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Can Methocarbamol Cause Addiction?
Question: what is the drug "methocarbamol" or its substitute, "robaxin", most often prescribed for and is it in anyway addictive? thank you very much.
Brief Answer:
Information
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Methocarbamol is a muscle relaxant and central nervous system depressant. It's used to treat painful muscle spasms, such as after an injury or strain. It's also used for fibromyalgia.
Of the medications in it's family (carbamates), it has greatly reduced abuse potential. There still is some abuse potential which is considered to be slightly less than that of Ativan (lorazepam) which is a tranquilizer.
Even though methocarbamol is a central nervous system depressant, it is not considered addictive. And in higher doses, it can cause dysphoria (the opposite of euphoria), so that may limit abuse potential too.
I hope this information helps. Please let me know if I can provide further information.
Information
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Methocarbamol is a muscle relaxant and central nervous system depressant. It's used to treat painful muscle spasms, such as after an injury or strain. It's also used for fibromyalgia.
Of the medications in it's family (carbamates), it has greatly reduced abuse potential. There still is some abuse potential which is considered to be slightly less than that of Ativan (lorazepam) which is a tranquilizer.
Even though methocarbamol is a central nervous system depressant, it is not considered addictive. And in higher doses, it can cause dysphoria (the opposite of euphoria), so that may limit abuse potential too.
I hope this information helps. Please let me know if I can provide further information.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Dear Dr. Berger-Durnbaugh: Would this medication be among any of those likely to be used to treat or help with anger management? my daughter has also been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder and had fairly wide mood-swings. she went off her mood-swing medication some time ago [her own decision]. the medication had caused her to gain nearly 80 pounds. Fyi, Her normal weight, to which she has now returned, is around 110-115 pounds. She teachers dance. Thank you very much.
Brief Answer:
Information
Detailed Answer:
Hello Ms. XXXX,
Methocarbamol/Robaxin is not a standard treatment for bipolar disorder. Standard treatments include anti-seizure medications, antipsychotics, and sometimes the older drug lithium. I cannot find anywhere in the literature that I looked at that methocarbamol is used for this purpose. I am not a psychiatrist (the section you posted on is for family practice doctors) and if you want, you can repost a new question and write "For Psychiatrist Only" and one will respond to you (usually in the evening). However, I have never heard of nor seen methocarbamol used for this purpose.
Information
Detailed Answer:
Hello Ms. XXXX,
Methocarbamol/Robaxin is not a standard treatment for bipolar disorder. Standard treatments include anti-seizure medications, antipsychotics, and sometimes the older drug lithium. I cannot find anywhere in the literature that I looked at that methocarbamol is used for this purpose. I am not a psychiatrist (the section you posted on is for family practice doctors) and if you want, you can repost a new question and write "For Psychiatrist Only" and one will respond to you (usually in the evening). However, I have never heard of nor seen methocarbamol used for this purpose.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Thank you very much.
Brief Answer:
Your welcome
Detailed Answer:
Your welcome. I hope this has helped. I am sorry - this sounds like a trying situation.
Best regards,
Bonnie Berger-Durnbaugh, MD
Your welcome
Detailed Answer:
Your welcome. I hope this has helped. I am sorry - this sounds like a trying situation.
Best regards,
Bonnie Berger-Durnbaugh, MD
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
We have had two other prescriptions suggested for bi- polar mood swing management that are safe [i.e., not addictive] for someone in "good recovery" but which do not have the side effect of putting on weight. They are limictil (lomictal sp?)and gabapentin. Are you able to confirm this information ? thank you.
Brief Answer:
Information
Detailed Answer:
Hi XXXXXXX
As you know, I am not a substance abuse specialist nor a psychiatrist, but I can tell you what I know about these medications:
Lamictal is an anti-convulsant medication. It was originally used for treating epilepsy (still is) but also has been used for treating bipolar disorder mood swings for many years now. Lamictal is the one medication in it's class of anti-convulsants that is not associated with weight gain. So this seems to be a good choice.
Gabapentin (Neurontin) seems to be used or tried for just about every chronic pain and chronic neurological disorder by the medical profession these days, but I am not sure that it is a good idea in many cases. For bipolar disorder I really have no experience with this although I know that it is sometimes used as a mood stabilizer in bipolar. It is a somewhat newer medication than Lamictal, and it seems to me that the medical world is still figuring out all of the things it might be helpful for, but in so doing, we've learned about problems it can cause too, such as muscle weakness.
It is not considered a drug of abuse (and therefore it is not a controlled substance), but there are cases of abuse.
Here is an article by a pharmacologist about that. It may not show up as "linked" so you may need to copy and paste it into your address bar:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/826680
In clinical trials, a small percentage of those who received the gabapentin did have weight gain (over those who received placebo). These trials were done in varying populations. One study was done in people with epilepsy. One in people who had pain after Shingles (post-herpetic neuralgia). And the number of people who had weight gain was low in all, but did vary from one medical problem to the next. I did find one pharmacological discussion that gabapentin can cause increased weight gain over long term use.
I hope this helps.
Information
Detailed Answer:
Hi XXXXXXX
As you know, I am not a substance abuse specialist nor a psychiatrist, but I can tell you what I know about these medications:
Lamictal is an anti-convulsant medication. It was originally used for treating epilepsy (still is) but also has been used for treating bipolar disorder mood swings for many years now. Lamictal is the one medication in it's class of anti-convulsants that is not associated with weight gain. So this seems to be a good choice.
Gabapentin (Neurontin) seems to be used or tried for just about every chronic pain and chronic neurological disorder by the medical profession these days, but I am not sure that it is a good idea in many cases. For bipolar disorder I really have no experience with this although I know that it is sometimes used as a mood stabilizer in bipolar. It is a somewhat newer medication than Lamictal, and it seems to me that the medical world is still figuring out all of the things it might be helpful for, but in so doing, we've learned about problems it can cause too, such as muscle weakness.
It is not considered a drug of abuse (and therefore it is not a controlled substance), but there are cases of abuse.
Here is an article by a pharmacologist about that. It may not show up as "linked" so you may need to copy and paste it into your address bar:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/826680
In clinical trials, a small percentage of those who received the gabapentin did have weight gain (over those who received placebo). These trials were done in varying populations. One study was done in people with epilepsy. One in people who had pain after Shingles (post-herpetic neuralgia). And the number of people who had weight gain was low in all, but did vary from one medical problem to the next. I did find one pharmacological discussion that gabapentin can cause increased weight gain over long term use.
I hope this helps.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
No further question, just thanks so much again. i will consult a specialist in this area regarding both meds. www
Brief Answer:
Your welcome
Detailed Answer:
Good luck to you XXXXXXX
One other thought:
Bipolar disorder requires medications of course, and sometimes it can take awhile to find the right medication or combination of them. Prescribing these medications well really requires specific knowledge and experience for a psychiatrist, and not all psychiatrists have a lot of experience with treating this disorder. So if, after awhile, you and your daughter find that her illness is not coming under good control, then do try to find a psychiatrist with specific experience specifically in treating bipolar.
Your welcome
Detailed Answer:
Good luck to you XXXXXXX
One other thought:
Bipolar disorder requires medications of course, and sometimes it can take awhile to find the right medication or combination of them. Prescribing these medications well really requires specific knowledge and experience for a psychiatrist, and not all psychiatrists have a lot of experience with treating this disorder. So if, after awhile, you and your daughter find that her illness is not coming under good control, then do try to find a psychiatrist with specific experience specifically in treating bipolar.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Thank you very much; will follow thru. [Not sure how to close this out so that you don't need to reply further; tried hitting that button, but the follow up option keeps reappearing.]
Brief Answer:
Maybe they can help you at YYYY@YYYY
Detailed Answer:
I am not sure either! You are right, I do need to respond when anything is written.
I thought that hitting the close button (which I don't see from my end) does the trick, but there are often computer snafus on this site. Perhaps customer service for healthcaremagic can help.
I have this contact info for them. Perhaps it will work to get you to a computer person that can help with this: YYYY@YYYY
Maybe they can help you at YYYY@YYYY
Detailed Answer:
I am not sure either! You are right, I do need to respond when anything is written.
I thought that hitting the close button (which I don't see from my end) does the trick, but there are often computer snafus on this site. Perhaps customer service for healthcaremagic can help.
I have this contact info for them. Perhaps it will work to get you to a computer person that can help with this: YYYY@YYYY
Note: For more detailed guidance, please consult an Internal Medicine Specialist, with your latest reports. Click here..
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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