Prednisone-Leg Cramps-Muscle Relaxers
 

Hey all,

I am wondering if anyone here has 1. had severe leg cramps from meds and 2. if taking a muscle relaxer is even worth trying.

I have terrible calf cramps. The neurologist (weekend covering for my dr) said she could call in a muscle relaxer if it doesnt get any better, but I'm not really thrilled about the idea of taking it.

Any suggestions?

I don't know the true answer, but to me, it sounds like you will be mixing two conflicting drugs to take a drug to increase muscle contractions and another to decrease them.

Hello Lin Z, :) I'm relieved that you are not thrilled about the idea! I'm going to tread very carefully here because I am not a doctor of medicine. I wonder if the "weekend neurologist" knows about the possible effects of this drug for a myasthenic???????? Please ask her to check this for you.

I have a herniated disk that causes SEVERE muscle spasms in my back. My doctor prescribed Flexeril. I asked about taking a muscle relaxer along with Mestinon. My doc said that they do not interfere with each other as each works via completely different pathways. So far it has relieved my spasms quite well and I notice no undue weakness. I don't understand how this works but two physicians have told me the same thing.

I would be very careful to specifically ask your doctor about this before taking a muscle relaxer. Just because one is deemed "safe" by a doctor doesn't mean they all are if you have MG.

Hi Lin Z,
I have severe leg cramps during the night in 2 cases:
1- when I don´t drink enough during the day,
2- when I take my last 60 mg Mestinon pill after 9:00 PM, I normally take it during the evening meal (8 to 8:30 PM).
I don´t know whether that could help you...
Maurice.

Hydration is number one!

Thanks to all for the feedback.
The leg pain was too much for me to soldier thru, so the dr called in an Rx for Fexeril. I took the lowest dose because I was nervous about side effects, and then went straight to bed. I believe the cause of the cramps was my recent alteration of Prednisone (from 20mg/day to 10mg)
I only took the Flexeril that one time, so I can't really give any feedback on its effectiveness, but I did sleep soundly thru the night and haven't had any serious cramping since.
Thank you all again for your input.
-Lin

I have leg cramps due to mestinon,my neuro prescribes levisin .125 sub-lingual, it also helps with disentary.

Ok, somebody help me out here. If levisin is an anticholinergic and mestinon is a cholinergic, is this not giving two drugs that fight each other? Or does the levisin only act on muscarinic receptors?

Are you taking mestinon also?
 

Hi Lin,

I have suffered from severe leg and upper arm fasciculations (muscle twitches/cramps) which were VERY painful - a couple of times since I have been taking mestinon for MG.

Both times, I was very ill with viruses, and took mestinon too soon. I usually take 60 mg every 3-4 hours, and (I think) - I took it about 2 hours apart - each time. I was so ill those times that I just could not remember when I had taken my last dose. I was weak - didn't know if I was weak from the virus or weak from MG and needed mestinon.

OMG - horrible pain. And very unsettling to my body.

Now, when I am very ill, (other than routine MG/chronic illness symptoms) - I make notations as to when I have taken my mestinon.

Your muscle pains may be a different type, but if you take mestinon, you might look at the time span between doses.

Remember, we are all different. We generally learn to understand our bodies, and just "know" when mestinon is needed, using the RX as a general guideline.

Take care.