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Muscle relaxants (Read 155 times)

Fruchtenstein


    For reasons unrelated to running (afaik), the doctor prescribed a course of muscle relaxant -- Mydocalm (Tolperisone). It does relieve my PITA (in the abdomen, to avoid misunderstanding), but I'm worried by its effects on training and race performance. How does it affect the heart and the circulatory system? Does it make joints more injury-prone? Does it make training less effective?

    maureenash


      Spam

        WHAT,^^^^ that doesn't make any sense. You should prolly google, Wikipedia, or Medscape this.

        cookiemonster


        Connoisseur of Cookies

          Those would have been excellent questions to ask the prescribing provider at the time the prescription was written.

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          "C" is for cookie.  That's good enough for me.

          kilkee


          runktrun

            1.  Call back and ask your doc/your doc's PA or RN or leave a message and don't take them till you have a thorough understanding.

            2.  Spend some quality time on pubmed or nih.gov and draw your own conclusions (only peer reviewed studies with large sample sizes; I do A LOT of this)

            3.  Google/take internet advice:

            Tolperisone is a centrally acting muscle relaxant, so it blocks sodium/calcium channels that make muscles contract.  It's target is skeletal muscles, I think, so yes, you could probably expect a similar depression of general muscular activity in all your muscles.  I have no idea if trying to run hard while on it will have adverse effects.  It *should* not affect cardiac muscle, but sometimes it is prescribed for atherosclerosis issues, but I don't know how it acts in that capacity.

            Not running for my health, but in spite of it.

            kilkee


            runktrun

              side note: I take butalbit (acetaminophen, caffeine, and a barbiturate) for tension headaches and tension induced migraines and will also use some when I start having bizarre muscle twinges, spasms and contractions.  I only take one after I run and it wears off my morning and is not meant for long term use.

              Not running for my health, but in spite of it.

              Daydreamer1


                In my opinion there could be some concern for increased risk of injury. Here was my experience with a muscle relaxant.

                 

                I have a problem with back spasms. Years ago I found that Valium works well for that.  I also deal with some insomnia at times and my Dr prefers that I take a Valium at those times vs. giving me another prescription for a sleep aid.  I also have problems with loose ankles and can roll one walking on a sidewalk.

                 

                So I took the Valium once as a sleep aid right before a long trail race with lots of technical and uneven sections.  That day I probably had 10-12 minor rolls of both ankles in 16 miles until I finally had a major twist and fall that resulted in a major sprain. For some reason it seemed like my ankles were extra loose that day.  It took me a while to correlate the increased number of ankle rolls that day to my use of the Valium.  As always your experience may be different.

                AlineSchwab


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