Soma - Why won't doctors prescribe it anymore?
I've had severe chronic pain for a very long time. Due to blood work and negative mri, I've been left with a very weak foundation of a fibromyalgia diagnosis. I've asked three doctors to prescribe me this drug, and yet they'd rather put me on OxyContin butrans or vicotin. They say the risk of addiction and dependency to soma is too great a weight than the benefit this drug would do to my quality of life despite how awful my pain is affecting my job performance and relationships, even though I'm constantly complaining the ssri's and opiates are not benefiting me enough alone. I've found no evidence this is even considered a high risk drug. Why are they stone walling me?
I've taken Soma off and on for years with my back from an injury 12 years ago. I lived in Texas then and when I moved to Illinois 7 years ago the doctor here asked me if anything helped in the past and I told her that during flare ups all I ever took was Vicodin and Soma so that is what she prescibed me. About a year ago when my back became much much worse (I recently had a triple laminectomy) she had to change my pain medicine because vicodin no longer touched my pain and she told me Zanaflex was a much better muscle relaxer than Soma and she wanted me to try it. I did and I do think it works fairly well.
She continues to prescibe both so I can choose which one I take but told me never to take them both together! Now that my surgery has failed and I'm left in worse pain that before surgery I have been taking the Zanaflex more often than I take the Soma.
I've never heard of any problems with doctor prescibing it but my opinion is that your doctor may either feel a newer medicine would work better (Soma has been out for at least 12 years because that is when I first took it) or depending on your relationship with your doctor may not have gave it to you because you "asked" for it. Doctors in my area DONT like to be asked for anything specific because it makes them feel you are seeking a certain drug most likely for abuse, at least that is what the nurse told me at my PM doctors office. Good luck to you and I hope you get some relief. I really had no idea that Soma helped with the pain because I thought it was just a muscle relaxant so I am going to do some research on it now and maybe start taking it instead and see if it helps my pain.
Oh and I just seen that the doctors told you there is a high risk of dependency and addiction with Soma? I would have NEVER guessed that especially since I've taken it off and on for several years and never felt like I "oh I want to take a Soma". I wish you the best and hope you find something if not Soma to help with your pain!
does know of any doctors that still use this medicine which I'll benefit a great deal from I'll be able to try to walk without crying so anybody out there has any ideas please let me know thank you my email address is r.mariebert62@gmail .com PS I had a very bad experience with my back surgery 8 weeks later I had to have my stomach to open again and flip me on my back and that was cut too and I've never healed right the screws damaged my legs so I have more problems now than I did before my back surgery and it is getting worse please can someone give me some good advice thank you.
I have come up against this bias a time or two myself. I had been on Soma for years from my family Dr then I had a couple of pain Drs who hated Soma. It is oxymoronic to think it is a worse risk than oxycodone or hydrocodone! I had one Dr who flat out said he WILL NOT prescribe Soma because the addictive properties outweigh the muscle relaxant/pain relieving properties. It breaks down in the body into a drug called meprobamate which was taken off the market years ago because it was too much of an addiction risk so I guess this is the basis for their refusal. Luckily, in my case, I was changed to a different Dr at the pain center who agreed it was oxymoronic and since I handle myself with OxyContin and oxycodone with no problems, she allowed me to have the Soma back. I had been on Zanaflex. Some days I think the Zanaflex was better ands some I think the Soma is.
I never could take the Zanaflex during the day because it made me too sleepy but it did help me sleep wonderfully at night. I can take the Soma during the day without so much drowsiness but I dont sleep at night nearly so well. Overall though I think the Soma relaxes my muscles better but Zanaflex allowed me to sleep better.
My pain doc DID prescribe Soma while my rheumatologist said he could not because of the meprobamate issue. I have also been on it off and on for years and never had a problem stopping it. I also have Zanaflex (from my rheumatologist), so I will try that at night instead of the Soma and see if it works better as a sleep aid.
I had the same response from my spine care doc here in GA. She said all she can give me now is Oxycodone until the UA comes back clean of SOMA.
but to leave us in pain the most worst pain that I've been door it's just not human-like it's wrong and something needs to be done soon because I don't have a life without walking out the door going to the grocery I'm constantly cruciating pain I have my pain medicine but it's just not enough without my Soma muscle relaxer I try non-narcotic muscle relaxants they do not work on people that have very real consist of true pain something needs to change back so where we can at least be comfortable please get this out and listen I cannot no longer enjoy life or to even take a walk because the pain is on bearable sometimes all I'm asking for I'm tired of the good people suffering for the bad I don't have use it so I shouldn't be punished by it but not getting it because someone else abused it please if anyone's out there listening please take a picture and think about this because as a patient I'm getting to the point in so much pain it again it's affecting me mentally to where I just want to be out of pain all together if they do not come back with under cardiac muscle relaxer that does work with the pain medicine I don't see much of a future for myself I can't answer for anyone else but if they have the pain that I Endure I can imagine how they feel too God please answer our cries I'll pain the name of Jesus Amen..
Same thing in Madison WI. I at one time I was still on A LOT of opiates but when I asked for Soma she said no? I didn't get it? Your writting me tons of shedule 2 drugs but not a muscle relaxer? Don't get it. She said its a "highly addictive drug" & morphine & Dilaudid aren't?
I'm a Soma user also--the ONLY drug that has ever touched my chronic neck and shoulder pain! I am in FL and it was a Sports Med doc down here who first prescribed it for me in '05. Later, when I got a scan from another doc, he REFUSED to write it for me--- but, like some of the others said, he was more than willing to prescribe more heavy duty drugs! Needless to say, I left and never went back!
I have been on the same dose ever since the beginning, and have never needed to increase it. To me, Soma is a miracle worker--it LETS me sleep, and still wake up feeling normal, with no drugged out affect. Other docs have tried to put me on sleep meds and they only work for a week or two, then you have to increase the dose--then I would wake up in a fog!
I have no problem refilling it in CA, when we go out there to visit relatives.
I keep hearing that it is going to be taken off the market, but, so far, I have had no problem getting it refilled at Walgreens here in FL.
Hi T - I see that you've gotten the answers that I got when I posted a very similar question several months ago. They are right. Because Soma metabolizes into this other drug they are now saying that it is highly addictive and don't want to prescribe it. My pain mgmt clinic took all their patients off Soma several months ago and I went through months of agony while they tried me on about 5 other muscle relaxers. I have been on Soma for years and it works well for me. I have heard Zanaflex works well also but I couldn't take it because it caused my heart to race and my bp to shoot up. The only other one that even worked at all was Flexiril and it made me feel like crap and I got very depressed. The only thing I can tell you is that it seems like it is mostly the pain mgmt clinics that are doing this. My primary doc said he didn't have a problem at all prescribing it for me. He knows me very well though and has been my primary doc for about 15 yrs.
I, like other friends that responded don't understand the double-standard with this drug. The pain meds I'm on are also highly addictive... so what gives. Anyway, I hope you get the help you need. Believe me I feel your pain!! My thoughts and prayers are with you.
WOW! Thats the first I heard anything like that bout somas. I have been on soma everyday for 6 yrs now and dont know what I would do with out it. I have tried a dozen other muscle relaxers and thats the only one that gives me any relief. I take it with lortab. narcotics,opiats are way more addictive than somas.
Thats weird cause I looked it up on this site and it said it was NOT a controlled substance and there was no class # for it but my pharmacy had told me before it was considerd a controlled substance... I so dont get it!
I cannot get it through my mail order as it is a controlled substance. I have tried all the opiate pain meds and can not tolerate them as the itching is too intense. I am taking zanaflex and neurontin regularly and soma when I get in total agony.
I also have been taking Soma for years but last year my pain dr said that the were being moved to a schedule II controlled substance so he was taking all patients off it. It for some reason has always been a controlled substance here in AL just not Schedule II. I think it's all BS because it really worked for me but I had other drs who if I told them I took Soma refused to give me any meds because he said it doesn't react well with other meds now this dr refused this year to continue to give me my kolopin because I take oxycodone and gave the same excuse that you can't take the two together or it interacts with one another and I've been taking them together for years with no problems. I think some drs just don't like certain meds and won't give you anything because they don't like what other drs give you.
Sugamama06. I'm also from Alabama and I was prescribed Soma by my former Pain Management Dr. I started going to PM in 2009. I was also prescribed pain meds and Xanax. The DEA have a LOT of guidelines that Drs must use now. The only muscle relaxer that helps me, almost as much as Soma, is Zanaflex. I now have to go to a psychiatrist to be prescribed Xanax, and she has started weaning me off of them. I have debilitating, severe anziety/panic attacks. I have been on Xanax for 15+ years. It is unfair to those of us who really need these meds, having them taken away from us because of the ones who abuse them.
Sorry, guys... Now that it is 2018 and we have an epidemic of opiate related deaths opiates are now a schedule II. Soma is a schedule III. Illegal drugs such as heroin are schedule I. And only pain management doctors can prescribe it.
Soma has been a medication that has been threatened to black boxed, taken off the market and just recently it was put as a Schedule IV drug (Benzos are in the same class). It depends on the doctor. Some have no problem at all prescribing it while others down right refuse. Now you can't take opiods, Soma, and Benzos together (they depress your central nervous system) Some pharmacies have it where it will flag it and the Pharmacist will tell you that you can only have two out of the three. Now you have to figure out what health condition you will just have to suffer with. If Soma worked well for you and your doctor is saying he doesn't prescribe them then maybe look for another one. I have been on and off Soma for a few years and not until recently I had a problem obtaining it. I'd rather docs be upfront and honest with patients on why they won't write it, instead of lying to you. Hang in there and best of luck.
I live in Philadelphia. I have a damaged spine. I have used SOMA, Flexeril, and Zanaflex. SOMA works best for me by far. I take it at night with no residual effects in the morning. I personally do not find SOMA to be addictive. My PCP does not feel SOMA is addictive, but my Pain Management Doc does. Geuss which one I ask for the script? By the way, I must say what a shame. There are so many folks in serious pain that need this drug. I propose if you can manage narcotic pain medication, then you certainly should be able to manage a muscle relaxer. But, who knows what goes on behind the seens at medical conferences, Docs offices, the FDA, and DEA. Do what you can to stay comfortable. It's your life/pain to live with.
I am in la and im only 24. But I've been in 3 major accidents. April 18 2011 i got in a wreck and my car flipped 5 times and i was thrown out the back windshield. My 4 year old was thrown out and was killed. I already had severe back trouble prior to this last wreck. But after this my neck has been in scrutinizing pain. Since i was 18 there has never been a day in my life that i was up without being in pain. My neck n back hurts so bad every single day. Some days worst than others. I have nerve damage throughout my whole back, i have bulging disk, dislocated disk, i have a severe case of scoliosis. I have not been able to be thoroughly checked and haven't had mri's since the wreck bc i was pregnant. And being that my oldest child died i haven't felt like getting out. I have taken somas many times i have also taken zanaflex, flexeril, oxycodone, xxanax, hydocodone, ocycotin, opana, codeine, tramadol, N im sure a few more just cant remember.
I am so very sorry about your daughter, I also lost my daughter almost 4 years ago and know the pain is unimaginable. Then to have to deal with psycal pain as well, life can truly be unfair! I also have damage to my back, cervical spine, leg cramps from both my back injury and restless leg syndrome. I have herniated discs, nerve damage, a few fractured vertebra and I can't sleep. My pain management Dr was reluctant to prescribe soma but I heard from another patient that it works great and makes you very tired. She suggested I try it for not only it's muscle relaxant qualities but also as a sleep aide. I have an appointment with my psychiatrist today ( been seeing her since I lost my daughter) and i'm going to ask her if she'll let me try it. I take Ambien now but it doesn't always work and I wake on it and eat, make phone calls etc.
It might also have to do with the fact that in December 2011, the DEA published a final rule making carisoprodol (Soma) a Schedule IV controlled substance with an effective date of January 11, 2012. Previously, certain states had it Schedule IV but not at the federal level. So now certain doctors who don't write for *anything* controlled won't write for Soma, either.
Trust me I know what you mean. I get so aggravated even thinking about that. Bc here it is there are people out there that will go to a variety of doctors/pain m. Clinics and get prescribed all kinds of different narcotics and muscle relaxers when they don't even take the meds and they don't need it. They only get it to sell on the street for extra money. But here i am along with many others that actually suffers in pain every day, all day and all night and i don't get much of anything prescribed. And i need it for my pain. I have a 3 year old girl, 3 month old baby, and April 18 2012 last year my 4 year lil girl was killed. When i am n horrible pain its so hard for me to take good care of my children bc i can barely walk. Idk y i have trouble with getting prescribed bc i don't have a past of drug abuse and and i have every reason to take pain meds.
I have many medical records showing all the things i have wrong with me(which are a lot) n I've even been told by a few drs that as many patients they've seen thru the years they never had one at the age i am that has as many problems as i do and they not actually completely disabled. Maybe its bc im only 24 years old. Idk but something's gotta give soon. I feel if i don't get something fixed soon its gonna end up getting too bad then i might not b able to take care of my children at all.
Not the drug so much as you! NO OFFENSE! You were screwed as soon as you asked for it! Especially if you requested it by specific name! I've found that NOW, after decades of tossing Valium out like parade candy, they have 180°'d and assume EVERYONE is "drug seeking"! So now days, if you really have a medical problem... you REALLY HAVE A PROBLEM!! Advice: Go to new Doctor, tell him history and nothing else. If asked, tell him you were on that drug, but doc stoped. And leave it at that. If you got to go through a few tests or weaker meds(for new Dr.) for a while, so be it. Just LET THEM do the suggestions and you can say "No... was on it before, didn't work. Next!". Hope it turns out for ya. I gotta buy my Xanax(I was Rx'd 15yrs ago!) illegally, now!!! You'd think they'd have checked if I "was dependant" within the first DECADE!!
I have been taking Soma for over 10 yrs. I did have one Doctor tell me he wouldn't prescribe me Soma and we tried 3 or 4 different muscle relaxers but the side effects like dry mouth, being in a fog most of the time, no energy, they eventually put me back on the Soma. I have no side effects with Soma other than it works for what I need it for ( two failed cervical fusions of the neck ). I am on disability but Soma allows me to get out and live my life the best I can, the other drugs just kept me on the couch. I have had no problems with getting off any of the drugs I take. I actually do a drug holiday every 18 months and get off everything until my pain receptors reset. Then I can get back on my meds at a much lower dosage.
It's because so many are using this drug for their "high" drug & Some Dr.'s I have heard reference it as a "Soma Coma Drug" I don't think it's right that everyone gets judged for the bad people in this world but that's what's going on even in our pain clinics that we have been in for years & years you get treated like the bad guy even with the documented proof that you are not. God bless.
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