Availability Of Soma / Carisoprodol
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I've tried every other muscle relaxer Tizanidine / (trade names Zanaflex, Sirdalud) Methocarbamol / trade name Robaxin/ Baclofen (brand names Kemstro, Lioresal, Liofen, Gablofen, Beklo and Baclosan) Cyclobenzaprine, brand names Amrix, Flexeril and Fexmid all of these have adverse side effects for me and virtually no muscle relaxer efficacy= they don't work well or really not at all side effects, headaches, dizziness, lots more soma / Carisoprodol however worked very well, and I had to take small amounts so that side effects were able to be kept at a minimum when soma / Carisoprodol began from what I've heard to gain a little popularity with druggies. doctors quit prescribing it, and authorities, the powers that be, began to council doctors against prescribing it I was not able to get it anymore, so I asked about 6 different doctors why, and I got six different reasons finally I went to a doctor who used to prescribe it to me, who said that the it was too big of a risk, as he put it, any doctor who prescribes it paints a big red target on their back, and the patients back too I understand there are still a few doctors out there prescribing it, perhaps for patients who have been getting it from the same doctor before it fell out of favor, I asked my current doctor what is a substitute for soma / Carisoprodol, he said "nothing" , then he went on to say he doesn't like muscle relaxers Yes I know that a considerable proportion of carisoprodol is metabolized to meprobamate, and also reports that it has potentiating effects on narcotics, and I've read and read about it, but still don't see a significant reason because when I take soma I don't feel any euphoria at all, it works well so I can take a 1/4 tab. at that dose I don't have any side effect in my head -no groggy feeling, doesn't make me sleepy and if I quit taking it abruptly, there are no withdrawal effects at all but doctors seem to have no trouble giving me opioids, so it just does not make sense to me

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REPORT

Yes, your body metabolizes Carisprodol into the obsolete sedative Meprobamate, which was sold under the brand names of Miltown (the name of the city in NJ that the pharma company invented in, I forget which, Wyeth comes to mind but not sure) and Equanil. Anyways, it took the DEA over 40 years to make it a controlled substance, schedule 4!!! I wonder if it has effects similar to Doriden and codeine, being it is a liver enzyme CYPD26 inducer.

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Re: Patrice (# 15)

When I was first given them in the early 80s I had this young Asian pharmacist strangely interested in how they work for me and why I was taking them. I told him I love them, I still do!

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Re: Eddy (# 1)

Your right Eddy. They got me high, I just didnt care for the effects. When they first hit, you think wow cool. Almost like a luude, but a few minutes later they make me just lazy.

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I realize this thread is over a year old, but I just wanted to let you know I understand where you're coming from regarding the whole hunched over look. Sometimes that's the only way I can walk/stand with less pain. You sound a lot like my dad though. He's had 9 different back surgeries and as he says, he is decompressed, stabilized, and fused from the pelvis up through T-something (I can't recall) He's had to have full replacement of ALL the rods and screws and everything in his spine at least twice and he's thinking he may need a 3rd time. I don't know how he does it, but he has broken those rods in his back twice, which is why he needed to have everything replaced, but pretty much no orthopedic surgeon wants to touch him after having had so many failed spinal surgeries. He's also had his left knee replaced 3 different times.........first time he got a staph infection while in the hospital, second time the swelling never really went down and he was still having tremendous pain, but the third one worked out amazingly well since he had this 3rd one done at the VA hospital in Palo Alto and they had to make the implant deeper into his tibia (or whatever bone they inserted the implant into). He can't stand up straight either and when he tries you can see how painful it is for him. He's now talking about a possible right knee replacement and maybe even a 4th left knee replacement because he had really bad muscle spasms one night and he stomped the floor really hard, which he thinks has caused the implant to become loose. Out of 4 people in my immediate family, my brother is the only one who doesn't have chronic pain problems that require narcotic pain relievers. I was pretty young when my back pain started, still in college at the time......I was only 23 and when I finally got in to see an orthopedic specialist he exclaimed that I was too young to be in such pain, but he could clearly see on my MRIs that I had at least 2 herniated discs and degenerative disc disease. He recommended surgery and I did a bit of research on the different types of spinal surgeries that were possible. I told him I would really like to try the new disc replacement technology rather than a spinal fusion because I've seen firsthand how fusions create more problems than they solve, but he told me I was not a good candidate for disc replacement because my PARS were cracked, which if I remember correctly is the part of the vertebrae that sticks out on each side. So I very reluctantly accepted the fusion, but he only fused one of the two problem areas. I have no idea why he didn't just fuse both when I clearly needed it. Maybe he thought I didn't need the 2nd one fused at L4/L5 after he got in there, but I can tell you that in less than 10 years my pain has now migrated up the spine even further. When I went in for my first check up after surgery he told me that the disc he removed was so calcified that it just popped right open when he started on the removal part of the process. I feel like I've tried just about everything to help with this crazy, unending, severe pain, but I've come to accept that this is just my life now. I do the best I can to get out and maintain my friendships, but some people aren't as understanding as others. If there are any updates you'd like to share, I would definitely love to hear about them! Hope you're having a low pain day! P.S. the Fentanyl patches are absolutely great for longer-term pain relief.

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Soma was just recently categorized as a controlled substance now. If you aren't taking any opioids then IMHO they should rx soma..just my thoughts. It sux I know I've been off of them for 8 months now.

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I've been rx d( prescribed) soma for 10 years, but I also have been on xanax about that long. Then I got hit by car was put on Vicodin. It worked very well in conjunction w/ soma. Eventually I developed a pitiatary cyst, benign but painful as hell. I got down to fl2014 and my pm Dr will not rx it !! My new Dr , gives my pain meds is so willing to work with you and help u the way so many ways, but I didn't ask him. I was til by the first Dr. That there is nothing that will help with spasms lil soma, so basically I'm told and I'm greatful for the meds I do get. Soma with a benzo like xanax and drinking a beer or alcohol or illicit drugs will cause, can cause death easily. I also heard methadone with soma is a recipe for disaster. I use flexeril out of all the others works the best but not if taken everyday
I also know my xanax is a great muscle relaxer. Klonopin is a good muscle relaxer valium is common rx d for muscle relaxers, not in fl though.k

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re-breaking your back so it can be set straight:

well that is quite impossible. while the spine is in some ways like a bone that could be set straight by re-breaking it, because it has bones that protect the spine, it's infinitely more complex.

I wished that the fusion that was done when I was 18 could be un-fused, because it was a big mistake, but it wouldn't have worked.

medicine does lots of things that don't make sense, when I was 18 doctors would operate far too easily, these days they are almost too cautious, fear of legal suits I guess. I'm very sorry to hear that you are suffering so much, though I'm glad that at least you get soma,
it's so effective, and nothing else, well there are the Benzodiazepines, but they have so many other effects, and have such long half lives that they are much more dangerous to use, they have an effect similar to alcohol, one thinks one is perfectly able to drive, when they aren't, this is helpful when one is suffering from anxiety, but not for anything that requires good judgement like driving. Soma at least for me was effective without being so dangerous, though I wouldn't advise driving while taking it, because it causes drowsiness.

I could take 1/4 tab at a time and it was still effective without causing drowsiness.

someone said it was likely due to the fact that I'd take it for 20 plus years, that's probably in part true, the other part is that I only took the bare minimum needed to get relief from pain.

Doctors should know that people who are in pain are not like those who seek drugs for a high, not for relief from pain,

but when the druggies cause problems, the police complain to the drug authorities who in turn tell doctor's -don't prescribe these medicines, as if those directives will help! druggies will just get their hands on some other drug, and patients like me will suffer

I better get off my soapbox

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Yes.. can't explain why because I have been on soma for years and have never abused any of my meds. There like gold to me. I need them. Not only have I broke my back but I have rheumatoid arthritis, also have fibromyalsia. Sleep disorder. I am just a total mess. I can't stand straight because I stretched my spinal cord so when they put rods in my back they couldn't put it straight. So life sucks for me. I live with chronic pain, and I'm only 48 and still act like a teenager so my kids say.lol. gotta make the best out of life. I broke my back getting thrown from a horse but will get back on. I am seriously thinking about rebraking my back to stand straight. It really is embarrassing.

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My same Doctor who writes for Soma and a lot of Xanax actually told me a couple years ago that Xanax and Soma basically the same thing and said no, now he says yes. They are now both the same Federal schedule, and Soma does metabolize down in the liver into a benzodiazepine. Shows how little a doctor really knows about his pills!

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you said "They call it coma soma.. I can't get it either anymore.. He gave me the choice of zanax or soma. I broke my back and have been on meds ever since."
I don't get it, you can't take soma, but the doctor gave you a choice between soma and zanax?

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I took klonopin briefly for a severe muscle spasm in my neck, it's really very strong, watch out for it, especially if you drive, I wouldn't take it.
I've heard about the soma codiene combination, but never had it in the same pill, took it separately

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To be honest I didn't know doctors didn't like rx'ing soma. My husband had neck surgery 2 years ago and his doctor writes him 75 of the soma compound (with codeine) and for 75 soma (150 per month). His doctor has never said anything bad about it to him. He will take the compound one when he is having a lot of pain and when he isn't having pain will just take the regular soma. He doesn't take either one everyday only as he needs to. So it's like we have our own little pharmacy here with his meds and mine lol. I hope that you are able to find a doctor that is willing to prescribe the medication to you. Muscle relaxors don't do much for me having tried mostly all of them even including soma and it didn't work well on me at all. I felt like a wet noodle and slept in the floor the whole night after it kicked in and kicked my butt and that was about 7 years ago. So they put me on a very low dose of klonopin to help with the tension in my muscles from the lupus and fibromyalgia

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They call it coma soma.. I can't get it either anymore.. He gave me the choice of zanax or soma. I broke my back and have been on meds ever since.

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well I have an HMO, so everything has to go through my GP, I did get a referral to an orthopedic clinic,
I asked for a referral to a pain clinic, where I used to go, though that doctor would not prescribe soma either,
I did pay cash and go visit my old doctor who used to prescribe soma, but he said the authorities had him under a microscope so he could not,
maybe one day I can afford to get a PPO and then I can see any doctor...

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I'm all for Soma, its just doctors have disliked writing it for years. I am actually taking half's after taking 3 a day. A 1/4 is nothing! I tapered down as I was running out, and recently got a bunch more after a Semi accident. Keep looking as they are available in most areas!

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well I only take 1/4 tab at a time so I don't get groggy, yet it's still very effective for muscle pain,
so much so I didn't have to take any tylenol #4, or at most a 1/4 tab of tylenol #4 a day
so I was taking about 1 to 1 1/2 tabs total of soma 350 mg a day when pain was really bad,
but when I ran out of soma, and doctor's wouldn't write it,
I had to take 3 or 4 tylenol #4 which has, as you probably know very well, all sorts of negative side effects

anyway I'm working hard with physical therapy to try to stay off all meds,

no medicines for pain really work that great

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Anyone who has taken endless bottles of Soma like myself know you do feel euphoria, it does make you groggy. Most doctors know a Soma will make you high, mixed with other pills or alcohol you get more buzzed. It took them 30 years to control it and it finally happed. Yet some Doctors will still write for them. I get 100 a month.

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