My kingdom for a comfortable position
 

I'll be so glad when this little downturn is over!! It hurts to sit down, it hurts to lie down, it hurts to stand up, and it hurts to walk. It just hurts in different places. Some of it's MS, some is arthritis, some is mystery owies. Grrrr.

It seems as though I can find a "comfortable" position for only a few minutes at a time, then I have to rearrange myself because a muscle is starting to spasm or my leg starts to ache or my back hurts. I've changed chairs and pillows and positions so many times today, I probably burned off all the calories in my fancy chocolate.

My poor husband. I can't even stand to be next to myself today, I can only imagine how sick he's getting of hearing me whine and whimper today! I promised him that if I didn't feel better tomorrow, I'd stay in the basement except for meal times. :D

Aw, B2Y, I'm sorry you're in pain. I know how irritating and exhausting that can be.

I'm sure your hubby won't want you in the basement! I hope tomorrow is a better day for you. :hug:

When you are ready.... let me know. Strong magnets really help me with this, esp at night.

I've used them for a decade. So let me know when you are ready to think outside the box!...;)

ditto that.

I cant get comfortable enough to sleep. I cant get comfortable enough to sit down, and I cant stand up long enough to comfortable doing that either.

I swear, the MS Trolls in my head are sadistic little <swear words> that could give the CIA torturers at Gitmo a run for their money. (maybe that's where the MS Trolls learned their little torture skills? altho, to the MS Trolls, "waterboarding" means a whole different thing)

This type of thing has been bothering me for a couple of weeks now. Thinking I may have to increase my baclofen

What kind of side effects does Baclofen have? It sounds as though a low dose of that might help me.

Baclofen makes me sleepy. I pretty much only use it just before bed, or in the evenings if the spasticity is driving me up a wall.

My physiatrist told me that the valium I had been taking was probably better, because even tho the valium has a risk of being addictive, you can stop it cold turkey (he said if you're using valium correctly, there's not that much of a chance of getting addicted) but he told me that if you take baclofen regularly, if you stop it cold turkey, there's a chance of seizures. I've always had to back down on the baclofen over the time of a week or two because of that possibility. But I've never had a seizure that I know of.

I've used Baclofen for about 4 or 5 years now. At first it made me sleepy, but that side effect went away. My neuro had me titrate up on it slowly. Now, 80 mg of Baclofen per day isn't enough and he added Clonazepam and Gabapentin to the mix. It helps if I remember to take it all. If I miss doses or stay in one position too long, it gets bad.

I think I started out on 5 mg of Baclofen three times a day. Now I'm taking 20 at times and 30 or 40 at bed.

I started at 10mg x 3 a day on the baclofen, and then I backed off on it and quit the baclofen because my spasticity let up on me for awhile.

Right now I'm probably at 20mg of baclofen once a day (at night, take one 10mg in the early evening and another one just before bed) so that I can sleep without my heels trying to kick myself in the butt in the middle of the night. I've basically switched from valium to baclofen because my neuro is being a jerk and wont re-up my valium Rx. So, I'm saving the valium for really really bad days. (or for the next time I have a panic attack...hope that doesnt happen again. Had a panic attack on Xmas night. It was scary)

I'm trying to do stretching exercises in the afternoon in the hopes it'll keep the spasticity from getting really bad at night. Just started that tho. Not sure if it'll work.

I forgot to add that when I first started Baclofen, even though I felt sleepy, the deep fatigue (feeling like I was slugging through water) was relieved. I think it was because my muscles weren't fighting me so much.

Baclofen has to build up in the system to be effective. So if you consider cutting back, cut back gradually and you will be fine. Its funny how I need to take really low dose ativan before I drive. I take .05 the night before and the same in the morning. (Ativan takes a long time to take affect). Then I take Celexa and 20 mg baclofen and then I'm usually good to go. I swear the ativan takes the edge off the constant anxiousness I developed and helps my muscles calm down too. Baclofen does not make me sleepy and neither does the Ativan. I don't take the ativan regularly, only when I know I am going to go grocery shopping or something.
I believe in my heart that part of my MS was this surge of unexplained anxiety and phobia. I tackled most of them except the driving. Without the ativan, I feel as though my car is moving slightly different than it is.....and that makes me panic. I found an article called MOTORISTS VESTIBULAR DISTURBANCE SYNDROME that described my issue to a Tee! It is typically neurological. And of course is going to increase anxiety.
Its what works for me and I gave up a long time ago trying to do without these types of drugs. Apparently increased anxiety is seen in MS people and I have joined the ranks of those who opted for medicinal help.
I think I may need an increase in my baclofen as I have been really stiff this winter. It also seems to help if I take Requip at night along with some baclofen. Requip is for Restless Legs. The two work quite well together. I going to get me a DVD on stretching to see if that helps too.

I thought Ativan was relatively fast-acting? Kicks in within 30-60 minutes?

I noticed this morning, that since I started back on the baclofen, I feel a little better in the mornings when I go to stand up the first time. Since I upped the dose in the evenings to 20mg (2 pills taken about 6hrs apart...one of them just before bedtime) I havent been woken up by my heels trying to kick me in the butt the past few mornings.

Still feel really really stiff in the mornings, but not as bad as I had been earlier in december when this flare started. I still feel hung over a bit in the mornings tho. I didnt sleep till about 430am today, woke up at noon. Feel a bit...punchy right now, but my legs arent trying to kick the wall under my desk on their own right now. (also didnt have my legs trying to toss me off the toilet earlier...that's scary when that happens!)

I feel like I have just enough stiffness from the spasticity to stand and hobble around my basement. Wish my right foot would move normally. (dropped, dragging right now) then I probably wouldnt feel like I'm going to trip so much.

For me this is slow acting. I'd love to be able to take it and jump in the car. But I have to wait a couple hours and I get even better results if I take the low dose the night before and again in the morning.