Putting together the postings from Mike North, and the one from Martin Goldman,
reproduced further down, is there a good case for replacing Carisoma
(carisoprodol) with Teak Oil. Or better still, the version in a spray can,
often referred to as WD 40.
Mike Wells
Quoting "North Mike (F81717) Maylandsea Medical Cent CM3 6AH"
<[log in to unmask]> on Fri 30 Nov 2007 09:37:42 AM GMT:
> I had an old patient who misheard a locum tell him to put Tea Tree Oil on
> his feet and used teak oil instead.
>
> It worked.
>
> Mike
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Laurie Slater [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: 29 November 2007 20:33
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: New (old) treatment for peripheral oedema
>
> 75 year old stoic, known IHD and hypertension on calcium channel blocker.
> Mild ankle oedema presumed secondary to this and no clinical cardiac failure
> or anaemia. Was told by an old lady at home (in Bulgaria) to "beat his feet
> and ankles with stinging nettles three times a day" which, being a no
> nonsense sort of bloke he duly did for a whole week. So today in a rather
> pythonesque consultation he hoiked up his trousers and with an uncanny
> Palin-like smile he pointed shamelessly at his shapely ankles "Look doc -
> all gone!"
>
> These sort of stories make it all worthwhile, because already I can think of
> one or two patients who don't yet have ankle swelling but to whom I might
> recommend this as an option ... just in case.
>
> Laurie
>
We have supplied a medicine called Carisoma (carisoprodol) for many years, which
is used as a centrally acting muscle relaxant for back pain.
It is an old product (almost 50 years old) and there is negligible contemporary
data.
A change in the attitude of European drug regulators has resulted in a proposed
Europe wide withdrawal because of insufficient evidence of satisfactory risk
benefit. There are issues of habituation and psychomotor impairment.
I have been ask by the UK regulators to offer advice to prescribers about
withdrawal of the product in terms of whether there should be gradual dose
reduction or not, and what alternatives to suggest. The MHRA would like us to
recommend that patients are treated according to national guidelines for the
management of back pain. We have no data to objectively answer these questions.
Is there any experience out there in the group that might be able to help me?
Dr Martin Goldman
Senior Medical Advisor
Forest Laboratories UK Ltd
tel +44 (0)1322 550550
direct line +44 (0)1322 429355
fax +44 (0)1322 555469
www.forestlabs.com
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