Anyone Use Baclofen?

[High Tide]

Quite a while back (say a decade) I was part of a group who shared info, advice and support to people with chronic pain. There were quite a few of them who were using baclofen for a muscle relaxer, but I never had the opportunity to try any myself. 

I'm just curious because a friend referred me to a site that carried them, but the price was several times as much as my preferred med, and I was hoping someone knew something about them firsthand. I'm really wanting to hear something that makes me happy I paid enough to get 6-7 carisops for each of the 10 I got as a sample. But any reason why they are so expensive would help. Hopefully I'll know soon enough whether it was worth the price, why they are so much can be totally different though.

Thanks in advance, HT.

 

[halflife]

Baclofen was useless for me. It's for MS patients mostly & I have Muscular Dystrophy. Guess the Doctor who rx'ed it figured that was close enough.

Only 'effect' I noticed was when I had a single drink & a Baclofen later -- I had serious amnesia -- and that's very rare for me.

Would rather get rx'ed Soma....

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[High Tide]

Baclofen was useless for me. It's for MS patients mostly & I have Muscular Dystrophy. Guess the Doctor who rx'ed it figured that was close enough.

Only 'effect' I noticed was when I had a single drink & a Baclofen later -- I had serious amnesia -- and that's very rare for me.

Would rather get rx'ed Soma....

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Thanks for the response. As I said before I used to know quite a few people, online anyway, with chronic back pain who were given baclofen. I am sorry to hear about your condition, and know very little about it. I would imagine it causes sore muscles at the very least, so perhaps baclofen is used to treat that more than you thought. Unfortunately the group I was part of I lost contact with over a decade ago, so it's use along with Soma may have fell out of favor as manufacturers pushed doctors to prescribe newer, more expensive drugs. 

Thanks to a good friend here I was able to find a place to purchase some meprobamate, baclofen and soma so I'll be able to see which one works best for me. The more I read the worse I feel about spending so much to try the baclofen. I would have been much better served to have gotten some zolps, which to me potentiates the carisoprodol enormously. Or I could have gotten more mepro., which I understand now is what the liver turns cariso into anyway. 

 

[386dc]

baclofan is very cheap and least sedating of all the muscle relaxers that is why it is commonly prescribed. most insurance will cover it so its a first line treatment along with cyclobenzaprine (flexeril). it is a pretty good muscle relaxer and helps with opiate withdrawls a little bit

 

[High Tide]

Thanks for the response. That's what I thought, which makes me feel even worse about paying what I did for a sample of 10. Live and learn I guess. It would have been a good idea to ask these questions before buying. The fact it is offered at so few places that I've looked at made me think it might have some effects similar to soma, only better. I suppose that may be because people just don't ask for it much. But hopefully it will help with back pain a little even if it doesn't make me feel as good.

 

[halflife]

Hi HighTide,

Be interesting to see what you think of the Baclofen -- if it provides you any kind of relief -- hope it does. Even more interesting to see if it mixes with or potentiates any other med. Though I can tell you it sure don't mix with alcohol.

Mine was Upsher brand 10mg from a local B&M pharmacy

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[High Tide]

I haven't tried it yet 1/2. I got a package of som@ recently and need to get my dosage of it way down before I try it for best results. Unfortunately I used some zans before getting the package, and they really block the effects of carisop in my case. I'd be in a lot better shape if I hadn't, but kept taking them expecting my usual results. Though I haven't tried the baclofen yet I have mixed the carisop and mepros which yielded pretty good results. The only drawback is it takes longer for the mepro to metabolize so I woke up drowsy. 

I'm going to try and cut way back on them and hope to know how well the baclo works as well as some zans that I got in my sample. Without even trying them I'm still wishing I had spent the money on other stuff. Mainly because the bacs cost 3.50 each, where the other two are under a buck. So I really want to try and use them when I will have the best chance of noticing the effect. That will take a few days at the least, but I will definitely post my thoughts on them when I do.

 

[386dc]

wow they cost that much ? u can go to any walk in place with muscle pain they will give u an rx for baclofen (tell them it worked before, they will either rx that or flexeril without any questions) even without insurance its $4 for 30 pills at target , walmart too i think

 

[High Tide]

I've been going to different places for back pain over 20 years, the same doc about a decade now but many different ones before that, and I've never had baclo Rx'd. This was the first place I recall seeing them and the mepro for sale! 

 

[386dc]

I've been going to different places for back pain over 20 years, the same doc about a decade now but many different ones before that, and I've never had baclo Rx'd. This was the first place I recall seeing them and the mepro for sale! 

just go to a walk in clinic tell them it worked before for you.like i said its not very sedating i got it rx'd because i asked for

something thats not sedating and its cheaper than skelaxin but usually if im fishing for a particular med ill just mention it worked

in the past. 

 

[High Tide]

Right now I'd rather stay with the som@ because I only have one Dr that treats my pain, and I'd hate to lose that script. Seeing how it's been over a decade at the same dose I'd rather try and get it increased if anything is changed. 

But, referring to your post about the cost of baclo-fen, I find the same thing regarding zol-pidems. I can get 45 generic zolps for 15 cash, or have insurance pay for 30 (which costs them under $5) and pay $6 for 15 of them myself. They must be really cheap to make but still when you're buying from an IOP they are rarely, if ever, under a buck each. Closer to $2 actually.

 

[High Tide]

Back on topic... I finally tried my sample from TTM. I didn't feel a thing an hour or two after trying some so I took more and woke up staggering and drowsy today, with a helluva hangover. Not money well spent IMO. 

 

[Boo Radley]

I've only used baclofen in a cream. I'm not sure if it really worked or not. Maybe the massage helped as much as the med

 

[halflife]

@Boo Radley First I heard of a cream!

@HighTide - Sorry to hear that the Baclofen didn't help you at all.

I experienced same both then & now. I had taken 2 of them a day or so ago expecting I might be able to get some sleep. Noticed no easing of symptoms.

It is claimed that you need to take Baclofen for a "a few weeks" before realizing any benefits. Now I was fairly disciplined the first time I was taking it, however still no benefits.

Has anyone felt they were helped by this drug in tablet form? How about Baclofen implanted pumps?

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[High Tide]

After sleeping much of the day I would think it is something that would build up in your system and probably be effective if you were on a strict regimen. The dizziness and drowsiness is something I couldn't tolerate but it may not have those side effects on some people, or at lower doses. I think it would have me feeling that way all the time if I took it as recommended.

 I had read about the cream but doubt it would be effective that way. Boo is probably right in that the massage itself is the most helpful part of that combination.

I'm certainly wishing I had waited longer to take the second dose. Perhaps if I had I might have felt them before taking too many and feeling pretty crappy all day. After waking I sat on the edge of the sofa and woke up again when I hit the floor. I don't recall what I last took, aside from alcohol, that left me with a hangover so bad. Only Flexeril has made me more sleepy, at least in this drug category anyway. 

 The only person I knew who had them called them "drunk pills". It soon after getting them that he was lost to the old formula "oh seas". Looking back I wouldn't doubt the combo contributed because he had been on the o c for a long time, but it was soon after getting the two that he was lost. If not for that I'm sure he would have provided me a "sample" so I wouldn't have wasted my money on them.

 

[opiated999]

I take 4 of the 10mg tabs a day for my M.S. They do help. As Alabama said You can't over do them, or you'll feel like you've had 2 much Elavil. terrable.

 

[cymbaline]

I believe there are studies about baclofen and alcoholism/addiction supposed to relieve the cravings associated with PAWs.

 

[nunk]

Thanks for bringing up this topic.  Someone who is not my wife (SWINMW) suffers from chronic headaches, the really crippling kind, and someone who is not me (SWINM) believes they fall into 2 categories: Classic Migraines and "cluster" type stress headaches, where the muscles in her neck and shoulders tighten to the point that they feel like steel cables or 'sheets' of hard material, depending on the muscle type.  (SWINM) tries for hours to massage them, starting off slowly, as the merest touch (to (SWINMW), anyway - (SWINM) is 6'6" and 250#. no bruiser by any standard but he does have strong hands,) at first causes (SWINMW) such pain that she cries out - and she's no baby. Evenhtually the massaging does provide some relief, but not enough, and not for long, The only thing that helps are narcotics - in large doses - which we well know is a road to be avoided if at all possible.  Imitrex helps with the migraine type, but it knocks her out, and insurance will only pay for 6 doses per month (she's had a headache rated 7+ on a 0-10 scale, she hits 10+ maybe 80% of the time) the doctors script is for 12 doses/month, but we have ot pay cash for more than 6 - @ $90 each, and she often needs 2. Soma helps a good bit but it just knocks her loopy - there's no way she could take it & drive safely or do her job (not a 1st grade teacher w/ 20 kids, at least 5 of whom are screaming or having a fit at any given time.)  I really believe that an effective muscle relaxer, whether oral or injections into individual muscles (with a good chart/scan/map for guidance,) would reduce the need for narcotic pain control, possibly completely.  Unbelievably tight muscles in her neck/shoulders definitely seem to be the root of the problem, if they could be managed I really believe the headache problem would be SIGNIFICANTLY reduced..

Does anyone know of any med that works specifically on  the muscles of the neck, shoulders & upper back, or something that can be injected into specific muscles or areas to reduce tension / relax the muscles in the area?

Thanks,

nunk

 

[High Tide]

First, I sorry to hear about the problems your friends wife faces, I know how crippling a headache can be. Everyone does to some degree, but I get occasional migraines, thankfully not too often now.

The baclofen is the only medicine in the muscle relaxer category I'm aware of that is sometimes administered via abdominal pump directly to the spinal cord. I'm not sure if it's something that has been talked about by her doctors, it certainly is an extreme measure. It may be worth the little money it costs to try and see if oral doses would help at all. 

For that matter it may be worth trying a low dose of BZ to see if it helps reduce the tension that can lead to some of the headaches, or certainly seems to be a symptom.

Mepro~ba~mate is also a relative of som@ that that can be tried. Som@ itself is something that one can build up a tolerance to very quickly. I understand they're trying to avoid a life long attachment to something, but after having so many problems with pain myself, I'm happy to have found a daily therapy that solves most of my crippling pain.

There nothing that I know of that acts specifically on a particular muscle area, they are all CNS acting so it affects every muscle. I'd try a lower dose of Som@ if the loopy effects are the only drawback. It's the only thing that attracts me to it. /default_smile.png