tizanidine--Zanaflex

 

Classification:  Muscle Relaxant

 

Uses:  Although it works slightly differently, tizanidine is in the same group of drugs as baclofen.  It is not used often in TN but may be useful if baclofen can't be used or fails to work.  With some success Zanaflex has been used for MS, postherpetic neuralgia, myofascial pain and migraines.  It may be helpful as an add-on medication.

 

Warnings & Precautions:  Tizanidine should be used with caution if you have a history of low blood pressure, are on blood pressure medications or have a history of postural hypotension (excessively low blood pressure induced by standing up).  Tizanidine can cause an increased drop in blood pressure.  Zanaflex should not be taken by someone with pre-existing liver problems.  Doctors will frequently order liver function tests prior to taking the medication.  In older adults, tizanidine is cleared slower from the body so a lower dose may be prescribed.  Use with caution with other muscle relaxants, anti-histamines, antidepressants, sleep or anxiety medications, anti-convulsants or some pain medications.  These medications will cause increased drowsiness and dizziness.  Also, avoid alcohol.  As with many medications, use caution or avoid driving or performing potentially hazardous activities when you initially start or during dosage increases to assess how your body reacts to the medication.  Zanaflex may decrease the effectiveness of birth control pills.

 

Adverse Effects:  Stop taking Zanaflex and seek medical attention if you experience a serious side effect such as an allergic reaction, hallucinations or liver damage (yellowing of the skin/eyes, abdominal pain, severe fatigue or unusual bleeding).  Less serious side effects are more likely to occur.  The more common ones include:  constipation, diarrhea, drowsiness, dizziness, dry mouth, nausea, heartburn, headache, anxiety/ nervousness, muscle pain /weakness and weight changes (gain or loss).  This is only a partial list of possible adverse effects and other side effects can occur for some people.  Check with your doctor or pharmacist if you experience or are concerned about any unusual symptom.

Dosage:  Zanaflex comes in 2mg. and 4mg. tablets, though in Canada it appears to come only in the 4mg. tablet.  Dosage varies:  One source recommends a starting dose of 1-2mg. a day to start with a typical dose of 8mg./day in divided doses.  Sources which describe using this medication for cramping/spasticity due to MS or spinal injuries recommended a dose of 4mg. up to 3 times a day to start and gradually increased to 8mg. used 3 times a day.  Maximum recommended dose being a total of 36mg in a 24 hour period.  (This max. dose was recommended in all viewed sources by the writer).  Tizanidine can be taken with or without food.  Sometimes a small amount of food can decrease the chance of stomach upset in people prone to same.   Many things can affect the dosage a person requires such as age, weight, medical conditions and other medications.  A different dose may be prescribed than the one listed here.

 

** For educational purposes only, for additional information on this or other medications please contact your doctor or pharmacist.  Ensure to inform your doctor about all prescriptions, over-the-counter, herbal medications and supplements you are taking prior to taking any medication.

    Here is a request from the American Trigeminal Neuralgia Association for your contributions to a new book they are developing.   If you care to contribute, please contact them directly.

 

Dear Friends,

     We want your words and perspective for a new book focused on TN/face pain patient thoughts through poetry. No one knows your long journey better than you.

Working Title: Patient Poems  

Length: Creative choice. This might even be one line.

Poem Focus: Creative choice, within the world of being a TN/face pain patient. 

Poem Style: Creative choice.

Due: September 15, 2006 to suzannegrenell@cox.net  

     Send with your poem: your name, city, state and / or country. Poems selected for publication will include author information at the end of your poem. 

     You've never written a poem? Start now. You can send us a new poem or one you have already written. Choose your best poem to send. Send only one.  

 

Speak through your thoughts

Turned into written words

Holding heart. You Are

God's microphone on paper. 

 

     We believe in this new book and hope you do, too. Your contribution will help others to better understand what it is like to be a Trigeminal Neuralgia patient. Thank you for your participation and inspiration.

 

Sincerely,

Suzanne Grenell; TN Patient and Member TNA Board of Directors

Web Address:
www.endthepain.org

Contact Us:
(352)331-7009
925 NW 56th Terrace, Ste. C 
Gainesville, FL 32605

Dr. Anthony Kaufmann, Medical Advisor to the TNAC has agreed to answer your questions.  If you have a question for Dr. Kaufmann, please send it to the newsletter at newsletter@tnac.org by e-mail, or snail mail to Patty at Box 973, Coaldale, AB, T1M 1M8.

     This will be my last Marion’s Desk, and I want to thank all of the members who so graciously have written to me and asked me to remain on as President of the TNAC.

    The time has come however, when I must say goodbye due to health and other reasons. I have achieved what I set out to do, and that was to set up a Trigeminal Neuralgia Association in Canada and this has been accomplished.

     In June 2000, the Lethbridge Support Group was the first active TN Support Group in Canada. We raised money by having dues, donations, garage sale and a quilt raffle. A list of all recorded patients was received from the TN Association in the US, and in January of 2003, letters were sent out to inform them of the TNAC being formed. Had it not been for our members donating their time and money, the TNAC would not have been born, and I would like to thank all our members who have been loyal since our inception, for making this possible. The TNAC has helped a lot of people in the past 3+ years and hopefully this trend will continue.

     I have enjoyed being your President and SGL and I want to thank you for giving me the faith and courage to carry  on over the past 6+ years.

     May God Bless Each One of You and hope that research for a positive cure for TN will prevail.

 

Sincerely,

Marion

Email:       mguzik@telus.net

RE  - Great News – Marion’s Desk – Summer 2006 edition

     With reference to the Cranial Nerve Disorders Clinic that will be opening at the Toronto Western Hospital, I have been advised that I will be notified soon about the details. As soon as this is received, it will be posted in the Newsletter.

 

     The new” Insights” books are now available. Please make your cheque payable to TNAC in the amount of $39.00 (postage included) and mail to TNAC, 1514 Lakemount Blvd. S. Lethbridge, AB T1K 3K4 or Ph. 403-327-7668, Email:  mguzik@telus.net.

 

OUR DEEPEST SYMPATHIES go out to the following Families of our Members:

     To the Barbara McCauley Family of 100 Mile House, B.C. who passed away on July  11, 2006 along with her husband George on July 20, 2006, as a result  of a motor vehicle accident.                                                     

     Belated Sympathy to the Raymond Trudeau Family of Abbotsford, B.C. Raymond passed away in February of 2006.

 

 

New Members:

Stephane Bourque – Montreal, QU

 

Donations:

Beatrice L’Arrivee – Regina, Sk.

Mona Wells – Lethbridge, AB

 

Lethbridge, Alberta

     The next meeting will be on September 9, 2006 at 2 pm in the Lethbridge Senior Centre, 500 – 11th Street, South, Lethbridge. The annual General Meeting was cancelled last month due to unforeseen circumstances. Therefore, the September meeting will be our annual General Meeting and elections. The meeting is open to all members.

Contact Marion Guzik at 403-327-7668 or lethbridge@tnac.org

 

 

Calgary, Alberta

    The next meeting for the Calgary group will be:

Sept 30, 2 pm

MacLeod Trail Co-Op

8818 MacLeod Trail South

 

Dr. Melonie Jensen will be the guest speaker.  Dr. Jensen is a graduate of the Academy of Classical Oriental Sciences Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine Program.  This program included acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, therapeutic massage and lifestyle and diet therapy. 

 

 

 

Vancouver and Lower Mainland BC

     For further information please contact: Ann Hopkins, Volunteer annhopkins@shaw.ca

 

 

Toronto, Ontario

     Toronto chapter meetings:  Thornhill Community Centre, 7755 Bayview Ave. Thornhill 9:30 a.m. Sunday September 24th

     We meet the last Sunday of the month. All are welcome. Please bring a family member or friend for support. Kathy and Sandra look forward to meeting you.

     If you would like to attend one of the Toronto meetings and would like to see it held in a different location please contact me at  toronto@tnac.org

    

Kathy Somers
kathleen_somers248@hotmail.com

Group Leader; Trigeminal Neuralgia Assoc. Canada; Toronto Chapter

 

"TOGETHER WE WILL END THE PAIN"

IN HONOR:  THE IZZY AFRICAN COMFORT DOLLS-   Submitted by Marion

     Thank you to the members who wrote to me about the Izzy African Comfort Dolls.

     In 1994, Brian and Carol Isfeld’s son, MCpl Mark Isfeld was killed in Croatia while carrying out UN peacekeeping duties.  Before her son’s death, Mrs. Isfeld would knit woolen dolls for her son to distribute to destitute children in the former Yugoslavia.  To honor their son’s memory, the Isfelds continue to this day to craft, ship and promote the delivery of the nicknamed “Izzy” dolls to Canadian soldiers. They, in turn, give them to orphaned and vulnerable children in war torn regions around the world.  Through their generosity and compassion, Mr. & Mrs. Isfeld have kept this tradition alive while alleviating the suffering of children. 

     Billy Willbond, advised me that Mark Isfeld’s mom Carol, first gave the pattern to ICROSS CANADA in 1998 and they have been sending Izzy African Comfort Dolls to the HIV and AIDS orphans and the suffering children of Africa ever since.  Please log on to icross@icross.ca for further information.

     I have been advised a school the “Mark R. Isfeld High School” has been dedicated in Mark’s honor in Courtney, B.C.  Mr. & Mrs. Isfeld received the Meritorious Service Medals (civil division) at Rideau Hall, Ottawa, on Friday, 28 April 2006 from Her Excellency the Right Honorable Michaelle Jean, Governor General of Canada.

     I would also like to extend our deepest condolences to the family of Cpl. Andrew James Eykelenboom, of Comox, B.C., who was killed when a suicide bomber rammed a pickup packed with explosives into a NATO convoy.  This medic was also marked by kindness and a desire to help children as he too handed out these dolls to the children in Afghanistan.

     Our sincere and deepest condolences go out to all the Families in Canada that have lost their loved ones in the line of duty to keep us safe.

     I hope many dolls will be received from the members of TNAC for “Our Peacekeepers.”

as we have all received “HELP”, when we  needed it . 

Sent in by Pat Rogers, Comox, B.C.

 

 

YOU AND HIM!     

 

Your alarm goes off; you hit the snooze and sleep for another 10 minutes.

He stays up for days on end.

 

You take a warm shower to help you wake up.

He goes days or weeks without running water.

 

You complain of a “headache”, and call in sick.

He gets shot at as others are hit, and keeps moving forward.

 

You put on your “Anti war/Don’t support the troops’shirt, and go meet up with your friends.

He still fights for your right to wear that shirt.

 

You make sure you’re cell phone is in your pocket.

He clutches the cross hanging on his chain next to his dog tags.

 

You talk trash about your “buddies “that aren’t with you.

He knows he may not see some of his buddies again.

 

You walk down the beach, staring at all the people.

He walks the streets, searching for insurgents and terrorists.

 

You complain about how hot it is.

He wears his heavy gear, not daring to take off his helmet to wipe his brow.

 

You go out to lunch, and complain because the restaurant got your order wrong.

He doesn’t get to eat today.

 

Your maid or mom makes your bed and washes your clothes.

He wears the same things for weeks, but makes sure his weapons are clean.

 

You go to the mall and get your hair redone.

He doesn’t have time to brush his teeth today.

 

You’re angry because your class ran 5 minutes over.

He’s told he will be held over an extra 2 months and doesn’t complain.

 

You call your girlfriend/boyfriend, like you do everyday.

He holds his letter close and smells his love’s perfume.

 

You roll your eyes as a baby cries.

He gets a letter with pictures of his new child, and wonders if they’ll ever meet.

 

You criticize your government, and say that war never solves anything.

He sees the innocent tortured and killed by their own people and remembers why he is fighting.

 

You hear the jokes about the war, and make fun of men like him.

He hears the gunfire, bombs and screams of the wounded.

 

You see only what the media wants you to see.

He sees the broken bodies lying around him.

 

You are asked to go to the store by your parents.  You don’t.

He does exactly what he is told.

 

You stay at home and watch TV.

He takes whatever time he is given to call, write home, sleep, and eat.

 

You crawl into your soft bed, with down pillows, and get comfortable.

He crawls under a tank for shade and a 5 minute nap, only to be woken by gunfire

 

You sit there and judge him, saying the world is probably a worse place because of men like him.

If only there were more “MEN LIKE HIM!”

 

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

     Well this summer has just flown by and the kids are all back in school again. My daughter just moved from an acreage near a small town and her children are attending a new school this year in the “big” city. So far they have decided that they like it but they are still fairly nervous about taking the city bus’ to school. I’m sure though that they will adapt fairly quickly and before they know it they will be scooting around the city just like a pro!

     I want to thank Marion for all her time and efforts in starting the TNAC and keeping it going for these few years. She has achieved a lot in the time we got this going until now. My best wishes go out to her.

     I will also be retiring as the TN News editor soon. I am finding that my job is becoming far too demanding of me and I feel that I don’t have the proper time to devote in publishing a good newsletter any longer. Is there anyone within our organization that wishes to take over the editorship? Please email me as soon as possible and we can chat.

     By the way, I am moving in to the city of Lethbridge on October 1. I will be changing my email address as of that time but so far I don’t know what the new one will be. If you wish to email me after September 30, please use my alternative email address of: theleatherhut@hotmail.com until further notice.

     The following 2 pages of the newsletter contain our Balance Sheet and Financial Statement of the TNAC.     

Have a great September.

Patty