Cyclobenzaprine: What Is It? Side Effects & Interactions Cleveland Clinic

There are other drugs available to treat your condition. Talk with your doctor about other drug options that may work for you. As with all medications, the costs of cyclobenzaprine can vary. Cyclobenzaprine may be used as part of combination therapy. This means you may need to take it with other medications. Chewing sugarless gum or sucking hard candy, and drinking plenty of water may help.

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Among the most dreaded toxicities linked with cyclical antidepressants, overdoses affect fast-acting sodium channels in the cardiac conduction system. Cyclical antidepressants block the cardiac sodium channel and cause prolongation of cardiac depolarization, which manifests as QRS widening on electrocardiograms. There is also evidence that cyclical antidepressants may decrease the seizure threshold by interfering with chloride conductance on the GABA receptor. For most patients, the recommended dose of FLEXERIL is 5 mg three times a day. Based on individual patient response, the dose may be increased to 10 mg three times a day.

Use of a medication taper may be warranted for chronic-use patients. The recommended total oral daily dose is 10–30mg [1]. It is structurally similar to the tricyclic antidepressants and adverse effects similar to those seen with the tricyclic antidepressants are therefore to be expected. Flexeril is prescribed to treat short-term pain and discomfort that stems from muscle injuries, including strains, sprains, and spasms. It is usually used in conjunction with physical therapy. The medication helps control the muscle spasms that result in pain.

Using Flexeril with other drugs that make you drowsy can worsen this effect. Flexeril is usually taken once daily for only 2 or 3 weeks. Follow all directions on your prescription label and read all medication guides or instruction sheets. There are many ways you can add physical activity to your healthy lifestyle, no matter your age or activity level. Physical activity related questions will be answered by one of HealthLink BC’s qualified exercise professionals.

Clinical monitoring

This combination can cause extreme drowsiness and respiratory depression, but many people that abuse Flexeril will mix the substances anyway simply to increase the intoxication experienced. Another potential side effect of Flexeril is overdose if an individual takes too much of the drug. Although Flexeril doesn’t produce a euphoric high like many other drugs, people still misuse it due to its relaxing effects; many will increase dosages to amplify those effects. A Flexeril overdose can cause severe health problems such as cardiac arrest, dangerously low blood pressure, and seizures. Central nervous system depression, seizures, heart attack, and even death can occur. Cyclobenzaprine comes as a tablet and an extended-release capsule to take by mouth.

• If these effects are mild, they may go away within a few days or a couple of weeks.
• This is not a complete list of Flexeril drug interactions.
• You should bring this list with you each time you visit a doctor or if you are admitted to a hospital.
• Call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room immediately if your symptoms are severe.

This is not a complete list of Flexeril drug interactions. Elderly patients seem to tolerate cyclobenzaprine less and may develop hallucinations as well as significant anticholinergic side effects, such as sedation. The use of significant lower dosing schedules in elderly patients may be prudent.

Side Effects of Flexeril

This should include large volume gastric lavage followed by activated charcoal. If consciousness is impaired, the airway should be secured prior to lavage and emesis is contraindicated. In the higher dose groups this microscopic change was seen after 26 weeks and even earlier in rats which died prior to 26 weeks; at lower doses, the change was not seen until after 26 weeks. The plasma concentration of cyclobenzaprine is increased in patients with hepatic impairment (see CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY, Pharmacokinetics, Hepatic Impairment).

Flexeril usually takes between 45 minutes to an hour to work after being ingested to show relaxation activity. It peaks at around 3 to 4 hours, and then the effects begin to wear off. This timeline is appropriate for an immediate-release formulation. In the case of an extended-release formulation, the effects last for up to 24 hours. However, the half-life of immediate-release cyclobenzaprine is 18 hours on average, with a range of 8-37 hours.

Are you currently using Flexeril Tablet?

Contact your care team if the problem does not go away or is severe. Tell your care team if your symptoms do not start to get better or if they get worse. Talk to your care team about the use of this medication in children. If this medication upsets your stomach, take it with food or milk. Do not use the extended-release capsules if you have used an MAO inhibitor (MAOI) such as Eldepryl®, Marplan®, Nardil®, or Parnate® within 14 days of each other.

Concomitant use of monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors or within 14 days after their discontinuation. Hyperpyretic crisis seizures, and deaths have occurred in patients receiving cyclobenzaprine (or structurally similar active ingredient in flexeril tricyclic antidepressants) concomitantly with MAO inhibitor drugs. Drugs.com provides accurate and independent information on more than 24,000 prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines and natural products.