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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 18 of 18. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by rjlockhart37 on February 20, 2014, at 0:34:11
i've been prescibed various benzos in the past, but i've always thought about meprobamate....all i know is it was a 5 year blockbuster drug, from 1955-1960 before valium crazy came in....
it would be a joke if i asked my doctor about it....
but does it....like work?? is it just a general sedative or relaxant....xanax had a small antidepressant effect, where as klonopin had a depressant effect....vary strong in controlling mania....
anyone ever tried mepro??
Posted by Phillipa on February 20, 2014, at 9:20:16
In reply to meprobamate??, posted by rjlockhart37 on February 20, 2014, at 0:34:11
First med ever along with valium. Took for about a year and just stopped it. Didn't need it any longer. And was in early 20's so no med knowledge at all. I did feel fine though. No idea if it was the med or just life circumstances changed for the better? Phillipa
Posted by rjlockhart37 on February 20, 2014, at 19:33:57
In reply to Re: meprobamate?? » rjlockhart37, posted by Phillipa on February 20, 2014, at 9:20:16
yea., just to see what it would feel like, and that's silly i've taken xanax, ativan, klonopin.....it's proably the same, just a diffrent effect....
it was only used mainstream for 5 years '55-60
was it similar to any benzos, because it's ... forgot what class of medication it's in but i do know it's also a muscle relaxant...and the drug Soma turns into meprobamate....so ... lol
it's so outdated now, no one takes it.....i've browsed through 10 pages of google, and the only desciption of it's effects where in case studies in the 1950's.....but Soma turn into mepro, maybe ill research that...
Posted by dbbs on February 20, 2014, at 19:37:04
In reply to Re: meprobamate?? » rjlockhart37, posted by Phillipa on February 20, 2014, at 9:20:16
Soma/carisoprodol is a prodrug for meprobamate. In a general sort of way, it's similar to how Vyvanse/lisdexamfetamine is a prodrug for Dextrostat/dextroamphetamine or Effexor/venlafaxine is a prodrug for Pristiq/desvenlafaxine or Ultram/tramadol is a prodrug for o-desmethyltramadol.
Some people may not be able to metabolize carisoprodol into meprobamate to an appreciable degree in much the same way that other commonly prescribed prodrugs are unable to be metabolized in to their more active metabolites (or the active metabolites are the only active drug, not the prodrug itself, so poor metabolizers get even less!)
Anyhow, Soma/carisoprodol is not hard to get if you have a history of back or muscle pain, though I'd say you're just a little bit more likely to get a psychiatrist to prescribe you it for anxiety as you are to get them to give you morphine for depression. It's a more all-over sedation, but without that sort of mentally-wobbly drunken feeling benzos give you. Mildly euphoric the first few doses, this wanes significantly after a few days and just becomes a sort of vague sedation.
Posted by Phillipa on February 20, 2014, at 21:25:08
In reply to Re: meprobamate??, posted by rjlockhart37 on February 20, 2014, at 19:33:57
RJ my neuro spinal doc gave me a script for it a year ago. Didn't bother taking it. But the next post says euphoric? If so maybe that is why I felt so good so quickly with the valium. Year was 76 I think? Phillipa
Posted by rjlockhart37 on February 20, 2014, at 22:50:19
In reply to Re: meprobamate??, posted by dbbs on February 20, 2014, at 19:37:04
yea your right, the articles back them said specifally "sedation" and it said it's charastics are similar to barbirutes yet they thought at the time Mepro was safer, and had less side effects and withdrawl....that was a quick 5 year realization before they changed their minds to valium....
i would love to take some Soma.....lol
r
Posted by rjlockhart37 on February 20, 2014, at 22:56:02
In reply to Re: meprobamate?? » rjlockhart37, posted by Phillipa on February 20, 2014, at 21:25:08
i read on a case study....they said when diazepam mixed with opiates was lower in euphoria than mepro....but really no one takes mepro anymore...only soma....
there are a few docs that would maybe consider it....alot of them would be old school....
yea ... only thing im on is zyprexa and lamictal at maxed out doses....that's my sedative, spaced out.....i need to change doctors, but still my mom tells the doctor no abusabkle medicines, and it's been that way for a while....the only way to move the ship in diffrent direction is to get a income above 1500 maybe like 2500 and that would take care of my living circumstances and insurance....
untill....then, gotta stay where i am....im sure i can work with the doc, but she uses heavy mood stablizers with me....topamax may be thrown in....
well anyway got any soma??? LOL!!
Posted by Christ_empowered on February 21, 2014, at 3:54:34
In reply to meprobamate??, posted by rjlockhart37 on February 20, 2014, at 0:34:11
I don't know if this is still the case, but I read that in NY and a couple other states that were requiring triplicates for benzos, there was an upswing in meprobamate Rxs. LOL.
Posted by Twinleaf on February 21, 2014, at 8:53:54
In reply to meprobamate??, posted by rjlockhart37 on February 20, 2014, at 0:34:11
Like Phillipa, I was given it a number of year's ago for social anxiety. I thought it was very effective, and also problem-free, not causing any mood changes or mental dulling, and not being difficult to discontinue. I never took any benzodiazepines, so can 't compare the two.
Interesting if it's making a "comeback" after all these years - perhaps it deserves to.
Posted by Phillipa on February 21, 2014, at 20:25:23
In reply to Re: meprobamate?? » Phillipa, posted by rjlockhart37 on February 20, 2014, at 22:56:02
As a matter of fact a full bottle of soma from the neuro spine doc from two summers ago. Never did take it. Phillipa
Posted by baseball55 on February 21, 2014, at 21:39:32
In reply to Re: meprobamate?? » Phillipa, posted by rjlockhart37 on February 20, 2014, at 22:56:02
I really worry about you RJ. You spend time looking up info about mind-altering substances -- for what? ADHD? I don't think so.
You have a addict's mind. You should be going to recovery groups and figuring out how to live an independent life without benzos or stimulants or barbiturate-like drugs that you research obsessively on the internet.
You write about getting a job so you can move out and see a different p-doc who will prescribe stimulants. Is this your only reason for trying to forge a life for yourself?
Posted by rjlockhart37 on February 22, 2014, at 0:51:37
In reply to Re: meprobamate?? » rjlockhart37, posted by baseball55 on February 21, 2014, at 21:39:32
i am a drug addict, full force, i change the way i feel because the present feeling is not desired....just raw, obvious, and well known....
so....i've been to many NA meetings, and i started hanging with the wrong people there who said they cared about me, but only used my money doing crystal meth with some people there....i wanted to do it, so it did it....and got hooked for a while, my car was stolen, forced to give my credid card to them or they would forcefully take it....
and my previous years here are evident, i have a simmilar pattern, but .... it's all transparent, im raw, people here on babble have similar posts, but it's just worded diffrent....in a more appropriate manner
don't worry about me....as many times people have told me they worry, it doesnt do me any good....it's a waste of energy, let me worry about myself and solve my own issues, i am vary aware of my problems and make it known here on babble....
but thank you for your concern, it's ok....
Posted by rjlockhart37 on February 22, 2014, at 1:09:26
In reply to Re: meprobamate??, posted by rjlockhart37 on February 22, 2014, at 0:51:37
but, yes, i am in school, and i am persuing career in database technology.....it's just at the start, and the Nuvigil is the thing to help me concetrate, but really all this stuff people think im trying to go to doctors, one reason...to get back on a medication that i abused, yet it helped much, and when i was ripped off it, my whole mind fell apart, no one listened, they threw me in a psych hospital and doped me with geodon and zyprexa because they thought i was manic....my thoughts went all over the place....that's what, the drug addict is spelled on my forehead....yet the doctors didnt know that discontinung a stimulant would result in moderate methamphetamine use.... the doctors where so arrogant in the fact that they treat me for mania...it's my disorganized thoughts from adhd
my forge for life is having my own house, going to drag races, learning new philophies, lots of stuff....stimulants are just an add on to enhance intrest.....that's what i've discussed my issue many times here in the past.....
but yes....thank you, that's all my raw evidence of me
Posted by jono_in_adelaide on February 22, 2014, at 7:15:31
In reply to Re: meprobamate??, posted by rjlockhart37 on February 22, 2014, at 1:09:26
Meprobamate was replaced by Valium and Librim because they worked better and were safer - it was already a dinosour in the 70's, it srely is now - I'd be amazed if anybody still prescribed it, except perhaps to little old ladies who had been taking it since 1955
Posted by Tommy12003 on February 24, 2014, at 14:26:58
In reply to Re: meprobamate?? » rjlockhart37, posted by Phillipa on February 20, 2014, at 9:20:16
It's very similar to soma, the muscle relaxer isn't it?
Posted by Phillipa on February 24, 2014, at 20:51:45
In reply to Re: meprobamate??, posted by Tommy12003 on February 24, 2014, at 14:26:58
Since I had a back doc prescribe this for me soma I googled I think a metabolite of meprobamate. I never took it though I just filled the script. It's somewhere. Phillipa
Posted by tony p on February 26, 2014, at 14:57:55
In reply to Re: meprobamate?? » Tommy12003, posted by Phillipa on February 24, 2014, at 20:51:45
I took meprobamate quite a lot in the 60s & 70s. If you've ever taken Robaxin (robaxacet etc.) for muscle pain, meprobamate feels kind of half-way between Robaxin and Valium. Quite drowsy making at high doses. I think the reason it has largely disappeared from the pharmacopeia is not so much that benzos were "better" - they're quite different in their effects - but concerns over meprobamate being addictive (which it indeed is).
It's kind of ironic now that we have more experience of benzo addiction. The general consensus is that withdrawal from even moderate long term benzo use takes at least 6 mo.-a year s-l-o-w tapering. Meprobamate withdrawal OTOH in my experience is nothing compared to that - more like alcohol, a week or so acute withdrawal or quick taper, then up to 6 mo. post-acute.
Both meprobamate & Soma seem to have virtually disappeared here in BC (Canada). My young pharmacist had never even heard of either of them!
Posted by tony p on February 26, 2014, at 19:31:27
In reply to Re: meprobamate??, posted by tony p on February 26, 2014, at 14:57:55
The history of meprobamate & related muscle relaxants is interesting. I'm an old-timer now, & was in med/biochem research at the time, so I remember it personally.
The first really effective muscle relaxant was Tolserol / mephenesin & the closely related Tolseram (the carbamate), deveoped in the 1940s. It was extremely effective, but erratically absorbed, had some bad S/E, & was particularly dangerous with alcohol.
Robins (I believe) came up with a "me-too" variation, very similar in structure, Robaxin/methocarbamol. It turned out to be a great improvement over mephenesin: better absorbed, less S/E; although not quite as effective a muscle relaxant, the dosage range is enormous: from 1 - 1.5 gm qid for simple back or neck strain to 12 gm or more for nasty things like tetanus & strychnine poisoning.
When it came off the Rx list & became OTC and then out on the shelves most places (in combinations only) it became a huge seller & must make a mint for the drug companies, as it's been around since at least the 1950s & their research costs were doubtless covered decades ago. It continues to be pricey, even though it's a pretty simple compound to make, I suspect just the marketplace - back pain must be in the top 10 complaints for which people take OTCs.
Meanwhile, other researchers developed meprobamate also based on mephenesin. The chemical structures don't resemble each other much on paper, but presumably the 3D configurations are more closely related. Meprobamate, the first "minor" tranquilizer besides Reserpine, was not only a huge success medically, it became the "in thing" to take socially: see T S Eliot's "The Cocktail Party".
Unfortunately, concerns over addiction led eventually to its abandonment in favour of the supposedly non-addictive benzodiazepines, which (a common story in drug history) then turned out to be a far worse problem in long-term use.
Soma/carisoprodol, structurally almost identical to meprobamate, was developed as a less-addictive muscle-relaxant (starting to sound familiar?). It is really just a pro-drug for meprobamate, which it is metabolized to, acting much like an extended-release formula. Still addictive, but less so because of the slow release.
All of these drugs have virtually vanished in North America behind the juggernaut of the benzo industry (are you still with me?). A great shame IMHO as this whole family of drugs has a quite different mode of action & spectrum of effects from the benzos, and the addiction problem can be managed just as it is for other addictive meds.
As a final note, who was it who said, "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it"? My late mother, an MD in the early 20th century, remembered when heroin was developed as a -- wait for it -- NON_ADDICTIVE substitute for morphine! Rim-shot please.
This is the end of the thread.
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