I saw a new neuro today and he has prescribed Tizanidine to help my spacticity. I have tried Baclofen, which had no affect, and Gabapentin, which I had to give up due to side effects (very dizzy).
I was wondering if you have tried Tizanidine did it help and did you have any side effects?
Carol
Sorry, but it wasn’t for me when I tried it. A lot of people find it really good though.
The neuro who prescribed it for me warned me to increase the dose very very slowly.
I hope it works really well for you.
Karen x
hi carol
i tried tizanadine but it made me so weak i couldnt stand up. the only way to find out if it will help is to try it i guess. good luck
x
Hi Carol, Tizanidine worked really well for me BUT I could just not stay awake even on a very low dose so I persevered for a long time on and off and eventually gave up! Go into it with an open mind and good luck. Hope it works really well for you. Cheryl:)
Hi Karen Zelda and Cheryl
Thank you for your replies, they are very helpful. Forewarned is forearmed, I shall proceed cautiously and hope for the best.
Carol
Hi,
I’ve been on tizanidine for a few months now. I’m struggling with upping the doses as it just zonks me out. I got up to 6mg a day but I was finding trying to work too difficult so have had to lower it again. Not sure if i’ve done the right thing as I guess if I could stick with it long enough eventually my body would get used to it… Tricky one. Hope you get on ok with it.
Char
xxx
Hi Char
Thank you for your reply. Could I ask - was 6mg a day heping with your symptoms?
The neuro told me I could increase 2mg/day every fortnight. Unfortunately I have forgotten what maximum dose he said I could got up to ( and I only saw him this morning!) - think I will have to phone his secretary if I get on OK with low doses.
Carol
Hi Carol,
To be honest they weren’t working as well as I hoped they would. I still got a lot of spasms in my legs and that was with me on 6mg Tizanidine, 70mg of Baclofen and 300mg Progabalin a day.
I think its all just one big experiment really trying to find out what works for you.
Funny you say about what the max dose should be as I can’t remember what my Neuro said either! so if you find out, please let me know lol. What I do remember though (sort of!!!) is him saying that until you’ve got 15mg in your system they won’t really be working properly. What I can’t remember is if this is 15mg a day or a week!!! Im hoping its a week lol
Char
xxx
I was first started of with Baclofen but that did help but did not work that good for me. I was switched to Tizanidine and was warned it’s a strong drug and I might be one of the many who can’t tolerate it.
It has been very good for me I was started of on 2 mg three times a day and it helped with spasticity, unfortunately a few weeks ago I suffered from very bad spasticity and was advised to up the dose one day at a time, if I could tolerate it I could go up to 4 mg three times a day.
I have been okay with it so far on 4 mg and hopefully I won’t have to go higher than that.
Hope it does help you out and you don’t suffer from any of the side effects.
M
Hi Char and M - thank you for your replies.
M, I am glad that tizanidine is working for you and that you seem to tolerate it well, even at the higher dose. I hope your current dose continues to work for you, this spasticity is a real nuisance.
Char, it does seem that you are taking quite a lot of meds, I think maybe I was being a bit naive thinking because my friend does well with 30mg per day baclofen that it would do the same for me.
I have leaned that everybody is very different but I haven’t given up hope of finding something that will help. The neuro first said I could try Clonazepam before changing his mind. He said this was an option if Tizanidine did not help and he also said that intra-thecal baclofen was another possibility although it is invasive. Still it is nice to know that I have not reached the end of the road. You are right, it is a big experiment. Sadly he did not mention Sativex which I would have been keen to try. My GP thinks it is only a matter of time before it is made more widely available. Sorry, I’m waffling now.
Carol
Hi, i tried Tizanidine a few months back, was fantastic for the first few days but then i got side effects of diarrhea and affected my vision, i persivered with them for a few weeks messing about with the amount i was taking and when i was taking them but to no avail so now going to try Baclafen.
Ideally i would like Sativex but not holding my breath. I have also now been reffered to a specialist in Spacisity, so may even get some botox…
I hope the Tizanidine work better for you than what they did for mr 
Lee
Hi Lee
Thank you for your reply. I hope the baclofen works for you, I think it does for most, and good luck with the spasticity specialist.
Carol
I have been on Tizanidine for a few years now and it really works well for me. I really didn’t get on with Baclofen and had really painful muscle spasms in my legs. I vary the dose depending on how my legs are, but it has taken trial and error to get things right. Sometimes just 2mg in the morning and again at bedtime can be enough. If my legs are really bad I might need up to 8mg 3 times a day. More than 8mg at a time makes me really tired, but I haven’t had any other side effects. I try not to rely on it too much and have found that stretching exercises and yoga really help release my leg muscles.
Thank you, eks, for your reply. It’s good to hear that you are doing well on Tizanidine, even at quite low doses. I too find stretching exercises very helpful, unfortunately the effect wears off very quickly.