Baclofen withdrawal? Anyone?

[Windwalker]

I have been on baclofen for three years. About 60 mg but the past few months I have titrated down to 2.5 mg. I also kicked clonazepam/ativan 2.5 hears ago and believe it or not I continue to experience minor wd symptoms from those. I have been an alcoholic for forty years and havent had a drink in two years. My fear is that once I am baclofen free that I may experience a similar wd as the benzos. Some people state that benzo wd and baclofen wd are similar. I can understand that IF the baclofen were discontinued cold turkey. My only concern is facing another 2 year long wd from baclofen even after tapering it for months. Does anyone have experience on stopping baclofen after taking it for a few years? It would be really deeply appreciated to hear from people who have actually gone thru it. Thanks so much!

[Baclofenman]

Re: Baclofen withdrawal? Anyone?

I have been on baclofen for three years. About 60 mg but the past few months I have titrated down to 2.5 mg. I also kicked clonazepam/ativan 2.5 hears ago and believe it or not I continue to experience minor wd symptoms from those. I have been an alcoholic for forty years and havent had a drink in two years. My fear is that once I am baclofen free that I may experience a similar wd as the benzos. Some people state that benzo wd and baclofen wd are similar. I can understand that IF the baclofen were discontinued cold turkey. My only concern is facing another 2 year long wd from baclofen even after tapering it for months. Does anyone have experience on stopping baclofen after taking it for a few years? It would be really deeply appreciated to hear from people who have actually gone thru it. Thanks so much!

Hi Windwalker

I took Baclofen for two and a half years and like yourself, tapered slowly (in my case to 30mg a day) and then just stopped - I suffered no withdrawal and indeed I take a 30mg dose every now and again when I feel I might be getting drawn towards the grog again - This does not effect me like the 30mg used to when i was titrating (tingly fingers etc)

I worked on the basis that if I did start to get withdrawals I could always take a couple of tablets but this never materialised as an issue

I would expect withdrawals would be more prominent in sudden withdrawal from a higher dose than following a tapered withdrawal to 2.5mg a day.

Regards,


Bacman

[moglor]

Re: Baclofen withdrawal? Anyone?

Extremely high dose baclofen affects the brain's GABA system, which is mainly how it works to stem alcohol cravings. Going cold turkey on it at high doses can have withdrawal symptoms similar to things like alcohol and benzos which depress the central nervous system. My experience has been that as long as I'm below 50mg/day or so, stopping abruptly hasn't caused me any problems, although I do find that my muscles get stiff and I'm much more prone to strains and aches and pains for a few days. I have been on bac off and on for many years, and titrated up and down and gone cold turkey at 80-50mg/day with little issue. Your milage may vary.

[Windwalker]

Re: Baclofen withdrawal? Anyone?

Thanks so much. Yall really eased my worried mind.