Baclofen and sleep...any answers??

[harry]

Bac has done nothing for my anxiety. Fantastic for eliminating al though. So looking through the various options to reduce anxiety, I have ordered kava and GABA. Valerian is ok but Im looking for something stronger.

These links may apply more for those from Oz:

Kava

https://www.vitaminselect.com.au/shopexd.asp?id=93

UQ research finds kava is safe and effective - UQ News Online - The University of Queensland

SpringerLink - Journal Article

http://www.mediherb.com.au/articles/KavaPDS.pdf

GABA

NOW Foods GABA Powder - 170g - - eBay Other Dietary Supplements, Dietary Supplements, Nutrition, Natural Therapies, Beauty, Health. (end time 09-Mar-10 12:07:33 AEDST)

ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION

[craving]

Originally Posted by beatle

Anyway, I do think the most important thing is to not be so stressed by it -- how much sleep you need... and when. I know, it's hard when you have to get up in the morning and be functional, but then it becomes a vicious circle.

Yes I agree with you. My first reaction was WTF – there must be something wrong! Then I noticed it does not slap back.

Only thing I am not happy with as of yet is to wake up at 3am on weekends. I really want something just for the weekends to take. Weekdays I am fine with working early – weekends I ideally like to skip work totally.

[beatle]

Originally Posted by harry

Bac has done nothing for my anxiety. Fantastic for eliminating al though. So looking through the various options to reduce anxiety, I have ordered kava and GABA. Valerian is ok but Im looking for something stronger.

These links may apply more for those from Oz:

Kava

https://www.vitaminselect.com.au/shopexd.asp?id=93

UQ research finds kava is safe and effective - UQ News Online - The University of Queensland

SpringerLink - Journal Article

http://www.mediherb.com.au/articles/KavaPDS.pdf

GABA

NOW Foods GABA Powder - 170g - - eBay Other Dietary Supplements, Dietary Supplements, Nutrition, Natural Therapies, Beauty, Health. (end time 09-Mar-10 12:07:33 AEDST)

ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION

harry, there is quite a lot of info & shared experiences about these on the Holistic Healing forum.

Interesting that the bac did nothing for your anxiety.

L-glut does absolutely nothing for me in any way perceptible. But I take it every day because I believe in its healing properties.

True Calm (from MWO) does calm me a bit -- it's the best natural supplement I've found, but I don't need it anymore, so I don't use it anymore.

GABA in large doses, taken together with vit C and D, also helps for agitation.

Again, check out the Holistic Healing forum.

[tiptronic_ct]

My psychiatrist today prescribed 15mg of Remeron to assist with sleep.

Anyone else ever try it for sleep (it's actually a tricyclic AD)?

[pegasus0999]

Originally Posted by Greg

Has anyone here heard of a medication called cyclobenzaprine (brand names Flexeril, Cycoflex) ?? It is listed as a skeletal muscle relaxant and sedative...openly stated as being a CNS depressant that is also prescribed as a sleep aid. The only trouble is that it sounds very much like baclofen (except its recognised use as a sleep-aid) so the two could interact seriously. It could also be potentially addictive like many sleep medications. I'm just wondering if anyone has heard anything much about the medication.

P.S. Edit : Don't worry about the above medication, as it's apparently just an antidepressant type drug that exerts sedative effects via antihistamine actions. Other antidepressants that have antihistamine properties are prescribed as sleep aids, and most/all only work for a couple of days in a row because of the very rapid tolerance (in most people) to antihistamine sedation. Trazodone may be somewhat different however.

I was taking flexeril for several years until my insurance recently stopped covering it, and I'm stuck looking for an alternative.

Flexeril is a muscle relaxant, but it is structurally similar to the old tricyclic anti-depressants, and has sedating properties. It is also one of the few drugs prescribed for sleep that restores sleep architecture - in particular it restores stage 3 and 4 sleep which is where your body repairs muscle tissue and replenishes vital neurotransmitters and other hormones in your body. Most sleep meds out there help you fall asleep, but actually decrease the amount o beneficial sleep.

Trazedone is another drug that helps restore proper sleep architecture. It's sort of an oddball anti-depressant that has some properties of old tricyclics, and some properties of SSRIs, but doesn't really fall into either category. It has acually been found to be more helpful for restoring sleep than as an antidepressant, though it needs to be used in smaller doses for that.

I've been trying to replace my flexeril with baclofen, but have found my sleep has suffered greatly and my physical pain has increased (probably due to worse sleep). I had my sleep to the point where I could sleep for 3 1/2-5 hours, wake up, and failry quickly fall asleep for another 2 -3 hours. With baclofen I sleep a max of 3 hours, wake up, then lie wide awake with increasing body pain and feeling like my skin is buzzing or vibrating. If I'm lucky, I'll fall asleep again for another hour or so, or more likely, just go into a dream state while still awake because I'm so sleep deprived.

I've found the suggestions about taking it earlier in the day helpful, and plan on trying that. Though it does seem a bit counter-intuitive, since for me, the baclofen was prescribed as much for sleep as anything else.

[Greg]

It seems that Flexeril does have sleep enhancing properties that aren't the same as just taking an antihistamine from what you said.

As I mentioned elsewhere, trazodone is unfortunately not available in Australia these days and I'm not sure if it ever was. It's a shame because it seems to help a lot of people with sleep issues. I'm hoping to try mirtazapine (Remeron/Avanza) when I see a specialist soon, since it's also an antidepressant that helps with sleep. It's one of the few ADs I haven't tried yet.

I kept on hoping baclofen would help me with sleep, and in fact I had hoped for this as much as I had wanted its anticraving effects. I have been taking a break from it but intend to restart it, at a slower pace to see if I tolerate it better (I'm still AF but either white knuckling it or using unhealthy substitutes). I won't be taking any large doses close to bed this time. It doesn't actually affect me the way a stimulant would, it just seems to "turn off" my brain's ability to drift off to sleep. When I finally do sleep I wake again very easily. Hopefully taking it no later than late afternoon will change things this time.

[pegasus0999]

Greg, have you checked for trazodone by its various names? Other names it goes by are Desyrel, Beneficat, Deprax, Desirel, Molipaxin, Thombran, Trazorel, Trialodine, Trittico.

Also, have you tried amytriptyline (Elavil, Tryptizol, Laroxyl)? It's one of the old tricyclic ADs, and is also used for sleep and restoring proper sleep architecture. Again, it's taken in much smaller doses for sleep than fr depression.

Yeah, baclofen seems to have a similar effect on me. I'm hoping taking it 4+ hours before bed will help.

[Greg]

Thanks Pegasus, but trazodone is not available under any name in Australia. I haven't tried amitryptiline for sleep but have been prescribed mirtazapine for both sleep and depression so will try it instead.

Taking baclofen a few hours before bed does seem to cause less of a sleep disruption. Good luck with it.

[craving]

Originally Posted by Greg

Taking baclofen a few hours before bed does seem to cause less of a sleep disruption. Good luck with it.

Oh so by taking it right before sleeping I am actually doing myself a favor? I really loved the time when I could get up totally awake at 3am and use all the day. It was an amazing time.

[Henrietta]

Hi Greg, For what it's worth, I have taken Flexeril on occasion when my neck problem flairs up --and it works great. It does make me very sleepy. But even though Baclofen is also identified as a muscle relaxer, it has never had an affect on my neck problems one way or the other. I'm not so sure the meds are at all interchangeable or would be safe taken together. But what do I know? I tend to be overly cautious with these things.
I also had sleep issues on Balofen. I was practically dropping off to sleep at the dinner table. But once I crawled in bed at 8 PM, I was wide awake again by midnight. Spreading my balcofen dosage out earlier in the day definitely helped a bit. But I was too frightened to throw any other meds into the mix. So I bet everything I had on straight Baclofen, I toughed out the side effects the best I could, and luckily it paid off for me. At 130 mg I hit the switch, and I'm a month into being AF and doing great.
I don't know if anyone has brought up Melatonin (a natural sleep aid). As I'm tirating down on Baclofen (now at 80 mg) I've found that it has really helped to get my sleep regulated again. And BTW, all the Baclofen sleep issues are gone.
My next step is to start running again after most this snow is gone! Hope this helps.