Patient/caregiver was educated on how to take Tizanidine as follows:

1. Take the medication at the same time, every day, to avoid forgetting the medication. Taking the medication at regularly spaced intervals helps to maintain appropriate blood levels of tizanidine needed to derive the desired beneficial effects and also prevent toxicity with the medication.
2. Maintain strict compliance with intake of the medication as ordered, with regards to dosage and frequency, to derive the benefit of the medication.
3. Do not change the dose on this medication without consulting your physician.
4. This medication can induce some nausea and vomiting, especially 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.
5. Tizanidine can induce severe 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. Do not change the prescribed dose on this medication without consulting your physician. If the dizziness becomes bothersome, report it to your physician and other health care personnel, for any change in plan of care to be considered. Stay away from activities, such as, driving and operating heavy machinery, until you are used to the side effects caused by tizanidine intake.
6. Do not take tizanidine with alcohol or opioid pain medications, such as, hydrocodone and codeine, as these products can add to the dizziness and confusion caused by tizanidine. A number of OTC cough medications, antihistamines, antiseizure, antidepressant, and antianxiety medications, can potentiate the confusion caused by tizanidine and so, must be avoided taking along with tizanidine. Avoid taking any other medications with potential to cause drowsiness along with tizanidine at the same time.
7. Tizanidine could potentially interact with a lot of other medications and precipitate serious reactions. If you are being newly started on tizanidine, discuss with your physician regarding all your current medications and their safety with tizanidine. Also, notify your physician regarding any current tizanidine intake, if you are being started on any new medications and discuss their safety with tizanidine.
8. Take the regular tablet as a whole with a glass of water. If you encounter difficulty swallowing the whole regular tablet, check with your doctor if you may cut the pill and swallow it in pieces with a glass of water. Usually tablets that can be cut bear a scoreline, displaying the line of cut. Check if your tablet has any. For individuals with severe swallowing difficulties, check with your doctor if you may also crush the tablet and sprinkle the powder on a spoonful of soft jelly or applesauce and swallow the jelly or sauce along with the medication. If you are crushing the tablet, make sure your tablet is not coated, as enteric-coated tablets are to be consumed as a whole and not to be crushed. Other preparations of medication could also be available to help an easy intake. Check with your physician on the same.
9. If you were prescribed tizanidine in capsule form, take the regular capsule as a whole with a glass of water. For individuals with severe swallowing difficulties, check with your doctor if you may open the capsule, sprinkle the medication on a spoonful of soft jelly or applesauce, and swallow the jelly or sauce along with the medication. Opening or cutting the capsule could result in rapid absorption of the drug into the blood stream, thus resulting in toxicity and compromised therapeutic effects. So, do not open or cut the capsule without checking with your doctor. Also, if you are opening the capsule, make sure your capsule is not coated, as enteric-coated capsules are to be consumed as a whole and not to be opened. Other preparations of medication could also be available to help an easy intake. Check with your physician on the same.
10. Tizanidine could take some time to fairly adjust to your body, before any optimal 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.
11. Tizanidine only helps with relieving muscle spasms, by inhibiting the conduction of nerve impulses from the spinal cord to the skeletal muscles. Tizanidine only temporarily relieves the spasms but does not fix the actual condition causing the muscle spasms and so, is not a permanent cure. Continue taking tizanidine as ordered, even if you experience relief from muscle pain and spasms, until your physician orders for the discontinuation on the medication.
12. Individuals on sudden withdrawal from tizanidine, especially after prolonged use or use in high doses, can present with unpleasant withdrawal symptoms, such as, hypertension, tachycardia, exacerbation of anxiety, agitation, sleep disturbances, mania, bad muscle spasms, and seizures. Discontinuation on tizanidine use must be slow and gradual, using tapering doses, and only on your physician recommendation.
13. Your physician could change the dose of tizanidine, based on the response you show, relief obtained, and side-effects presented with. So, maintain compliance with follow-up physician appointments and be accommodative to the plan of dose changes, until you show an optimum response.
14. Notify your doctor of any unresolving muscle spasms, progressively worsening muscle pain and discomfort, compromised range of motion in the involved muscle groups, and any continuing or worsening unpleasant side-effects, so that, your dosage on the medication could be revised.
15. Tizanidine is mainly metabolized inside the body by the liver and is excreted out of the body in the urine by the kidneys. If liver is deficient, metabolism of the drug could be compromised, which can result in higher concentrations of the drug in the body for longer periods of time. If kidney function is deficient, elimination of the drug could be compromised, which also can result in higher concentrations of the drug in the body for longer periods of time. Either case can contribute to toxicity. While taking tizanidine, periodical labs could be ordered for evaluation of liver and kidney functions. So, maintain compliance with follow-up physician appointments and lab draws ordered. Be accommodative to the plan of dose changes accordingly to achieve an optimum response and prevent development of any undesired side-effects & toxicity.
16. 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, which can result in toxicity. Notify your doctor and other health care personnel regarding your dose noncompliance.