Are muscle relaxants dangerous? If you go by the number of people who wind up in emergency rooms every year then the answer is a definitive yes!
The number of people winding up in the emergency room because of the misuse or abuse of the prescription muscle relaxant carisoprodol has more than doubled, a new federal report warns.
Dependency Issues
As reported in USA Today, Between 2004 and 2009, visits to the ER due to muscle relaxants went from 15,830 to 31,763.
Muscle relaxants are useful when taken properly for the short-term relief of acute muscle pain, but can become dangerous when combined with other prescription drugs, recreational drugs or alcohol. The vast majority of carisoprodol-related ER visits during the study period involved at least one other prescription drug.
When carisoprodol is ingested, it is converted by the liver into a chemical with anti-anxiety properties. This means that, even when taken on its own, patients run the risk of developing a physical and/or psychological dependence.
It is recommended that you only take muscle relaxants for a limited period of time (two to three weeks). When taken in tandem with narcotic painkillers, other anti-anxiety medications or alcohol, carisoprodol's sedative effect ratchets up markedly.
The Scary Stats – Mixing Is Bad
ER visits related to carisoprodol misuse were up across all age groups.
The most dramatic bump was seen among patients over the age of 50, whose visits tripled from nearly 2,100 to more than 7,100 visits. Visits among those aged 35 to 49 roughly doubled (from more than 6,300 to more than 12,000).
More than three-quarters (77 percent) of carisoprodol-related ER visits due to either abuse or misuse involved at least one other prescription drug. Narcotic painkillers were the most common additional medication, found among 55 percent of visits. Benzodiazepines were the second most common, found among 47 percent of visits.
About 18% of visits involved carisoprodol alone, but one-quarter involved a second drug, and one-third involved two additional medications. Roughly 12 percent of ER cases involved three other drugs, while another 12 percent involved another four or more. Alcohol was implicated in 12 percent of carisoprodol-related ER visits.
What's more, over one-third of all the misuse and abuse visits (35 percent) required hospitalization of the incoming patient.
It just goes to show that you need to be very careful when taking any medication. If your friend gives you a pill that helps him, it could adversely react with other medications you are taking. Make sure you consult your physician before using something he has not prescribed. Also make sure all of your docs are on the same page and are aware of what you currently are taking and for what purpose.