Hi,
I have an extremely difficult time getting to sleep on the nights I train. I have some tizanidine my Doctor prescribed me for a shoulder injury, if I take 2-4 mg it will knock me out.
Is this a bad idea? Does it effect REM sleep, recovery or have a negative effect on muscles in any way?
Is it addicting and/or do you build up a tolerance?
I have taken it a few times when couldn’t fall asleep, I actually never took it for my shoulder because it had this effect.
Thanks!
Tizanidine is typically used as a “muscle relaxant” – although I hate that nomenclature for all medications in that category (e.g. cyclobenzaprine), as they are essentially tranquilizers. (True “muscle relaxants” would be neuromuscular blockers / paralytics … but those have the pesky side effect of also causing you to stop breathing).
It is sometimes used off-label as a sleep aid, though I would not recommend it. I have no idea what it does to REM sleep. Essentially any centrally-acting drug can be “psychologically” addictive, and patients can have some withdrawal symptoms after stopping tizanidine after regular use.
As with all patients reporting sleep difficulties, I would first target standard “sleep hygiene” interventions and use of milder agents like melatonin, and generally prefer avoiding the use of sleep medications. If they must be used, they should be used for a short term, while working on other, more effective strategies for insomnia like cognitive behavioral therapy (there is even web-based CBT for insomnia now) – or targeted therapies for the primary sleep disturbance.
Thank you Austin, I always wondered about that whole “muscle relaxer” thing as the heart is a muscle it sounded really scary.
it sounds like I can apply this wisdom to any and all sleep meds.
Honestly I am progressing okay in my LP, and it is just the 3 nights a week I train that it takes me longer to fall asleep. I can’t change my schedule right now so I will just keep on training and catch up on my sleep later when I’m dead! 
I appreciate the detailed answer and your time.