I've been having muscle spasms, and my GI - who doesn't know anything about AF - prescribed this. Anyone try it? I'm scared that it will be constipating...
(I am trying to see a specialist, btw, but waiting on insurance and so on... )

Hi would stay away from cyclobenzaprine. It is really addictive and I can garantee you that you will regret using it. If you have just started ( a couple of days ), I would advice you to stop. If you have been taking it for long, you need to taper very very slowly. But please google it. Try googling "cyclobenzaprine withdrawal". I am sorry if I am scaring you but these days doctors prescribe so many dangerous meds.

Hi juniper, I appreciate the response. I haven't used it yet because I'm too nervous! Again, thanks for the reply.

And do not take any valium or benzodiazepine drugs to relax your muscles. They are HELL to come off and if I can, I wanna spare all that pain to people by warning them. They are more addictive than heroin.

juniper, any rec's on what is okay to use for muscle relaxations? these spasms are *so* painful.

I used Anoheal and it was working but I had a terrible reaction to it and had to quit. I am very sensitive to all sort of meds.
But because I do not really have muscle spasm, I am not really the best person to advice.

k. thanks juniper!

Hey Hothead - A few of us have used extra-strength Robaxecet to help with the pain of spasms. It has acetaminophen pain and a muscle relaxing med (methocarbamol). I used that with Ibuprofen and it helped. I agree that it's important to be careful with prescription meds, and valium has a reputation for being very difficult to get off of. My doc gave me Lorazepam for my anxiety and I had no problem stopping it.
I hope this helps!

Hothead,
I have used Flexeril (cyclobenzaprine) for my fissure and it helps immensely. It is a centrally acting anti muscle spasm drug, which helps with the spasms in your anus. The addiction risk is low and I have been on and off Flexeril many times over the years for various reasons and never had a withdrawal. However, with any prescription drug, speak to your doctor about possible tolerance, addiction or withdrawal concerns.
As for Valium, I'd echo what the above poster said. Valium is diazepam, which is a benzodiazepine. This class of drugs is primarily prescribed for anxiety (panic attacks) but can have other uses, such as treatment for insomnia, seizures, hypnotic/sedation, and muscle relaxant. This class of drug does have a high addiction incidence, and you can build a tolerance to the drug fairly quickly. I'm not sure what the above poster meant when they said Lorazepam worked for him and had no withdrawals but it seemed like he was saying it was okay. Well, Lorazepam ((Ativan) is also a benzodiazepine. In fact it is 10 times stronger than Valium. The dosage would obviously be lower, such as 0.5mg or 1mg of Ativan instead of the 5mg or 10mg dosage for Valium. These drugs will also help though so there is a decision you would have to make with your doctor.
As of right now, I am dealing with a fissure and it is Terrible. I am on 1mg Ativan a day, 20mg of Flexeril a day, about 1600mg of Ibiprofin a day, 0.2% Nitroglycerin ointment and a cortisone suppository. I'm still in pain but it has become somewhat manageable. The Flexeril and Ativan were prescribed for other reasons but the rest is for the fissure by my GI Doctor. I have an appointment with a CRS Thursday and may need LIS according to my GI Doc. I asked my GI doc about the Flexeril and Ativan and he agreed they both should be helping the pain management of the fissure because they both have anti-spasm actions and he believes most of my pain is due to the muscle in the anus is in spasm.
The crappy thing with these fissures is that opiate based pain meds (percocet, vicodan, etc.) are contraindicated because of the constipation side effect of the opiate based drugs, so doctors usually won't prescribe them for fissures. So we are stuck dealing with the immense pain.
I hope this helps. I just noticed this post was made a few months ago, so I hope I don't get anybody upset by bumping this.
Also, hope you are healed by now. If not, you need to get yourself to a GI Doc or CRS. These doctors have alot of experience in dealing with fissures. Ask your PCP for a referral. Don't wait too long because it's only going to get worse.