Side Effects and Adverse Reactions to Baclofen

[Zenstyle]

I think it would be a good idea for us to consolidate our Baclofen side effects all in one place. (It's hard to find the pertinent points in amongst our threads.)

For people that are new to Baclofen, please be aware that this thread is written in conjunction with Baclofen Progress threads in the same Forum as this thread, including a Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread where several people are logging their positive experiences with Baclofen.

This thread is, in no way, intended to put anyone off starting on Baclofen. It is simply to make people aware of some side effects that have happened to some, and by no means all, of the people on this site that are taking Baclofen.

[Zenstyle]

Somnolence:

When I started on Baclofen first of all I was extremely sleepy for the first week or so. Somnolence in the initial stages of taking Baclofen is a very common side effect and it is usually temporary. There are precautions everywhere to be careful driving and operating heavy machinery at this stage... (stay off that tractor!)

[Zenstyle]

Numbness:

When I dosed up to about 70-80mg/daily I started to experience numbness in one of my shins and the top of that foot. I researched side effects and found that numbness is one of them. They didn’t advise a Doctor’s visit for it so I stayed with the program.

That also went away, after a few weeks. If I take a 20mg p.r.n. dose now, especially close to my regular dose, it will come back slightly for about a 24hr period.

[Zenstyle]

Drinking Heavily on Baclofen:

There are precautions everywhere not to drink on Baclofen. Being me, I usually ignore those warnings and have done so for years... Well, that attitude finally bit me in the @$$!

When I had been taking Baclofen for only 6 days, and was at 30mg/daily, I went on a bender. The amount I was drinking wasn’t *huge* for me as I had a very high tolerance. (I logged that experience in my Baclofen thread but I’m going to copy and paste it here so people can see exactly what I’m talking about.)

I discovered that drinking heavily on Baclofen, especially in the early days when it hasn’t become established in your system, is potentially harmful. It took me 6 days to get over that weekend. I had a terrible headache, body ache, nausea and disorientation and felt like I’d been dragged through a hedge backwards.

Also, the effects of the alcohol were accented by the Baclofen and I was in La La Land for the entire weekend.

5/23/09 (15mg) (5 drinks) I’m feeling fine, mellow.
5/24/09 (15mg) (2 drinks) Feeling fine, mellow.
5/25/09 (15mg) (5 drinks) Feeling fine, mellow.
5/26/09 (30mg) (AF) Feeling fine, ditto to yesterday.
5/27/09 (30mg) (AF) Feeling fine, family issues so not so mellow.
5/28/09 (30mg) (AF) Feeling fine, ditto to yesterday.
5/29/09 (40mg) (4 drinks) Feeling fine, ditto to yesterday.
5/30/09 (50mg) (12 drinks) Major fight with mum, I’m drinking, it’s not going well with the bac, my head it all over the place, I have a headache and I’m very tired.
5/31/09 (50mg) (14 drinks) Still drinking, feeling even worse on the bac.
6/01/09 (40mg) (15 drinks) Titrating back down on the bac - my head is fried, I’m exhausted, spaced out, nauseous, and have a horrible headache and body ache.
6/02/09 (40mg) (AF) Still feel like crap, headache, spaced out, nauseous, body ache.
6/03/09 (30mg) ( 2 drinks) Trading computer died, I caved and had drinks, still feel crappy, headache, body ache, brain fog, but nausea gone.
6/04/09 (30mg) (AF) Still spaced out, headache’s starting to go away, body still achey, little better overall though.
6/05/09 (30mg) (2 drinks) Head clearer today, the headache’s gone, body ache is going.
6/06/09 (30mg) (AF) Feeling fine body-wise although I'm a bit blue today but not sure if that's attributable to the baclofen. 30mg is not enough to curb the craving. An AF day but it's no easier than usual.
6/7/09 (30mg) (3 drinks) Feeling fine and back to normal after the rigours of last weekend!
6/8/09 (30mg) (AF) Feeling fine but can't sleep. I've always had insomnia so I'm sure it's not related to the bac. My body has totally adjusted to 30mg per day, no side effects. As per last update... waiting for meds to titrate up...

The meds arrived and I started to dose up then. I also started a 30 Day AF as I had seen that drinking and titrating up on Baclofen was not going to work for me. Unless I had a spare 6 days to recover from the hangover that is!

All joking aside, I think starting on Baclofen and drinking heavily is a complete no-no. That's my opinion and I am sticking to it!

[christyacc]

Thanks for the info Zen! I think it will be extremely helpful!!!!!

[Zenstyle]

You're welcome Christy! I'm sure when people log on they'll add theirs here too...

[Cinders]

My adverse reactions have been

1. Extremely vivid nightmares I could not wake up from. Very scary stuff. I titrated off of 160 mg/day to 120 mg/day and that has completely disappeared.

2. Tiredness (Somnolence), this occurred at every step at titration but was less bothersome than if I were to say take a Benadryl. I could still work and be productive. It goes away after about 3 days of a new step up.

Cindi

[Zenstyle]

I have no problem deleting it if that's what everyone thinks. I see the merit in it and I see your point too Beatle. Obviously I veer more toward letting the downsides be readily available for people to read, mostly because of people drinking too much while starting out.

Maybe if a few more folk want to chime in with an opinion... I'm happy either way.

[Wally22]

I found this thread useful and I think you should leave it up. I have not tried Baclofen, but am considering it. I like to know what I am getting into, and it hasn't scared me off.
Thanks

[Zman]

Beatle,

I think that people will probably read both this thread and the consolidated thread (at least they should). This way they can make an informed choice. Meaning, if your job involves you operating heavy machinery, you should probably know that bac causes drowsiness.

In any case, I dont see anything on here that is all that scary. In my case, i have had no side effects except for some sleepiness.