Repllacement for Flexaril for Tardive Dyskinesia?

[ILADVOCATE]

My neurologist and I agree that I have built up a tolerance to the Flexaril I take for a wide variety of spasms from advanced tardive dyskinesia (please note I take it responsibly as prescribed) and the dystonic and dysphagic spasms have come back. For a long while the Flexaril along with Methocarb and Skelaxin (which I still take) worked. But then it began to stop. I take other medications (Klonopin, Catapres, rhodiola and two others in clinical study) for it and have tried about 30 anti-Parkinsonian medications and couldn't tolerate them or they couldn't work. But to keep the question short and simple (dealing with known aspects of my disability) I recieved a list of medications that would be covered under my insurance and a few I hadn't heard of and hadn't tried. My neurologist could not suggest more options but I know when I bring them information they often find it of use. Perhaps you could tell me if the following medications could be useful in controlling dystonic spasms and could replace Flexaril (they don't need to be any more effective, its just a matter of a change with his supervision). The ones listed I haven't tried are: dantrolene, chlorzoxasone and carisoprodol. I'd appreciate any information on those medications that could be of help. Thanks.

[Dr Vinod]

Dantrolene sodium is a muscle relaxant.It is the only specific and effective treatment for malignant hyperthermia.
Chlorzoxazone is a centrally acting muscle relaxant used to treat muscle spasm and the resulting pain or discomfort.
Carisoprodol is a muscle relaxer that works by blocking pain sensations.

You should not take these drugs without consulting your Physician and without a prescription, i gave the functions of these drugs for your information only.
Take care!

[ILADVOCATE]

Thank you for the information doctor. My neurologist looked up the medications and was able to make use of the information and started me on Cholorzoxazone and will be transfering me from Flexaril to it and I will be following his instructions closely. I appreciate.

[ggreg]

Dear Advocate,
Here's some more ideas.  By the way, I think those Flexeril and skeletal muscle relaxants are not the best thing to be using, they're kind of a bandaid for what you got, but if they work, fine.  These are just some of my notes.

According to the National Institutes of Health, the three classes of drugs recommended for the treatment of Tardive Dyskinesia are:  benzodiazepines (Klonopin, Valium), adrenergic antagonists (the beta blocker Atenolol), and dopamine agonists (Mirapex, Apomorphine).

I had a brief episode of Parkinson-like symptoms from an antipsychotic medicine I was taking when I was younger.  The ER gave me a shot of Valium and it reversed the effects, thank goodness.  These days they give a shot of Diphenhydramine, I read somewhere.  So, the point is, you said Klonopin did not help you, but I wonder if Valium might work a little better.  Also, when I had a heart problem, I took the beta blocker Atenolol, that I mentioned above, and gosh it made me feel good when I was on it.

I also personally think something else you might try are the barbituates.  Phenobarbitol when combined with Phenytoin (Dilantin) is very good for seizures, so, to me, it sort of follows that if you've got muscle contractions for whatever reason, could be that class of drugs would help you, but my thoughts are not scientific.  Also, you remember the movie "The Awakenings" with Robert DeNiro, that's when they unstuck a bunch of muscle-frozen people from the flu epidemic in the 1920s, they'd been catatonic for forty years, and it was levodopa or L-dopa that freed them temporarily, or whatever the name of that drug is that's associated with Parkinson's somehow.  But it's supposed to help with muscle contractions of certain kinds.
GG