Baclofene and severe folliculitis / itchy acne

[rdm137]

Hello.

After titrating from 5mg daily up to 180mg daily over 2 months, I developed lots of acne around my thighs and buttocks. I started titrating down and the acne spread all over my body. Hundreds of pimples/folliculitis, severe pruritus.

I'm down to 30mg daily after 1 month and after being treated with prednisone, doxycycline, and a variety of anti-allergy, anti-fungal, anti-Scabies and other medicines (as my USA doctors were baffled).... and the symptoms have dissipated. However the doctors advised that while they don't expect such side effects from Baclofene, it is most likely explanation and that I should discontinue usage.

I'm wondering if any other patients have reported these symptoms. I would really like to titrate back up as baclofene was proving to be effective for me.

Thank you very much!

[_serenity_]

Hi @rdm137,

I had never heard of that issue. I looked it up and found a case study - see: Baclofen-induced morbiliform rashes: a case series - PubMed

It sounds like it's exceptionally rare but does happen. You might have had the terrible fate of being one of the few people with this side effect. I guess you could try to titrate up again slowly and watch for a recurrence. You might need to shift gears and use naltrexone instead. It has to be frustrating to have something working well for you, only to be derailed by a rare side effect.

[rdm137]

I looked it up and found a case study - see: Baclofen-induced morbiliform rashes: a case series - PubMed

Thank you very much! I hadn't been able to find anything like this at all. That brought me to the more detailed notes at https://accp1.onlinelibrary.wiley.co...91270010385936 and I think I will try going back up very slowly having read this.