone?

[christianirc]

Hi,
Today I had a really bad day.  In therapy they've been doing heat and ice packs on my shoulders and neck.  Well after the heat today they had me lifting a 1 pound bar and in the middle of lifting it, my neck suddenly felt like someone was trying to pick my up by the scruff of my neck.  The pain was 10+.  They practically had to carry me back to bed, gave me more ice and pain pills.  They called the therapy doctor (not and NL or NS) and he has prescribed a muscle relaxer starting tomorrow called Soma.  Has anyone ever had this problem or taken muscle relaxers and got relief. Is there anything else to relieve the spams (that is what they called it, I don't know what it was.  It was just to the right of my incision).
Thanks,
Brenda

[christianirc]

I took one of them yesterday and before the end of therapy I was not able to move anything.  I was jello.  One of my physical therapists had to pull my chair (not push because I couldn't raise my legs) back to my room and pick me up and put me in bed.  I will not be taking one of those again.

[karalee85]

i had to find a second pt.. they (nl n ns) believe that some of my continuing pain was caused by the first pt doing the wrond stuff which was painful, but the second one was great and it helped so much.

[sandy629]

  i was told not to do pt just  mild massage. pt for me was a very painfull thing  and i stopped

[toomuchbrain]

I'm currently on Soma. Well, I have a script for it and I have a bottle of it, but I don't use it on a regular basis.
I got the script from my rheumatologist, before I got my chiari dx. I was having a lot of neck stiffness, to the point where it was keeping me up at night. She gave me the soma to help with that, and ordered physical therapy. The PT did nothing, and the therapists couldn't figure out why. Between PT, heat, and Soma, I got some relief. Note completely, but enough.I hope it helps you some.
As far as side effects, I'm the person that will be drowsy on anything. Anything that 'may' make you drowsy, I'm zonking out on it. Surprisingly, soma doesn't do this to me. I don't really get any side effects from it at all. It's not a strong dosage, so that may be why. Also, I find taking it at night helps me the most, especially with sleeping. It doesn't make me drowsy, but it does give me the relief I need to have at least a chance at sleep.
:) Hope that helps you some!

[linnielou232]

My doctor explained to me that the muscle in the back of your neck that they have to move when you have decompression surgery is over the size of a quarter so it takes a lot of time to recovery from this because that muscle has to return to where it was before surgery which takes a lot of time.  I don't take Soma,  but they have me on flexrel which I take 3 times a day for relief.  After surgery it doesn't seem like any thing help's.  Just time and patience.  Which I don't have a lot of.  Just try to lay down and relax that muscle.   Hope you feel better soon.

[selmaS]

  I did not do PT after my surgery...only the exercises I was shown in the hospital...I also did on my own at home.

I did however use ,muscle relaxers, but not that med....here r the side effects of this med-

What side effects can this medication cause?

Carisoprodol may cause side effects. Tell your doctor if any of these symptoms are severe or do not go away:

drowsiness

dizziness

clumsiness

headache

fast heart rate

upset stomach

vomiting

skin rash

If you experience any of the following symptoms, call your doctor immediately:

difficulty breathing

fever

weakness

burning in the eyes