muscle relaxer experience anyone?

[sunburnt22]

my muscles are often tense and sore. i think b/c i'm exhausted a lot, and they have to overwork to keep me going. it makes my sleep more restless too. anyone had success with muscle relaxers? please include how long it took for them to work and what dosages you took. thanks.

[thorjansen]

In my experience (a few years now) with various ones, I don't think they will work like you think they do. I take Soma as part of my overall pain management program, and before that Robaxin, and never did I get a feeling of true muscle relaxation. It's more like a partial cessation of tension and achiness, just enough to calm down a bit.

That may be enough for you, though, to help you fall asleep and maybe even stay asleep too, but you won't know for sure till you ask your doctor and maybe give them a try, if he/she thinks it's appropriate. It alone isn't enough for me, though I never tried them alone just for that purpose. I now take Ambien to get to sleep (sometimes works, sometimes doesn't), to counter the effects of all the other meds I have to take (big-time insomnia, as in days without sleep, 9 a.m. bedtimes, etc.).

And then sometimes, a massage, a hot bath, a cool dark room, and relaxing background music, is all it takes.