[btilly]

Absolutely.

My wife had some core muscles in her back collapse. Think unable to walk and could only crawl with me holding her hips up. When she went to the primary doc, he thought it was drug seeking behavior. When she went to the ER they luckily decided that she was serious and gave her the most powerful muscle relaxant available - Valium. She had no idea, but it it saved her life.

[alvarezbjm-hn]

I see several issues here, but I think it is extremely important that no one leaves thinking Valium is the most powerful muscle relaxant available. Valium is a centrally acting muscle relaxant, among others. It is very difficult to kill someone with an overdose, mostly interactions with other drugs.

The best muscle relaxant / antispasmodic depends on the patient and the situation. Valium is a safe indication from someone not dealing with those medications, as a temporary measure.

All benzodiazepines (including valium - diazepam) create dependence.

[btilly]

All I know is that that is what the ER doc told me, and it worked wonders.

[MrVandemar]

It's possible the ER doc meant most powerful that he could legally prescribe given the clinical presentation; or perhaps he was just saying that because you don't give someone medication and say "well, you just got a basic painkiller, it's near the end of the its use-by, maybe it'll work", you say "We're giving you the best". It's the placebo effect, albeit with a medication that should work regardless.

[heliodor]

What does it mean for a muscle to collapse?

[btilly]

What I meant is that she had a serious muscle spasm which caused any attempt to use the muscle to leave her in agony. Since the muscle in question was in the lower back and is used for everything to do with balance, this left her bedridden.

It was extremely scary to go through.