Inflamed trapezius muscle

**Evo** · Dec11-09, 06:55 PM

I've been suffering with this for a week and finally went to the doctor yesterday (can't move my neck or raise my right arm above my head).

He prescribed Zanaflex in capsule form, which I see everywhere that it's not the same as the generic or pill form, but doesn't say exactly why.

The pharmacist came out and told me that if I took this, I was to do "nothing". He said you *will not* be able to drive, you will lose motor function, it blocks signals to the brain and there is no telling how it will affect you. He said to take the first dose when I went to bed, not before. PPFFFTTT!!!!

All of the medicine I take say "may cause drowsiness, don't drive or operate heavy machinery"

So, I get home from the pharmacy and I take one, the dosage is two, so after about 45 minutes and not feeling anything, I take the second one. Within another 45 minutes, my speech suddenly becomes slurred, I lose control of my arms and legs and start hallucinating. Luckily I was sitting on the foot of the bed when it happened and managed, with great difficulty, to make three "seal jumps" (you know how a seal jumps out of water and onto the land?) towards the pillows at the head of the bed so I'd have something under my neck.

I hovered between waking and consciousness for about 90 minutes before I was able to gain enough control of my arms to lift myself up, but still could not stand up.

Scared the crap out of me. Anyone else ever used this stuff??

Oh, and it doesn't relieve the pain at all. I called my doctor, but he was off today, so just wondering if anyone else takes this stuff.

**lisab** · Dec11-09, 10:08 PM

Years ago I had a muscle spasm in my back. The doc gave me Flexeril, a different drug but also a muscle relaxant.

I had the same experience as you - totally drugged out but it did nothing to fix the problem. I didn't bother taking it more than a day.

Follow up: Eventually I went to a massage therapist, who fixed it in less than an hour! After *months* of pain, it was probably the best $50 I ever spent.

**Evo** · Dec12-09, 11:09 AM

Originally Posted by lisab

Years ago I had a muscle spasm in my back. The doc gave me Flexeril, a different drug but also a muscle relaxant.

I had the same experience as you - totally drugged out but it did nothing to fix the problem. I didn't bother taking it more than a day.

Follow up: Eventually I went to a massage therapist, who fixed it in less than an hour! After *months* of pain, it was probably the best $50 I ever spent.

I'm supposed to try this drug for at least a week, if the inflammation doesn't clear up by then, I will have to get ultrasound therapy. The muscle is swollen, you can see it. Evo Child wanted to know why the doctor didn't prescribe an anti-inflammatory for it. She's going to bring me some ibuprofen.

**Evo** · Dec12-09, 12:16 PM

Update, I just got off the phone with the pharmacist and she said the loss of limb control and the hallucinations are very common complaints and to just remain in bed for the 90 minutes to 2 hours that it lasts. I had purple swirly cats this morning, and a glass of water that wasn't where I thought it was. At least the hallucinations are amusing.

**Proton Soup** · Dec12-09, 02:29 PM

how'd you do this to yourself? do you have a lump on the trapezius, or a large portion is swollen?

**Evo** · Dec12-09, 02:55 PM

Originally Posted by Proton Soup

how'd you do this to yourself? do you have a lump on the trapezius, or a large portion is swollen?

My doctor thinks it's my job. My new office has a bad chair, it doesn't go up high enough, the desk won't go down low enough, my monitor sits up too high due to this, I have to reach my arms up to reach the keyboard and the mouse, the mouse is too large for my small hand and it causes me to have to arch my hand up at the wrist and hold it there for extended periods. I am now sleeping with a splint on my right wrist at night because of the pain. I have a lump and general swelling in the upper back and neck and can't move my neck or raise my right arm above my head without extreme pain.

**Proton Soup** · Dec12-09, 03:03 PM

Originally Posted by Evo

My doctor thinks it's my job. My new office has a bad chair, it doesn't go up high enough, the desk won't go down low enough, my monitor sits up too high due to this, I have to reach my arms up to reach the keyboard and the mouse, the mouse is too large for my small hand and it causes me to have to arch my hand up at the wrist and hold it there for extended periods. I am now sleeping with a splint on my right wrist at night because of the pain. I have a lump and general swelling in the upper back and neck and can't move my neck or raise my right arm above my head without extreme pain.

yeah, i've got that a bit on the left side from sitting/driving with the shoulder hitched up for extended periods, but i think it's actually in my levator. not nearly as much pain as you tho, sounds like some nerve got pinched. massage and extended stretching seem to have helped mine, but it tends to hurt like hell to just do that.

i would definitely let them know at work what the doc says.

**gravenewworld** · Dec14-09, 12:37 AM

LOL.

Pharmacists do get paid a looooooooooooootttttttttt of money for a reason. When they give out a warning, they usually know what they are talking about.

**chemisttree** · Dec15-09, 03:58 PM

I love this site's recommendation if you think you have taken too much.

Seek emergency medical attention if you think you have used too much of this medicine.
Overdose symptoms may include drowsiness, confusion, slow heart rate, shallow breathing, feeling light-headed, fainting, or coma.

So the question is, "Can you train a seal to dial 911?"

**Moonbear** · Dec15-09, 08:07 PM

Originally Posted by gravenewworld

LOL.

Pharmacists do get paid a looooooooooooootttttttttt of money for a reason. When they give out a warning, they usually know what they are talking about.

Yes, when they specifically tell you something like, "Don't take this medication until you are actually lying in your bed," that's a VERY DIFFERENT warning than sticking a "May cause drowsiness" label on the bottle.

The reason you'd get a muscle relaxant rather than an anti-inflammatory is that the muscle needs rest to heal properly. Since you had that stomach surgery last year, maybe the muscle relaxant is easier on your stomach than an anti-inflammatory too, but I don't know for sure without looking up more about that specific drug.

**Evo** · Dec15-09, 08:17 PM

Originally Posted by Moonbear

Yes, when they specifically tell you something like, "Don't take this medication until you are actually lying in your bed," that's a VERY DIFFERENT warning than sticking a "May cause drowsiness" label on the bottle.

The reason you'd get a muscle relaxant rather than an anti-inflammatory is that the muscle needs rest to heal properly. Since you had that stomach surgery last year, maybe the muscle relaxant is easier on your stomach than an anti-inflammatory too, but I don't know for sure without looking up more about that specific drug.

The next day when I spoke the the doctor doing the colonoscopy, that was why my doctor didn't tell me to take anything else, but my doctor forgot to mention that.

**Astronuc** · Dec15-09, 09:06 PM

Originally Posted by Evo

My doctor thinks it's my job. My new office has a bad chair, it doesn't go up high enough, the desk won't go down low enough, my monitor sits up too high due to this, I have to reach my arms up to reach the keyboard and the mouse, the mouse is too large for my small hand and it causes me to have to arch my hand up at the wrist and hold it there for extended periods. I am now sleeping with a splint on my right wrist at night because of the pain. I have a lump and general swelling in the upper back and neck and can't move my neck or raise my right arm above my head without extreme pain.

The arm pain (forearm?) sounds like it could be carpal tunnel inflammation. I was getting that in my left arm. I had to change how I used my left arm and also started doing some weight training to stretch the tendons. The inflammation got to the point where my ring finger occassionally went numb or there was a shooting pain in both my ring and middle finger.

Evo - you could start power lifting.

**Proton Soup** · Dec16-09, 12:55 AM

Originally Posted by Astronuc

The arm pain (forearm?) sounds like it could be carpal tunnel inflammation. I was getting that in my left arm. I had to change how I used my left arm and also started doing some weight training to stretch the tendons. The inflammation got to the point where my ring finger occassionally went numb or there was a shooting pain in both my ring and middle finger.

Evo - you could start power lifting.

heh, can lead to as many problems as it solves, but deadlifts, power cleans, and wide-grip rack lifts with straps would certainly teach those pesky traps a lesson.

**Pattonias** · Dec16-09, 09:55 AM

I was prescribed a muscle relaxer when I severely pulled a muscle in my back and I was given a similar warning. Unfortunately I have always been less susceptible to painkillers so I figured that this would be about the same. After taking the two pills I set on the arm of the couch leaning against the back as this was one of a limited number of positions I could maintain without the possibility of passing out from pain.

In about fifteen minutes the drugs kicked in and I ended up lying on my back on the couch with butt on the armrest and my legs dangling in the air. I was seeing colors and I recall being fascinated with whatever was on the TV. When my friends came home from work they laughed and asked me what happened. I told them that I was on "musclereaxers" and managed to slur this response out with only drooling on myself a little bit. My friends were kind enough to laugh hysterically and left me on the couch until I recovered enough to move.
At the next appointment, I told my doctor about this and he told me that the first dose always causes pretty severe motor skill problems, but the later doses would not be nearly as severe. He was right because when I took the rest of the pills over the course of the week they never had the same affect.

That couple hours on the couch was probably one of the best naps I have ever taken.

To prevent further injury exercising will definitely help. I hurt my back initially while ruck-marching at boot camp. It seemed to create a weak spot in my back that would be re-injured now and then, and finally ended up with me being unable to move. The muscle relaxers that the doctor gave me seemed to have helped as I haven't pulled that part of my upper back since. He did tell me that exercising specific areas could help me to avoid future injuries.

He suggested sit-ups to strengthen the core, because this will help to take some of the strain off the back. He also recommended doing some basic stretches with light weights to slowly strengthen the upper back. He did say to make sure and do a lot of low impact stretching to prevent an injury while exercising.

**paulium** · Dec18-09, 03:41 PM

Originally Posted by Evo

My doctor thinks it's my job. My new office has a bad chair, it doesn't go up high enough, the desk won't go down low enough, my monitor sits up too high due to this, I have to reach my arms up to reach the keyboard and the mouse, the mouse is too large for my small hand and it causes me to have to arch my hand up at the wrist and hold it there for extended periods. I am now sleeping with a splint on my right wrist at night because of the pain. I have a lump and general swelling in the upper back and neck and can't move my neck or raise my right arm above my head without extreme pain.

I have to agree with another poster who had some body work done. I've tried muscle relaxers for strained and knotted muscles, but nothing ever happened - though perhaps I just didn't take enough ;) Currently I've got a shoulder where the overlapping muscles got strained and bunched up and it's only by going to a physical therapist that I was able to make any progress. I'd stay away from the drugs and have some good PT or Massage Therapy done instead.

Paul

**Proton Soup** · Dec18-09, 03:53 PM

Originally Posted by paulium

I have to agree with another poster who had some body work done. I've tried muscle relaxers for strained and knotted muscles, but nothing ever happened - though perhaps I just didn't take enough ;) Currently I've got a shoulder where the overlapping muscles got strained and bunched up and it's only by going to a physical therapist that I was able to make any progress. I'd stay away from the drugs and have some good PT or Massage Therapy done instead.

Paul

drugs are not all bad, and her injury is a bit concerning because of all the inflammation. but in general, yeah, some full-range (not the constantly contracted state that caused this), low-resistance, higher-rep movement will assist healing by perfusing the area with blood and assist future movement by preventing scar tissue from accumulating where it shouldn't.