Feedback on Soma Side Effects and Usage, page 38
About Soma
If you’ve used Soma, please help others by sharing your experience with side effects. What would you tell your best friend about this product? Please remember that we do not give medical advice. That is for your local health care provider, who is familiar with your medical history.
Subj: Soma is a fickle drug
Date: 6/15/2011
I’ve been taking soma for TMJ and Scoliosis for about 5+ years. I also occasionally take Xanax for an anxiety disorder. I noticed that the Soma helps with anxiety (it is metabolized into meprobamate which is an anxiolytic) and I no longer need to take the Xanax, except in rare panic situations. I take 1-2 350mg somas a day, but have been weening myself down to half a pill per day due to tolerance. I noticed that when I am taking 2+ pills a day, I have horrible headaches and feel groggy and drained unless I take another pill. I also get a sense of euphora from soma occasionally, usually on an empty stomach or if I haven’t taken one in a few days. Sometimes I get dysphoria and blurry vision, though. It is a fickle drug and people need to be careful with it.
Mischa
Subj: Soma for neck strain
Date: 6/22/2011
My ENT gave me soma for neck strain because of vertigo. It seems odd since the drug itself causes vertigo. I’m wondering why he would have chosen soma. Any feedback?
Dee
AskDocWeb: It seems likely that your doctor was not treating the vertigo but instead was treating the neck strain. Soma is a skeletal muscle relaxant that is used to relieve the stiffness and pain caused by muscle strains. Vertigo or dizziness is listed as one of the possible side effects that should be reported to the prescribing doctor.
Subj: Using Soma long-term
Date: 7/17/2011
I have pretty severe compression in my lower back. I had an operation where they inserted the” x-stop”. The pain is better but I still need to take one norco in the morning and another around three with a soma. This routine has lasted three years and I haven desire to increase the dosage. Can I do this indefinitely without serious side effects?
Ed
AskDocWeb: You might take that desire to increase the dosage as sign that it’s time to check with your doctor. Long-term use of Soma can cause addiction to the sedative effects of this drug. The use of Soma is typically not recommended beyond three weeks. In post-marketing reports, cases of dependence, abuse, and withdrawal have been reported with prolonged use. In most cases these occurred in patients with a history of addiction or who used Soma in combination with other drugs that have abuse potential. It is important to note that abrupt withdrawal from Soma after long-term use may cause seizures, hallucinations or rebound spasticity. Talk to your doctor about the safest way to stop taking this medication.
Subj: Overdose
Date: 7/18/2011
how much soma does it take to overdose? I took four 350 mg pills and I’m pretty sleepy.
Jerry
AskDocWeb: The directions are on the label, which tells you the appropriate dosage for your situation. If you use more than that amount then you have overdosed. Please contact your local poison control center or emergency room immediately. Although Soma normally works only on skeletal muscles taking too many can eventually relax the body so much that your heart could stop. There is at least one report of someone dying from taking just 5 pills.
Subj: Soma is not for long term use
Date: 7/29/2011
I pulled my rib muscles trying to put a child in to time out. Did not feel the pain until a few days later. Then I started with muscle spasms and severe pain. After the doc gave me anti-inflammatory and soma (generic). Had to take it 3 times a day and at bedtime. Made me extremely sleepy, even the new 250mg pill. However, after a few days, I felt much better.
Found that when I just took 1 pill at bedtime, it made me feel much less stiff and painful when I awoke, considering I also have fibromyalgia. Was told by my doc that I could only take 1 tablet 4 times a week for safety, if I wasn’t injured. Then I reinjured myself and am back on the same regimen of 3 times a day, but am stuck not driving b/c of the sleepiness. It works great after a few days, but was told that it is not for long term use, according to the drug manufacturer. That’s too bad. I may cut it in half at night later, to see if that had any effect on my stiffness in the A.M.
Elaine
Subj: Gained 10 lbs. in one week
Date: 8/1/2011
I have been taking Soma for two weeks, about one week ago my feet and ankles swelled terribly. Propping them up doesn’t help and it’s getting painful. I went to the ER last night and was told nothing is wrong with me, kidneys, heart liver, etc. all checked out good. Then I remembered Soma, it seems it can cause water retention in some people and this obviously can cause weight gain(I’ve gained 10 lbs. in one week) I will ask my pain specialist today for an alternative to Soma. I need something for my back but I don’t need to retain water.
Daniel
Subj: Beware of back pain Physical Therapy
Date: 8/13/2011
Four years ago I went to my family doctor for a small bothersome pain in my mid back. They ordered xrays, then an MRI, then a total body bone scan with Cobalt by I.V. ALL CLEAR. I was 50 yrs. old then. I went to Physiatrists, Neurologists, and Internits….also to a Pain Management Center who said “you have nothing…I treat people who hurt”, and threw a script for 5mg. Vicodan at me. (I cried while he typed on a computer about how much pain I was in!). I went back to the family dr. who sent me to Physical Therapy. PLEASE!!!! Beware of so-called “Physical Therapists” who are either lazy at their job, OR don’t know what the hell they are doing! First thing she did was put me on an Electrical Stimulation machine, which I knew NOTHING about. I just trusted. She turned it on and I had 3 back Spasms that took my breath away. This machine (NOT a tenz unit…) hurt my back so badly I was paralyzed with pain until I reached over & threw it on the floor, knocking the battery out of it.
I ask her what happened and what she did, and she told my husband that she turned it up to the highest level “of shock” that it would go. I ask her why, and she shrugged her shoulders and smiled. I crawled out of there and went home literally screaming in pain. That episode ruined my back. The Neuroligist who injects me with Lidocaine once a month says he can stand there and watch it move and have a almost constant spasm.
After a couple mos. of trying to find help for this, now mess, My mother dropped dead of a horrendously large brain Anuerysm. 2 mos. later my cousin was strangled by her boyfriend, at age 36. 2 mos. later, another cousin died of a double Morphine drip in a hosp. for a teeny kidney stone. 2 months later my father died after a fall on a slick sidewalk, hit his head, pressure built & he was brain dead. (He died Xmas Eve, my Mother on my birthday…now two of my worst days). 2 mos. after THAT…my Goddaughter dropped dead at home at age 28. Needless to say, I was a COMPLETE MESS.
I had a panic attack or breakdown, and they put me in the hosp. There I was given Soma, Cymbalta, and Ativan. I can take 4 Soma and usually do. Yesterday I took none, cause my back strangely did not hurt. The Cym. I take 60mgs. of (for pain also), and the Ativan I only take when I get very nervous over something…rarely. I’ve gained 40 lbs. and eat virtually NOTHING, honestly, so one or all of those make you gain weight cause I was a jr. size 3, at 50 yrs. old. I am now 54, still in pain, and a size jr. 9-10.
My son is an M.D. and he says I am a walking Malpractice Suit (due to the shocking of my back). I must say a few things about drs. though. NOT ALL are scumbags who dole out meds like candy. My son is extremely careful and Drs. are Audited every yr. to see what they are perscribing and how MUCH of it, and WHY they perscribe it!!!! I have never had any problems with Soma, but they do wear-off at about 10:00pm for me if I take them at noonish. My hubby rubs the spot so hard it hurts, but after that I’m good for 5 or so hrs. I do NOT take more drugs. I DESPISE drugs. I get blood tests every 6 mos. or so and I’m ok. PLEASE…those of you taking 6, 8, 10 or more a day, BE CAREFUL…All drugs are insidious in my opinion. They can be so good, but so horrendous at the same time. Just be aware!!! Thanx for listening…
Carol
Subj: Horrible withdrawal
Date: 8/15/2011
Soma is by far the worst withdrawal you can experience. Pain will grip your body 10x more than when getting off an opiate. The sense of unease is tremendous. Give in and take a Soma for relief from the horrible withdrawal and feel your entire body and mind released from stress. Peace and pain free. This drug is a devil.
Karen
Subj: Re. the question about long-term Soma use:
Date: 8/23/2011
I’ve used it on and off since my twenties and I’m now 57. Whiplash twice and other mishaps. And I like the relaxation effect – on emotions, not just muscles. Have probably taken it more years than I haven’t. No problems with repeating myself, no difficulty following directions, no dementia. Only health problem is borderline hypertension managed with Lisinopril.
Marjorie
Subj: Taking gabapentin and Soma
Date: 8/27/2011
My doctor put me on 2 gabapentin 600mg. and 1 350mg soma to take at night for muscle sprasms and back pain. for to nights now i wake up with a bad headache and my blood pressure goes up and down. and i feel funny could this be from taking them together. is there in this. thank you.
Mary
AskDocWeb: There is a moderately severe drug interaction possible between gabapentin and Soma. Using these drugs together may additively or synergistically increase the depressive effects on the central nervous system and/or respiratory system, especially in elderly or debilitated patients. The patient information warns against engaging in hazardous activities requiring mental alertness and motor coordination until you know how this combination affects you, and to notify your physician if you experience excessive or prolonged CNS effects that interfere with normal activities.
Subj: Drowsy, retarded motor skills, and memory loss
Date: 9/9/2011
I have taken Soma for quite some time….I do feel it works however I get terribly drowsy, motor skills r retarded, and I lose memory of that day. I do think it is addictive and when stopping it abruptly after taking it for a month or longer I have felt terrible for approx 3 days. I was on Oxycodone for 3yrs and never felt the withdrawal effects like I do with Soma….. I never hoy “high’ from pain meds but I totally do with Soma and I do not like the feeling…..I am completely looped when I take it but its the only med I have taken that does help with pain and muscle issues……just b cautious
Japola
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