Balcofen doesn't work?
 

I have a prescription of 10mg Balcofen pills. they seem not work for me or maybe I'm not taking enough. the bottle says 1 every 3-4 hrs.

I take 20mg twice a day....but I don't think it works that well. I recall many MSers who it didn't work well for

It usually takes the edge off of the spasticity for me. I try not to take more than 20mg during the day because it makes my muscles weak and screws around with cognition and balance. When spasms are bad at night I take 10-30mg so I can get a few hours of sleep. Sometimes works, sometimes doesn't.

When I first started taking it, it didn't seem to be doing anything other than making me more stunned than I already am :confused:. It took a few days of taking it fairly steadily for a bout of TM/HUG before I noticed a difference.

Hope that you find something that works for you :hug:.

With love, Erika

I take 10 in the am and 10 in the pm. It keeps my spasticity in check. I wish I would have started it 10 years ago. I suffered needlessly and foolishly.
and now am undoing all of the physical things that compensation caused by not taking it.

My 'script is for 20mgs, 3x daily. Originally it was 20mgs, 4x, but I never could find a best time to take that 4th dose. Anyway, Baclofen alone just wasn't cutting it. The addition of 2mgs diazepam (generic Valium), 3x daily works well for me. My spasticity, if untreated, causes leg and foot cramps and makes it very hard to navigate stairs. Try to go up or down stairs without bending your legs! It's scary.

You might need to up your dose, or maybe add another med. Or try something else. Check with your Doc!

Baclofen did not work for me. I tried Valium but it was too strong for me, even cutting in fourths. I now use lorazepam (Ativan) and it works for me. I don't take it all the time, just when things get bad. I just tough it out and take lots of Epsom salt baths (if I can manage to get in the tub and someone is here to help just in case).

Ask your dr. about trying something different if the baclofen is not working for you. There are other medications that you can try that can help. :hug:

I posted this on another thread. I got help from Magnesium when Baclofen had too severe side effects. I've been on it over 25 years. But one has to take "enough" to get the effect.
See other thread on Restless Leg Syndrome.

Baclofen alone didn't do much for me, but then again I was never on 10mg, I've always been on 20mg. My neuro played around with different meds for me until we got something that resembled relief. I still take baclofen but he added tizanadine and/clonazepam. I do find baclofen and clonazepam are the winners for the real bad pain. Talk to your doc.

Doesn't baclofen have to be slowly titrated up until you reach an
effective dose for you and then titrated down when you go off of it?

Anyway, I hated the mopey side effects. I'd rather be stiff & achy.
I've never tried the mag route, but heard from many that, it works
great.

I think that you are correct Sally.
It seems to work better if there is a circulating level in the bloodstream. I add to that when needed. I do know that it shouldn't be stopped suddenly once it has been taken for a period of time, especially at relatively high doses. The effects doing that can bring on all the symptoms that one had, only more severely than before; with some added extras to boot :eek:.

Personally I don't like taking it because it does affect cognition and makes me feel like a mollusk, but it does take the edge off when things are too much to handle.

With love, Erika