Baclofen tablets- experiences of.

[Beakybird58]

I’ve recently had a really bad bout of neck spasm,following a General anaesthetic for a bladder distension for interstitial cystitis. I think the anaesthetist was a bit rough with my head extension! ( I’ve had 3 neck fusions,the last was in 2009. Am fused from C3-T3 posteriorly and from C3-C7 anteriorly) but have had had several op’s before without any issues)

I was meant to attend a Gp appt today but had such a bad migraine type headache / cervicogenic headache with accompanying nausea I rang and cancelled but the Gp rang me anyway- which was a blessing and a surprise!

He refilled my usual script for Oramorph,which I take when my lumbar back spondilosis and accompanying sciatica get too much. He was reluctant to prescribe Valium, which I’ve had in the past but gave me baclofen - 10mgs three x daily. I had to Google the drug as have never taken before and when my partner collected them the box( of mixed brands!) had no patient info leaflet included. Not good practise!

My question is- has anyone had experience of these meds at all? I’m a bit dubious about taking having read the online NHS info. They seem to have more side affects than Valium!

one common symptom is nausea,which I already suffer with as have a degree of gastroparesis and nausea caused by my neck. I’m reluctant to throw another drug into the mix but maybe they may help with my fibro symptoms ie: dreadfully tight sore muscles everywhere, especially in legs and neck atm… sorry for the long ramble but would welcome any feedback from you knowledgable guys. Thanks in advance.

[Allingham60]

Hi, I was prescribed a short course of Baclofen for back spasms and it helped a lot. I believe it acts as a muscle relaxant. I had no side effects and I would certainly take it again if the same problem recurs. Might be worth a try!

[Beakybird58 in reply to Allingham60]

Thank you. That’s reassuring.

[Iamthemedicalmystery]

I have been prescribed Baclofen for about 2 years as I suffer with muscle spasms in my legs. Although I take lots of different medication I have not noticed any side effects but I take 0.5 three times daily.

[Beakybird58 in reply to Iamthemedicalmystery]

I was thinking of starting on that dose, just at night to start with.thank you for advice!

[mrdarcy1]

Hi Beakybird.

I'm on 30mg a day and have been for about 6 months.

I've had c5/c6 acdf and I tried Baclofen before for muscle spasms, at first they didn't feel as if they were working so I stopped taking them.

That was the first time.

I was put onto another muscle relaxants and that definitely felt better and stopped my leg and neck twitching to a degree that I could live with

Forward a few years and I had to stop that muscle relaxant,

I was put onto baclofen again and this time I gave it a bit longer and it's halted the muscle spasms almost completely.

I think it's a good drug.

To be honest it has stopped the spasms and helped in other areas into the bargain.

The long term, I'm not to sure what it could be doing to me, however at this point I'm not caring as the spasms are better and my sciatic had almost gone on my left leg.

I can live a whole lot better than I was.

I'll take that any time and worry about anything happening in future, then!

Good luck 👍

[Danni54]

Hi. You have been and are going through so much and I know how you feel about having to take yet another drug. From the replies Baclofen seems to be helpful. I take Oramorph every day and have 2 wedge fracture's at the base of my spine. Have also had many other thing's including lung cancer which was misdiagnosed and I was on an Opioid called Dipipanone and Cyclizine for year's but that was stopped abruptly with nothing to replace it. That helped the Fibromyalgia and I now, find the Oramorph helps though I try to limit the amount I take.However, I now suffer , badly, with Restless Leg Syndrome which made the Fibro pain much worse. Thankfully I found the RLS Society and the Forum on Health Unlocked which was and is amazing and I now have a Buprenorphine patch. It's an Opioid but has helped the pain in my leg's and neck and I actually manage to sleep for 5 hour's a night! RLS as well as Fibro is just horrendous and I feel so much for all of you with multiple problems. Fibro is bad enough! The only problem with the patch is that I have an allergic skin reaction to the adhesive! Always something!!

Take care and good luck. All the best.

Danni

[Iamthemedicalmystery in reply to Danni54]

With regards to the patch, I also had that problem but tried different brands and now don't have the reaction 🙃

[Danni54 in reply to Iamthemedicalmystery]

Hi. I love your name! Before I was , after 15 month's of being made out to be a hypochondriac, diagnosed with lung cancer, I was so ill but apart from Fibro, Diverticulitis and Osteoarthritis the medic's couldn't find anything wrong !! Little did I know that a tumour had shown on an Xray but the Pain Clinic ignored it for 15 month's until I was rushed to hospital with Pneumonia and my lovely Thoracic Consultant asked me why I hadn't had anything done about the tumour! I told him I didn't know I had one! It was then I found out about the 15 month delay! No wonder I had been feeling so ill and because of the misdiagnosis I have been left with multiple problems. I know that the NHS is on it's knee's but I haven't had much luck with the medical profession! I hope that yours are better! Dr.s are , now, quite reluctant to prescribe opiate medication because I am having a problem changing from the patch, Buprenorphine, to pill's. They weren't happy about giving me the patch but I will speak to them about changing the brand or, rather, will speak to the Pharmacist! Everything is changing and not for the better...in my opinion!

Good luck with everything. We have to keep fighting to be heard or so I have found but it's exhausting when you're not well.

All the best.

[Beakybird58 in reply to Danni54]

gosh, you poor thing, sounds like you’ve got a lot to deal with. My Gp seems to be keen to cut all my analgesia- I stopped codiene quickly a year ago because of the effect on my severely dysfunctional bowel. I was surprised I had no withdrawal symptoms.But like you, I take oramorph for lumbar scoliosis and a severely crushed disc and facet problems. I’d love to try a patch but have a feeling my Gp has other ideas. I find the pain is really bringing me down.

I’ve noticed that one is not supposed to drink alcohol with baclofen- I like a couple of glasses of wine with my dinner. I guess I would have to knock that on the head! Another pleasure to go!

Like you I also suffer dreadfully with lack of sleep, partly pain and bladder keeps me or wakes me ever 2 hours so I’m constantly sleep deprived. It’s all so depressing. But I shall soldier on!

Thanks again for your insightful reply. Take care. X

[Aka-Ice]

I take baclofen and have done for years for lower back and neck and shoulder issues and think they are amazing. They also help with fibro pain as not only a muscle relaxant but also a neural blocker. Tried pregabs no good and only move up to tramadol if the pain is too sever for me to handle. Thumbs up for me for baclofen and I'm sure more people with fibro could benefit from using it.

[Cotswolds25121 in reply to Aka-Ice]

Hi, interesting reading your post. I was on co codamol along with naproxen for many years… after for years before that trying different combinations of meds to help with the pain. Finally the two worked together extremely well and helped a lot. Then because of other issues I was told I should never have been put on naproxen 🤦‍♀️so was taken off of them, but the co codamol do not work on there own 😔I have been put back on them as I’ve been in agony but told I must only take them infrequently. I understand this but this isn’t helping me with so much pain🤷‍♀️what I need is for the gp to look more in depth at other things I can try on a permanent basis. I have my yearly meds review in a couple of weeks so shall mention the baclofen, so thank you for that. 🤞🤞x

[Beakybird58 in reply to Cotswolds25121]

good luck. Do let me know how you get on.

I saw Gp this week. He’s cutting my oramorph down. Not happy that I take Maxalon or , well almost all my other meds. He did give me script for more tramadol but I feel this is just the beginning of trying to stop all my analgesia and antiemetics plus buscopan.

I found baclofen gave me a headache but maybe I need to preserver a bit longer with it on a regular basis- but I suspect, even if it works Gp won’t prescribe again.

Am fed up with trying to ‘live’ life with all the pain and bowel issues I have let alone deal with a sympathetic but very determined Gp!

Take care