Do muscle relaxants help with anxiety?

[PinkDonuts]

I recently had a back injury and have been prescribed Methocarbamol for back spasms. I take 750mg (8 a day). I suffer from anxiety and ever since the started taking these I feel so much more relaxed. Is this normal? And are muscle relaxant ever actually prescribed for anxiety? Any answers would be very appreciated 😊

As I'm currently pregnant I am not on Methocarbamol atm, but when I was on it I too found that it helped my anxiety quite a bit. Maybe it's due to to the potential drowsiness it can cause? As it's a muscle relaxant, it obviously lessens the tension in your muscles, which could result in decreased anxiety.

I don't think it's very often prescribed for anxiety, more for pain and muscle spasms/jerks (in my case). I have fibromyalgia and it helps a tad but not significantly in my case. Worth a go though xx

Benzos are also prescribed as muscle relaxants but are better known fit their use in anxiety. I don't know that drug you describe but yes, drugs that help one issue can help the other.

Benzos are also addictive so rarely prescribed for anxiety these days.

Also you'll be happy to know that Methocarbamol has limited abuse potential so in the long run are much better than benzodiazepines in that regard and are much more likely to be prescribed in the long term than say Diazepam xx

I also suffer from anxiety and accidently discovered that piriton helps me feel wonderfully calm and helps me sleep well. So I guess different meds do have other benefits.

Actually I can kind of relate to this, small doses of diphenhydramine help me with my anxiety. I think it's partly due to the drowsiness effect too x

When I was taking Methocarbamol and I've taken it for a few years now (since I was 17), it still makes me sleepy. I took mine a bit differently than instructed but I took 4 in the morning and 4 at night, so it may be more sedating than taking 2 every 4 hours or so xx