ZANAFLEX
ZANAFLEX ONLINE
Before Using This Medicine
Tizanidine acts on the spinal
cord to decrease spasticity, the uncontrolled reflex contraction of
muscles in the extremities.
When should it
be used?
Tizanidine usually is taken three
times a day. Follow the instructions on your prescription label
carefully, and ask your pharmacist or doctor to explain any part
that you do not understand. The action should begin within 1-2 hours
and wear off after 6-8 hours.
How should
it be used?
Tizanidine comes in 4 milligram
tablets taken by mouth. The medication can be taken with or without
food. Your physician may start you on a lower dose of the medication
and increase the dose slowly.
What SPECIAL
INSTRUCTIONS should I follow while using this drug?
Tizanidine can cause dizziness,
incoordination, or drowsiness. Do not drive a car, operate
machinery, handle weapons, or do anything that requires alertness
until you know how this drug affects you. Ask your physician when
you can go back to driving.
Keep all appointments with your doctor so that your doctor can
monitor your response to this medication. Your dose may need to be
adjusted frequently, especially when you first take tizanidine.
Take tizanidine exactly as your doctor has directed. Do not take
more or less of it or take it more or less often than as instructed.
If you experience difficulties with side effects, call your doctor
before you change the dose.
Do not stop taking this drug without consulting your doctor.
Stopping the drug suddenly may have unforeseen consequences. Your
doctor probably will want to decrease your dose gradually.
Keep track of your spasticity in a log book. You may also want to
track your strength and any side effects in your log.
Be sure that you have enough medication on hand at all times. Plan
ahead when getting refills to avoid running out.
What SIDE
EFFECTS can this medication cause? What can I do about them?
Tizanidine does reduce blood
pressure. This may be an advantage if you have high blood pressure
and may allow your doctor to reduce the use of other blood pressure
medicines. On the other hand if you don't have high blood pressure
the drug may lower your blood pressure. This may cause you to feel
light-headed particularly if you stand up quickly. For this reason
the drug must be used cautiously if you are taking other blood
pressure medicines.
Tizanidine may cause liver damage. Most of the time this is
discovered by checking liver blood tests initially and at 1, 3, and
6 months after starting the drug. Usually when the blood tests
become abnormal they return to normal if the drug is stopped. A
small number of patients have died from liver damage. Some of these
patients were also taking other drugs which can cause liver injury,
so how much of the damage was due to tizanidine is not clear. The
drug should be used with caution in people who are known to already
have liver injury. If you experience jaundice, nausea, loss of
appetite, or vomiting, notify your physician.
Many patients experience tiredness or sleepiness while taking
tizanidine. This effect increases with higher doses. Sleepiness is
likely to be increased if you drink alcoholic beverages, or take
other sedating drugs such as valium or baclofen.
Some patients taking tizanidine have experienced hallucinations.
These are generally well-formed visual hallucinations which the
patients usually knew were not real. Usually these hallucinations
occurred in the first 6 weeks of taking the drug.
There are no known bad effects from tizanidine during pregnancy but
it should be given to pregnant women only if clearly necessary.
What OTHER
PRECAUTIONS should I follow while using this drug?
Before you take tizanidine, tell
your doctor if you are pregnant (or even if you think you could
become pregnant), breast-feeding, if you have diabetes or kidney or
liver disease. The drug probably is transmitted to babies through
breast milk.
Tizanidine can affect the action of other drugs, and many drugs can
affect the action of phenytoin. Before you take this drug, tell your
doctor what prescription and non-prescription drugs you are taking.
Tizanidine should be used cautiously in the elderly because its
effects are more long lasting and it could build up in their system.
A lower dose may be necessary.
Women taking oral contraceptive drugs may have increased effects
from tizanidine.
There is no information to show that tizanidine is safe in children.
Drinking alcohol is discouraged; these substances can add to the
drowsiness from tizanidine.
Keep this medication in the container it came in, tightly closed,
and out of the reach of children. Store at room temperature.
This information is intended as an educational aid. It does not
cover all possible actions, precautions, side effects, or
interactions of this medication. It is not intended as medical
advice for individual problems. Please contact your physician if you
have further questions.
