My mother (87) also has some neuropathy but not PN. Recently she started having severe pain attacks in her back. I took her to her pain management doctor, who diganosed it as back spasms caused by her abnormal gait (her right knee is bending in toward her left leg due to arthritis). He prescribed Baclofen but it seems to be doing nothing to help.

I called the pain doctor's office today, and they said that Baclofen takes a while to start working. Baclofen's web site says 10 days. So my first question: why would the doctor prescribe something that takes that long instead of something faster acting, and is it reasonable for me to demand that they give her some more immediate relief? (like Flexeril, maybe?) She tells me the pain is worse than childbirth, which, not that I would know first-hand, sounds pretty bad.

She also told me she was leaking urine when she took this drug last night, so second question: is loss of bladder control a side effect? I can't find it mentioned under any list of side effects.

Thanks in advance...I figured that if any group of people had answers, you folks would.