NeuroTalk Support Groups - Questions about Baclofen & Gabapentin

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There may be something to the baclofen causing insomnia. Because I dont fall asleep most nights until the next morning. (didnt fall asleep till about 6am)

I'll lay down around 3am and not fall asleep most nights, (watching a tv show that's on at 2am every night) and so I'll get up and read my Kindle a little bit to try to get tired. If it's coming up on 5am, I'll just give up on sleeping and go have breakfast with my dad if it's one of his working days. (he makes me a bowl of Cream of Wheat with cinnamon sugar on it...that'll help me sleep)

I didnt fall asleep till after 6am this morning. Stayed up after eating breakfast with my dad to wait for the paper to get delivered so that I didnt have to worry about my mom going outside to get it and falling down on any ice in the driveway. (yeah, as if I'm any more stable walking than she is)

My dad doesnt work tomorrow so I'm going to make more of an attempt to fall asleep before 3am. I am so tired right now, just sitting down makes me want to fall asleep. I'm going to set my tivo to record the show that I watch at 2am so that I can watch it tomorrow instead, and I'm going to make the attempt to lay down around 11 or 12 tonight and see if I end up falling asleep.

I live in the Central time zone, but I'm starting to wonder what state/and or country's time zone I sleep in...(maybe Hawaii time?)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erin524 (Post 729817)

Sorry to hear bout ur insomnia. I did read that one of the less common side effects to Baclofen, is insomnia.

I just took my Gabapentin today & I was so sleepy, but then I was in quite abit of pain, so I decided to pop a baclofen & whammo I've been alert since then.

As a side note, I absolutely love Cream of wheat, I've never had it with cinnamon sugar. That sounds soooo good,I'm going to give it a try!!

Thanks & have a great night.

It's Maple Cream of Wheat that my dad will make for me. Didnt start eating that stuff till about a year ago, but now I really like it because when I come upstairs after not being able to sleep, my dad gets the box down and makes me a bowl without asking him usually, and will hand me the cinnamon sugar to put in it.

Sometimes I'm not even that hungry, but I'll still eat it because it's kind of cool to be up and having breakfast with my dad before he goes to work.

My dad always puts a packet of Splenda in his (he kind of "collects" Splenda packets when he goes to restaurants) and I think he does the same thing for mine, so I probably dont need to be putting the cinnamon sugar in it, but it tastes really good with cinnamon.

My insomnia has been bad for the past month, but then I just did a 2 1/2 week long taper of oral prednisone, so part of my more recent insomnia problems might be from that. But, I do have problems sleeping a lot.

Sometimes I take the baclofen earlier in the night because the spasticity is bugging me. I notice I have more problems with spasticity just before a big storm. (we're in a winter storm watch starting tomorrow) so I have to wonder if the spasticity can be affected by the weather.

jiggered,

As you can see most of us don't have insomnia as a problem with Baclofen, and have not heard of insomnia as a side effect of the drug.

My interest was peaked and I was about to ask where you had read Baclofen can cause insomnia but decided to search a bit more.

http://www.drugs.com/baclofen.html

From the above link: Sleep Disorders (insomnia)

Still learning even after 25 years :p :)

I find with most of my meds there is a window of effectiveness. If I take my baclofen, I MUST turn off the TV within a 2 hour window or I miss out and cant drop off. I may not be sleepy, but if I close my eyes, and pretend I can get there. If I leave the TV on or ignore that window there is no way I am sleeping. I can feel how tired I am but there is just no way to drop off.

I am the same way with xanax, pain pills, muscle relaxers and so forth. If I dont honor the window I am awake. :(

I've heard of several instances, where some drugs have the opposite effect on some people. I saw that years ago when my SIL took one of my mom's Tranquilizers and it gave her an anxiety attack. Doc said, it happens..:eek:

I take baclofen, and haven't had many problems with it, however I do suffer from insomnia. I'm not sure if the two are connected. I had serious problems with gabapentin, so I take Lyrica instead. It does the same thing for me, but with fewer side effects.

I've decided to try Melatonin. I bought some today, so I'll let u know how that works.

I've also booked a consult with my pharmacist, to see if I can somehow work around the meds & work!!

I really appreciate all your input!!

I take magnesium for butt-kicking spasm

Erin I take 900-1000 magnesium a day (in divided doses) and it stops my butt-kicking spasms as well as Baclofen. A neuro put me on it a generation ago. It still works. I do tend to have spasm.

Lyrica was impossible for me, made me feel like I could not breathe well.

Mariel

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erin524 (Post 729569)

I take baclofen, 3 of them before bed, because it makes me sleepy. I have insomnia problems, at least the baclofen seems to help that.

I quit taking the gabapentin last fall. It was making my feet and ankles swell with edema. Replaced that with Lyrica, quit the Lyrica after about 10 days partially because it made me so stoned, I couldnt do anything. All I wanted to do was sleep. I didnt realize that it was what was causing me to fall asleep standing up.

Other reason that I quit Lyrica, it's apparently the same class as gabapentin and it was not only causing my feet and ankles to swell, but it was making my hands swell and other parts of my body. I had such bad edema that I went to my regular doctor and asked to have my heart checked because the edema was so bad that I was coughing all the time and feeling really weak. (my dad, a nurse, was worried that I was having symptoms of congestive heart failure) I did have some problem with my heart...cant remember what it was called....regurgitation something or another.

The edema in my hands was making my hands more numb. Once I got rid of all that extra fluid some of the numbness that I'd been blaming on the MS got a lot better.

So, I guess I cant take medications like gabapentin and lyrica.

Love the baclofen tho. I really dont like being woken up by my legs trying to kick me in the butt with my heels. Spasticity sucks. Sometimes I take a little valium (another muscle relaxer similar to baclofen) if the spasticity is really annoying.

I had the same problem with the Lyrica, the 10 days I was on it, I think about the 3rd or 4th day I started to feel like I couldnt breathe, especially when laying down...also for some reason it made the spasticity really bad in my ribs and stomach.

I swear, Lyrica was a poison. Nasty nasty stuff....