beclofen?
 

Hi I was put on Beclofen a month or so for spasms in my shoulders and neck causing my c-spine to go all out of alignment! Now that I have been on the med,I have started getting more leg foot cramps and more intense cramps! Help is this a side effect????

I was put on Baclofen for spasm, so if you're getting spasm maybe it isn't working. I had to quit Baclofen because I became so incoordinated. But I started on magnesium for spasm on my neuro's advice, and it worked. I do not often now have the type of spasm I was taking Bacloren for, the ones in legs, lower back, and feet, which cause jerking of the legs uncontrollably if bad enough. Now, I do have stiffness or spasticity in upper back and upper arms sometimes, but not in the lower parts which Baclofen was supposed to help and did not.

I can't remember what I was put on Baclofen for but it didnd't work. Now I keep the bottle around and take a half pill if I can't get to sleep. I works wonders for that!!!!

I thought Neurontin was for spasms. I'll have to search google for it. I think I got an rx for baclofen, I'll have to call the pharmacy. Doctor's office had a great tool using the internet to submit rx.

Baclofen is a muscle relaxer, I believe. I take one before I got to bed most nights because my legs have spasms. It works pretty well but sometimes it gives me a headache.

Welcome T&ASmith, nice to meet you. I didn't like how I reacted to Baclofen/Loricel, but everyone is different. Your reaction may be different than mine. Like all meds, some like it, some don't.

If it's working for you, then stick with it (if you can)....the side effects will lessen for most, after a few weeks. Be sure to ramp up slowly as to not shock your system and rampy down when you go off the Med.

:hug:

yes I have found the med causes me to be sleepy...but other than that nothing! I have a RX for physical therapy just in case the Beclofen did not work...which isnt for the most part....I am calling a few PT offices here in Durand tomorrow...if they cant help then I may have to go all the way to Chicago..But this pain is almost to much for me to handle! And my pain levels have to be really high for me to not be able to stand it! but If they pain up close to my head..or in my arms I have a really low pain level that I can withstand!

Baclofen Problems
 

I suffered a head injury 24 years ago. I was in a coma for 2 months and rehabilitation for awhile after that. I've done well since then (job, family, etc.) Over the past few years I've had muscle pain. My doctor recommended the baclofen pump to help with my walking and back pain. I had the surgery, but now my legs and arms feel tingling and shaking all day. Shaking feels worse after exercise or doing things. My whole body is tense. My head is pretty tight. My doctor thinks it may be anxiety I'm experiencing. I’ve taken some natural anxiety medication and prescription medication (Risperdol/hydroxyzine). I'm having a bad reaction to all of it. Don't know what to do from here. Any suggestions?

Denise;
Discuss with your doctor as to whether the Baclofen is working for you. I take Baclofen and have never had any type of side effect.
I take Celexa for MANY reasons even though it is primarily an antidepressant. It really helped my anxiety. I took half a table for one week before I took the full dose due to common side effect of a bad headache.

I also occasionally take a low dose of Ativan (0.5) to help with muscle pain and or anxiety. Great stuff, but it is addictive so I only take it once in a while.


Tad: If you take Baclofen only occasionally, you will get a withdrawl type of reaction which would be worse symptoms. So make sure you take it on a regular basis. Otherwise; I do like taking a liquid calcium/magnesium supplement. It helps greatly with cramps. I get mine at swansonvitamins.com fairly cheap. However; talk to your doc about this increase in spasticity....maybe the Baclofen is to blame but I doubt it.

My prescription for Baclofen says to take it 3X a day but I really don't need it that often.

My leg spasticity only gets bad at night.....when I'm trying to sleep. So I take 1 before bed and that has seemed to work for me.

If things worsen I suppose I could take it more often during the day but right now I don't need it.

I haven't had any side effects from it other than a mild headache but even that doesn't happen very often and could be from other things like allergies.

I try to take as little meds as possible. Sometimes they're needed, though, and I'm thankful they're there for me for those times.

magnesium helps my spasms. I can't take Baclofen or the Lyrica type meds. A neuro put me on magnesium when I couldn't take Baclofen. I had little coordination while on Baclofen and ran into walls--did not take it long. I'm glad my neuro knew about magnesium.

I'm still new to the baclofen medication (2 weeks). So far I've found that 5-10 mg of baclofen before bed helps to control night time spasms and pain which allows me to sleep better; but it does seem to cause morning sleepiness and increased incoordination. Some nights I've not taken it to avoid that side effect but then there is more spsms which continue into the next day.
Too bad that the this medication has such rapid withdrawl symptoms.

High dose magnesium creates problems of its own for me because of regional enteritis but I do take around 300mg and that seems to be well tolerated.

I'm thinking that I will try to go without baclofen for a bit as I don't like the side effects the next day.
Its such a balancing act with this disease...and everyone seems to have such individual reactions to medication; so it seems to be a trial and error sort of thing to find what works and what doesn't.

My neuro prescribed baclofen...I picked up the prescription, but I'm waiting until Monday to start it. I'm nervous about the side effects, and especially the idea of instant withdrawal symptoms. I'm getting mixed messages from people that take it, as well as the instructions provided by the pharmacy.

The instructions say to take it at the same time every day, and some people have commented about withdrawal symptoms with a missed dose. Other people seem to play around with the dosage and frequency, and have no ill effects. :confused:

I think I'm going to cut the pills in half and start really slowly until I see what happens. I hate meds.

B2Y, I've never had any type of "withdrawl" with Baclofen. I only take 1 per day. If I took 3 per day all I'd be doing is sleeping!

I think we all have different tolerances for different drugs. What might knock me for a loop might not have any effect on you and vice versa.

Blanket instructions for meds are just not reliable. I think you have to assume you'll have all the side effects listed and then pay attention and note the ones you actually do have.