What is Soma?
Soma is prescribed medication used to relax muscles and to get relief from pain caused by muscle spasms. Soma comes under the class of medicines known as muscles relaxant, which helps prevent muscle spasms without affecting the muscle's control.
The generic name soma is carisoprodol. Soma blocks the pain between the nerves and the brain. It can be used with some physical therapies to treat some injuries and pain. Do not take this medicine if you are suffering from porphyria.
How to take Soma?
Soma comes in the form of a tablet taken three times a day before bedtime. You can use this medication with or without food as per the direction of the doctor. It is prescribed for a short period, like for two to three weeks. The color of the Soma is white, and it is round in shape.
Follow all the instructions from your doctor. Take medicine exactly as directed by your doctor. It sometimes may be habit-forming and cause addiction, abuse, and overdose of Soma. Do not suddenly stop taking Soma after an extended use because it may cause withdrawal symptoms like anxiety, fatigue, sweating, vomiting, depression, seizures, and hallucinations. Keep records of your medicine.
What are the possible side effects of taking Soma?
Call your doctor if you observe any sign of allergic reactions like hives, difficult breathing, swelling on the face, lips, tongue, and throat. Do not take Soma if you have seizures, agitation, hallucinations, fever, sweating, shivering, fast heart rate, muscle stiffness, twitching, loss of coordination, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea. Common side effects of Soma are drowsiness, dizziness, and headache.
This is not the complete list of the side effects of Soma. Many others can happen, but not all the side effects need to occur to one person. Your doctor will tell you the ways to control the risk of side effects.
What should you tell your doctor before taking Soma?
You should not use Soma if you have an allergy to carisoprodol or meprobamate. Tell your doctor if you have any disease related to kidney, liver, or heart. If you are pregnant or planning to get pregnant, then ask your health consultant whether Soma will harm the unborn child or not. It is not recommended for children below sixteen years.
What happens if you miss the dose?
Consume the missed dose of Soma as soon as remember but skip the dose if the time of the next dose is near. Do not double the dose to cover the missed dose because it causes an overdose of Soma.
What other medicines will affect Soma?
Sometimes it is harmful to use certain other medicines with Soma because it affects the blood level, which increases the chance of side effects. Using Soma with other medications can cause slow breathing, which causes death. Tell your health consultant if you are taking Valium, Xanax, Ultram, OxyContin, and Luvox. This is not the complete list of Soma interactions.
What are the precautions of taking Soma?
Before taking Soma to read the warning section of the medicine carefully. Do not use Soma for more than three weeks and do not take this with alcohol and central nervous system (CNS) depressants drugs like benzodiazepines, opioids, and tricyclic antidepressants. Avoid driving or operating types of machinery when you take Soma because it makes you feel sleepy and dizzy. Soma passes into breast milk and causes severe harmful effects to the newborn.