More than 80 percent of older patients (ages 57 to 85 years) use at least one prescription medication on a daily basis. If you accidentally consume alcohol too soon after taking Flexeril and experience adverse effects, avoid driving or operating machinery and seek medical attention if necessary. It’s important to be cautious and mindful of your medication interactions.

Cyclobenzaprine and Alcohol: What to Know Before Combining Them

Abusing either of these substances places a person at risk of dependence, and abusing them in conjunction increases this risk even further. To address addiction symptoms, there are many treatment options available you can pursue, especially if it involves Flexeril with alcohol use. Dual diagnosis treatment is a saving grace for those struggling with substance abuse and mental health disorders. It’s important to treat them simultaneously because they influence each other in a recovering person’s journey. Chronic relapse is a common issue for those with co-occurring disorders.

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To be safe, it’s best to wait at least 24 hours after your last dose before consuming alcohol. Flexeril has a half-life of about 18 hours, which means it takes approximately 4-5 days for the drug to be fully eliminated from your system. Factors such as age, liver function, and metabolism can affect how long Flexeril stays in your body. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), cyclobenzaprine has some potential for recreational abuse as a non-controlled substance.

If you must take a muscle relaxer, it is important to avoid drinking alcohol. Cyclobenzaprine, a muscle relaxant, blocks nerve impulses sent to the brain. Doctors use it with rest and physical therapy to treat skeletal muscle pain or injury. Doctors often use it with rest and physical therapy to treat skeletal muscle conditions like pain or injury..

When Does Social Drinking Become a Problem?

Still, others mistakenly believe that combining drugs will somehow make them safer. If you or a loved one have mixed muscle relaxers and alcohol, follow these steps immediately  to ensure the safety and well-being of the affected individual. Muscle spasticity is common in people who have conditions such as cerebral palsy or in people who have had an injury to their brain or spinal cord.

The Effects of Alcohol

Our experts will help you create an addiction treatment program that suits your needs. During your detoxification, you may be provided with other drugs to alleviate withdrawal symptoms as well as fluids to maintain you hydrated. The attentive medical and addiction treatment teams will assist you through this physically and mentally demanding period. In addition to alcohol, there are other drugs that can interact with muscle relaxers as well. If you’re prescribed a muscle relaxer, be sure to let your doctor or pharmacist know any other medications you are taking.

Here, alcohol interferes with the neurotransmitters that send messages between cells. There may come a time in your life when you require a prescription for a muscle relaxer. If you drink, you may wonder whether it’s safe to mix alcohol with your muscle relaxers. One of the greatest risks of this combination is severe motor impairment and loss of coordination and equilibrium. Together, the combined use of Flexeril and alcohol can make it difficult for a person to walk correctly and balance.

• There are many types of muscle relaxers, and each type can interact with different drugs.
• Muscle relaxers such as Flexeril have the potential for abuse and addiction, as does alcohol.
• Alcohol can increase the nervous system side effects of cyclobenzaprine such as dizziness, drowsiness, and difficulty concentrating.
• Mixing cyclobenzaprine with alcohol can potentiate these effects and lead to impaired coordination, blackouts, and difficulty breathing.
• It’s important to be cautious and mindful of your medication interactions.

Treatment options

But so far, evidence supporting the use of baclofen for alcohol withdrawal is limited. Table 1 may not be a complete list; always check with your pharmacist for possible drug-alcohol interactions. Be sure to inform them of your prescription medications, as well as over-the-counter (OTC), vitamin and herbal or dietary products that you use.

If you or a woman in your life needs help ending the cycle of addiction, contact us today. If you fear you or someone you know is experiencing an overdose or alcohol poisoning, contact 911 immediately. There is 1 alcohol/food/lifestyle interaction with flexeril with alcohol Flexeril (cyclobenzaprine). The information on this website is not intended for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

The half-life of a substance is the amount of time it takes for your body to metabolize half of the medication and remove it from your body. Alcohol and cyclobenzaprine can be addictive if they are misused or abused and increase the risk of addiction. Long-term abuse of alcohol can also lead to musculoskeletal issues and spasms. Your doctor may prescribe Flexeril as a means to deal with the problems.

• 25.8% of people aged 18 years and older report binge drinking in the past 30 days.
• However, there are instances when people develop a physical dependence on the drug for many reasons.
• Professional athletes tend to be at higher risk for mixing muscle relaxers and alcohol because of the nature of their jobs.
• This drug is frequently prescribed in combination with physical therapy and rest for muscle spasms.

Rest and physical therapy are also important in the overall treatment plan for muscle spasm treatment. Don’t use aspirin and an NSAID together, unless approved by your doctor. Now, drinking while on cyclobenzaprine is discouraged, but not contraindicated. If you do decide to drink, remember that alcohol and cyclobenzaprine have a similar effect on your central nervous system. Now, the half-life is It’s dependent on several factors such as your genetics, age, and liver function. The elderly and folks with impaired liver function tend to metabolize it slower.

Depressants are substances that slow down the central nervous system, which both of these substances do. When alcohol and muscle relaxers are combined, they magnify each other’s effects. The concurrent use of cyclobenzaprine and alcohol can lead to severe side effects. Both substances have depressant effects on the central nervous system, which can lead to decreased heart rate, respiratory depression, and impairment of cognitive functions.

There were 15,597,385 prescriptions written for cyclobenzaprine in 2019, representing 44 percent of the share of muscle relaxant prescriptions, according to Clinicalc. Dependency on alcohol may be caused by using it to seek relief from stress or as a means to cope with emotional issues. If there is a family history of alcohol abuse, then there is a greater chance of developing a reliance on alcohol. Like any other type of medication or drug, there is the possibility of Flexeril being abused. Drinking alcohol along with Flexeril is one method in which this abuse may occur.