Muscle relaxants are a popular product nowadays, particularly among the fitness-conscious “weekend warrior” crowd. These particular medications are usually doctor-prescribed. Based on research and user feedback, reports about the side effects of muscle relaxant medications have been received and documented. Some of these side effects occur when muscle relaxants are used together with other drugs, without the approval of the doctor. Other causes of these side effects are associated with the body chemistry of the patient. Incompatibilities or even allergies to certain chemicals or ingredients in the drug may cause discomfort to the patient.
One of the main side effects of muscle relaxant medication is the great potential of drug addiction. These drugs are habit-forming. Among the number of potential or actual side effects of muscle relaxant drugs, substance abuse is, by far, the most dangerous and the hardest one to detect. Since muscle relaxants are used only “as needed”, it can be difficult for someone to judge whether a person has developed a dependence on the muscle relaxants.
Another in the list of side effects of muscle relaxant medications is the potential of having poor interaction with other drugs. There are several drugs, particularly the ones used as an aid in psychotherapy, that generate unwanted effects in the body. The central nervous system is a highly sensitive structure, with complicated neural pathways and chemical transmitters. Both psychoactive drugs and some muscle relaxants target certain areas of this system by cutting off certain neurotransmitters or temporarily “shutting down” some receptors in the brain. Either way, the use of different drugs that have counter-indications may produce unpleasant to potentially lethal side effects. Other possible dangerous side effects of muscle relaxant use, especially if taken while drinking alcohol, include the loss of body coordination and blurred vision. There are several relaxants in the market that have components that have been proven to react poorly with alcohol. Numbness and drowsiness may be harmful to patients who need to drive or operate machinery.
Other side effects of muscle relaxant use include drowsiness. Some patients have also reported minor headaches after taking a muscle relaxant. A sudden sensation of fatigue, occasionally accompanied by bouts of mild numbness, have also been recorded as possible negative reactions.
While all of the above side effects can be avoided, there are occasions when some of the minor side effects will be unavoidable. This is caused by the individual's biochemistry reacting poorly with the compounds in the relaxant, resulting in some discomfort. In this case, the only real way to prevent the unwanted effects would be to switch to a different muscle relaxant, as the chemicals in the drug and in the body simply do not interact well and continued use may yield even worse effects.