Let Carisoprodol take the strain when you have a muscle injury
Do you have a sprain, a strain or some other muscle injury? Are you suffering from muscle spasms? Do you have any other painful musculoskeletal condition like lower back pain? If so, Carisoprodol (sold under the brand name Soma) will relieve the pain and discomfort you may be feeling. It very specifically relaxes muscles, so do not use it to treat general aches and pains. More importantly, it blocks the pain sensations, and slows or prevents their transmission to the brain. Thus, when you take Carisoprodol, you get good but temporary relief from the pain. But you must be deceived into believing that Carisoprodol has actually cured the injury. Even though you may feel better, you must continue to rest, and complete a full course of physiotherapy and any other treatment your doctor thinks appropriate before resuming exercise. There is a very real risk that you may extend the injury if you begin exercising again too soon.
Check the prices for Carisoprodol in reliable online pharmacies
You should follow your doctor’s instructions on how to use Carisoprodol. In general, you should not self-medicate or set your own dosage levels. Given the risk both of physical and psychological dependence, and of abuse, you should use Carisoprodol sparingly and always store it in a safe place where others cannot easily access it. You should take Carisoprodol with food or immediately after meals to reduce the risk of stomach upsets.
How can Carisoprodol help?
In short term use, Carisoprodol is a highly effective muscle relaxant, but it is particularly useful in the treatment of different kinds of pain because it potentiates the opioid analgesics. For some purposes, Carisoprodol is sold mixed with aspirin and codeine (and caffeine). But, doctors produce their own cocktails depending on the specific nature of the problem to be treated. In most cases, the common denominator is some muscular injury or spasming. The key advantage of these mixtures is that Carisoprodol potentiates the other analgesic and so a smaller dose of the opioid can be used. Because most of the natural opioid class of medications are also habit forming, it is extremely useful to be able to get a stronger therapeutic effect from a smaller and so less dangerous dose. The most common combinations are with the synthetics derived from codeine, e.g. oxycodone and ethylmorphine, and with the open-chain class such as ketobemidone and methadone.
But this potentiating effect also creates the opportunity to abuse Carisoprodol, and its use has been strictly limited or banned in some countries where there is evidence of deaths resulting from recreational use.
A little history
Carisoprodol was developed at Wallace Laboratories in the late 1950s and, after testing, was accepted as a centrally-acting muscle relaxant. The development work had been aimed at providing a safer version of meprobamate — a successful mild sedative/tranquilliser — with a smaller risk of dependence. In fact, meprobamate was subsequently taken off the market and listed as a controlled substance. Unfortunately, a proportion of Carisoprodol is metabolised into meprobamate which is why Carisoprodol has potential for abuse. Although it is highly effective, it should be treated with some caution. You should not take it at all if you have problems with alcohol or other medications.
