WADA will study the effects of Tizanidine, the hot new (legal) drug that many Tour de France riders were taking last summer

dopers gonna dope wrote:

It's a adrenergic agonist, aka stimulant, which are banned in competition except a few things found in nature/food like caffeine. If it's not tested for, maybe also explains some running records past few years beyond the shoes.

"Adrenergic agonists are drugs that work by mimicking the functioning of the sympathetic nervous system—the part of the nervous system that increases heart rate, blood pressure, breathing rate, and eye pupil size. The sympathetic nervous system causes the release of chemical messengers, such as noradrenaline and adrenaline from the adrenal glands."

Everything you never wanted to know:

https://go.drugbank.com/drugs/DB00697

What? Tizanidine is definitely not a stimulant. It's a muscle relaxant with strong sedative effects. It doesn't increase heart rate and blood pressure - it does the opposite. As the source you link to states.

Zanaflex may cause serious side effects including:

low blood pressure,

abnormal liver function tests,

drowsiness,

hallucinations,

excessive drowsiness,

slow heartrate,

dry mouth,

tiredness, and

weakness

The most common side effects of Zanaflex include:

dry mouth,

tiredness,

weakness,

fatigue,

tiredness,

dizziness,

urinary tract infection,

constipation,

abnormal liver function tests,

vomiting,

speech disorder,

lazy eye (amblyopia),

urinary frequency,

flu symptoms,

uncontrolled muscle movements,

nervousness,

sore throat, and

runny nose

Adrenergic agonists aren't all one and the same like you suggest. They have dramatically different effects, depending on which receptors they bind to.

Adrenergic drugs are a broad class of medications that bind to adrenergic receptors throughout the body. These receptors include: alpha-1, alpha-2, beta-1, beta-2, beta-3. Adrenergic drugs will bind directly to one or more of these receptors to induce various physiologic effects. Some drugs indirectly act at these receptors to induce certain effects.

Adrenergic drugs must be classified based on the specific receptors they bind.

Selective Drugs

Alpha-1 Receptor Agonists: Phenylephrine: FDA-approved as a decongestant and vasopressor. It has utility in cases of hypotension due to shock, such as septic shock.[6] Oxymetazoline: FDA-approved as a decongestant and to treat rosacea.

Alpha-2 Receptor Agonists Methyldopa: FDA-approved for hypertension and gestational hypertension.

Clonidine: FDA-approved for treating hypertension and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Non-FDA-approved indications include sleep disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, restless leg syndrome, hot flashes associated with menopause, and other illnesses.[7] Dexmedetomidine: Indicated for sedation in the intensive care unit and does not cause respiratory depression.

Tizanidine is another α-2 agonist, similar to clonidine, but with some important differences. Like clonidine, it has sedative, anxiolytic, and analgesic properties, but it has a shorter duration of action and less effect on heart rate and blood pressure...

Tizanidine has also been used in the treatment of myofascial pain disorders of the head and neck. It can reduce spasticity by increasing the presynaptic inhibition of motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord, and by reducing painful muscle spasms in the neck and shoulder. In a study evaluating its effectiveness in the treatment of myofascial pain, tizanidine was shown to significantly reduce pain and tissue tenderness and to improve the quality of sleep. It was rated as good to excellent in relieving pain by 89% of the subjects studied.20 The reduction in spasticity has also led other investigators to evaluate the effectiveness of tizanidine in patients with cerebral palsy. In a study of patients with infantile cerebral palsy, tizanidine was shown to significantly decrease spasticity by 78.8% as compared to 7.6% for placebo.21 It seems apparent that tizanidine may be useful as a sedative premedicant prior to general anesthesia and as a management tool for patients with cerebral palsy or other spastic disorders.

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