Methocarbamol is a medication used to manage musculoskeletal (of the muscles and bones) pain and injuries. According to Drugs.com, methocarbamol is a muscle relaxant that interferes with your body's pain perception. Typically you might take three 500mg tablets four times a day or as your doctor prescribes.
Common Side Effects
According to MedlinePlus, methocarbamol typically causes drowsiness, blurry vision and stomach pain. Avoid driving your vehicle and operating heavy equipment when you are extremely sleepy. This medication can also cause a fever, dizziness and an upset stomach. Fortunately, methocarbamol's common side effects are harmless and should not cause further problems. Typically, these symptoms should decrease on their own after one week. Inform your doctor if these effects continue for more than a week. He can adjust your dose to prevent methocarbamol's effects.
Serious Side Effects
The National Library of Medicine indicates that methocarbamol may cause such potentially life-threatening side effects as angioneurotic edema, bradycardia, hypotension and seizures. Angioneurotic edema refers to a condition in which you have facial or throat swelling. Other signs of this edema include trouble breathing, stomach cramps and eye swelling. Bradycardia refers to a slow heartbeat, while hypotension refers to low blood pressure. Both of these conditions prevent enough blood from reaching your organs. As a result, you can develop a syncopal (fainting) episode when blood does not reach your brain. Multiorgan failure and death can result if hypotension and bradycardia are left untreated. Seizures are the result of jumbled electrical activity within your brain. Status epilepticus, a type of seizure that lasts for more than 30 minutes, is potentially-life threatening.
Methocarbamol can also cause leukopenia (low white blood cell counts), diplopia (double vision), nasal congestion and itching. Leukopenia makes you susceptible to a wide variety of infections. Inform your doctor when methocarbamol causes any of these physical manifestations.
Other Concerns
Avoid methocarbamol if you are allergic to it or any other muscle relaxants. A hypersensitive reaction to methocarbamol includes hives, swelling up of your throat and trouble breathing. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or breastfeeding prior to taking methocarbamol as this drug may harm your child. Avoid combining methocarbamol with alcohol as the combination can cause central nervous system (of the brain and spinal cord) depression. A life-threatening manifestation of this is respiratory cessation.
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