Baclofen and sleep...any answers??

[craving]

Baclofen and sleep...any answers??

I have taken this night before sleeping 2 times Doxylamin. I figured it would make much more sense to sleep on Saturday than to get up and work!

Sleeping worked fine. Instead of getting up at 3 am - I got up at 8am.

The only problem I have now is that I can not go to the toilet. I somehow can not manage to get water going. I am little worried for that now. I hope it goes away during the day!!!!
Acetaminophen/Dextromethorphan/Doxylamine Side Effects | Drugs.comAcetaminophen/Dextromethorphan/Doxylamine Side Effects | Drugs.com

Severe allergic reactions (rash; hives; difficulty breathing; tightness in the chest; swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue); difficulty urinating or inability to urinate; fast or irregular heartbeat; hallucinations; seizures; severe dizziness, lightheadedness, or headache; stomach pain; tremor; trouble sleeping; vision changes; yellowing of skin or eyes.

I am very worried now. Clearly if my bladder is feeling up and I still can't go to the toilet I might need medical attention!!

Seems therapeutic dose ranges from 25-50mg ... with 2 pills I am still in the official suggested dose!

[Guest]

Baclofen and sleep...any answers??

Just a aside lots of people talk about the lights comming on in the frontal lobe at around 3:00am in the morning ...I am like clock work 3:00 to 3:30 brain decides it wants to wake me up and start thinking about stuff usually until about 4:30 5:00 am it decides to shut down again...Whats with that any one seen some sleep studies conducted on this .. very interesting the ole brain
REg

[Greg]

Baclofen and sleep...any answers??

I'm glad I only took 25 mg of doxylamine one night! Baclofen actually makes me run to the bathroom during the night if I take any of it close to bed. I didn't have a bad reaction to doxylamine but that doesn't mean someone else can't. I slept well on it and luckily didn't have any next-day aftereffects.

Hoping you are OK!

[craving]

Baclofen and sleep...any answers??

I just returned from the hospital.

I took yesterday 2 pills Doxylamin to sleep - it was my first time taking that amount.
I could not go to the toilet anymore. retention of urine in the bladder.

They had to put in a Catheter and clear out the urine!

I am not sure if it was Doxylamin - they confirmed my view at the hospital that this is a possible side effect. They recommended me to not take anymore Doxylamin - not even one.

I did not reference the others medicine I am taking though. Bupropion (raised from 1 to 3 pills a day yesterday), Pseudoephedrin (for my nasal congestion) and of course Baclofen - which I really did not want to reference to them.

I really hope that I can go to the toilet on my own now - otherwise I will have to get a Catheter until Monday - which would be very painful.
For now I have not taken any Pseudoephedrin, no Bupropion and also reduced my Baclofen. I really hope I can have my body to figure this one out!!

[tiptronic_ct]

Baclofen and sleep...any answers??

craving;801972 wrote: I just returned from the hospital.

I took yesterday 2 pills Doxylamin to sleep - it was my first time taking that amount.
I could not go to the toilet anymore. retention of urine in the bladder.

They had to put in a Catheter and clear out the urine!

I am not sure if it was Doxylamin - they confirmed my view at the hospital that this is a possible side effect. They recommended me to not take anymore Doxylamin - not even one.

I did not reference the others medicine I am taking though. Bupropion (raised from 1 to 3 pills a day yesterday), Pseudoephedrin (for my nasal congestion) and of course Baclofen - which I really did not want to reference to them.

I really hope that I can go to the toilet on my own now - otherwise I will have to get a Catheter until Monday - which would be very painful.
For now I have not taken any Pseudoephedrin, no Bupropion and also reduced my Baclofen. I really hope I can have my body to figure this one out!!

Urine retention is not a side-effect of Bupropion.

Depending on how long you've been taking it, you could do yourself more harm by stopping it suddenly. I've been on 300mg of Wellbutrin a day for over a month, having started on 150mg a day for a week at the start. You're actually taking a very low dose, so it isn't likely that you'll have serious WD's.

[craving]

Baclofen and sleep...any answers??

update: the problems have not passed.
doxyalamin has a half-life of 10 hours. So the effect should have been passed by now.

It might be Minocyclinhydrochlorid instead!!! I take it only short time against acne and it has so far caused tons of side effects for me. Look at that! A thing that causes esthetical benefits with a such unacceptable side effect!!

I am curious what the doctors will say. Probably since it is an antibiotics my possibility to urinate will not instantly return!!:upset::upset:

I have upped my Baclofen dose back to normal (5x50mg=250mg/day). I definately don't want a fall back because of that. And knowing that Baclofen did not do that to me, is a very safe thing. The only thing I could read about Baclofen is that people go more to the toilet.

[Anna B]

Baclofen and sleep...any answers??

this is a very interesting thread! Personally, bac has always made me extremely tired and has even got me to start drinking coffee again (which I couldn't do before b/c of my anxiety problems). In fact, when I first started taking bac, I would take an extra dose right before bed so I could sleep through the night.

Something to think about though: there are some researchers/academics who believe that a "first" and "second" sleep (i.e., two REM cycles) are what our ancestors did early in our evolution. And there's some evidence that even today there are cultures where every night people wake up in the middle of the night, do some chores, eat something, etc. and then go back to sleep for a few more hours. So a full 6-8 hour night sleep isn't necessarily what humans were "meant" to do, whatever that means. Who knows?? But it's an interesting idea.

Here's an article in case you're interested:

Experience Life Magazine: A Brief History of Sleep

[Greg]

Baclofen and sleep...any answers??

Just one more insomnia-related suggestion...

Has anyone tried the anticonvulsant drug tiagabine (Gabitril) to help with sleep? Some studies seem to show it having benefits in insomnia at a dose of around 8 mg per night. It acts on GABA but apparently in a different way to benzos/Z-drugs or baclofen. Lack of tolerance and addiction are mentioned as benefits of this medication when used for insomnia (and also anxiety).

Similar claims have been made for gabapentin (Neurontin) and probably other anticonvulsants too so maybe tiagabine is no different? I have read the odd suggestion of gabapentin having the potential to cause withdrawal symptoms but not about it actually being addictive the way benzos can be.

[craving]

Baclofen and sleep...any answers??

Greg;802350 wrote: Has anyone tried the anticonvulsant drug tiagabine (Gabitril) to help with sleep? Some studies seem to show it having benefits in insomnia at a dose of around 8 mg per night. It acts on GABA but apparently in a different way to benzos/Z-drugs or baclofen. Lack of tolerance and addiction are mentioned as benefits of this medication when used for insomnia (and also anxiety).

Similar claims have been made for gabapentin (Neurontin) and probably other anticonvulsants too so maybe tiagabine is no different? I have read the odd suggestion of gabapentin having the potential to cause withdrawal symptoms but not about it actually being addictive the way benzos can be.

Interesting. They are not listed as sleep medicine though. Might be hard to convince a doctor to prescribe you a medicine acting in a similar way for a problem that the other medicine caused.

I have no problem for the sleep insomnia Baclofen causes me - as I stay fully functional, without negative effects. Just during the weekend it makes no sense getting up at 3am in the morning to work. I am already now working too much. Want to slow down during the weekend.

The less sleep during the weekdays will let me spend my time more wise. with sleep of 4-6 hours, working lets say 10-12 hours would give me 6-10 hours free time a day, to do whatever I wish to do. Time alcohol has stolen before from me. So I think this is a quite fair trade!

[beatle]

Baclofen and sleep...any answers??

On sleep patterns

Anna B;802185 wrote: this is a very interesting thread! Personally, bac has always made me extremely tired and has even got me to start drinking coffee again (which I couldn't do before b/c of my anxiety problems). In fact, when I first started taking bac, I would take an extra dose right before bed so I could sleep through the night.

Something to think about though: there are some researchers/academics who believe that a "first" and "second" sleep (i.e., two REM cycles) are what our ancestors did early in our evolution. And there's some evidence that even today there are cultures where every night people wake up in the middle of the night, do some chores, eat something, etc. and then go back to sleep for a few more hours. So a full 6-8 hour night sleep isn't necessarily what humans were "meant" to do, whatever that means. Who knows?? But it's an interesting idea.

Here's an article in case you're interested:

Experience Life Magazine: A Brief History of Sleep

I had heard about this before from other sources. I think there was a study done where people were isolated in the wilderness and had no set schedule. They had chores to do and things to entertain them, and they could pace themselves exactly as they liked. As Anna says, and the article suggests, they fell naturally into a rhythm of 4 hours shortly after sunset, with a 2-4 hour pause, and then sleep again for 4 hours. I only heard about this from a relative, but I trust him not to make stuff like this up. I seem to recall he said something about how thousands of years ago, people would take shifts protecting the tribe (or their families)... it somehow related to this, but I'm not sure how:scratchinhead:

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.

Thanks for the article, anna.

[harry]

Baclofen and sleep...any answers??

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]

Baclofen and sleep...any answers??

beatle;802829 wrote: 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]

Baclofen and sleep...any answers??

harry;802852 wrote: 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]

Baclofen and sleep...any answers??

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]

Baclofen and sleep...any answers??

Greg;799413 wrote: 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.