Patient/caregiver was educated on how to take Lioresal as follows:
- Take the medication dose at the same time, every day, to avoid forgetting the intake of medication.
- Maintain strict compliance with intake of the medication as ordered, with regards to dosage and frequency, to derive the benefit of the medication.
- Do not change the dose on this medication without consulting your doctor.
- Lioresal can induce some nausea and vomiting, when taken on empty stomach. Taking the medication with a glass of water and some food or snack can help avoid these unpleasant gastrointestinal symptoms.
- Take the regular tablet as a whole. If you encounter difficulty swallowing the whole regular tablet, you may cut the pill and swallow it in pieces with a glass of water. You may also crush the pill and sprinkle the powder on a spoonful of soft jelly or applesauce and swallow the jelly or sauce along with the medication.
- Lioresal can induce some dizziness and make one drowsy. Starting the medication at a low dose and gradually increasing the dose, to help optimum control of your symptoms, can contribute to reducing the risk for drowsiness and dizziness due to the medication. If the unpleasant side-effects become bothersome, report them to your physician and other health care personnel, for any change in plan of care to be considered.
- Lioresal can take some time, about 2 – 3 weeks, to fairly adjust to your body, before any relief with muscle spasms and easing of side-effects is experienced. So, do not discontinue taking the medication without your physician’s consult, as you failed to see the desired result immediately after taking the medication.
- Lioresal only helps with relieving muscle spasms, by temporarily depressing the brain and spinal cord and consequently inhibiting the nerve impulses sent to the skeletal muscle. Lioresal only relieves the spasms, but does not fix the actual condition causing the muscle spasms and so, is not a permanent cure. Continue taking Lioresal as ordered, even if you experience relief from muscle pain and spasms. Discontinuing the medication abruptly can result in bad muscle spasms and unpleasant withdrawal symptoms of hallucinations and seizures. Discontinuing the medication should only be on your physician recommendation.
- Your physician could change the dose of Lioresal, based on the response you show. So, maintain compliance with follow-up physician appointments and be accommodative to the plan of dose changes, until you show an optimum response.
- Notify your doctor of any unresolving muscle spasms, worsening muscle pain and discomfort, compromised range of motion in the involved muscle groups, or continuing unpleasant side-effects, so that, your dosage on the medication could be revised.
- If you miss a dose, try taking it at the earliest notice of noncompliance. If it is time for the next dose, skip the missed dose and take the dose scheduled. Do not take an extra dose to try making up for the missed dose. Notify your doctor and other health care personnel regarding your dose noncompliance.
