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Topic: Baclofen (Read 298 times) |
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Lizzie2
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Anybody tried Baclofen? Just going to go pick it up from the pharmacy now...my neuro called it in. I'm going to be on 5mg three times a day. I have to stop the lithium due to not being able to keep it down from the nausea and vomiting. Hope the Baclofen helps...!!
Thanks for the feedback in advance.
Carrie/Lizzie2 
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don
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Quote:What is baclofen?
• Baclofen is a muscle relaxant and an antispastic agent. The exact way that baclofen works is unknown.
• Baclofen is used to relieve the muscle spasms, pain, and muscular rigidity associated with multiple sclerosis.
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If a Doc suggested this type of med to me to treat CH I would decline, but thats me.
Quote:| Lithium is a naturally occurring substance. As a medication, lithium reduces chemicals in the body that cause excitation or mania. |
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He's substituting an antispasmodic for a psychotropic? I dont get it?
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| « Last Edit: Aug 19th, 2004, 6:02pm by don » |
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Lizzie2
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Re: Baclofen
« Reply #3 on: Aug 19th, 2004, 6:17pm » |
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Just picked it up and then came home and looked it up on PubMed, too:
Quote:1: Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2001 Feb;5(1):79-82. Related Articles, Links
The use of baclofen in cluster headache.
Hering-Hanit R, Gadoth N.
Department of Neurology, Meir General Hospital, Sapir Medical Center, 59 Jabotinski Street, Kfar Saba 44288, Israel.
Cluster headache is a rare, clinically well-characterized disabling disorder that occurs in both episodic and chronic forms. The very painful short-lived unilateral headache attacks are associated with autonomic dysfunction. A large number of drugs such as ergotamines, steroids, methysergide, lithium carbonate, verapamil, valproate, capsaicin, leuprolide, clonidine, methylergovine maleate, methylphenidate, and melatonin are considered beneficial for prophylaxis. Nevertheless, this extremely painful condition is occasionally refractory to conventional treatment. The antispastic agent baclofen has been shown to possess an antinociceptive activity. Its efficacy in neuralgias, central pain following spinal lesions, painful strokes, migraine, and medication misuse chronic daily headache suggests that it may be useful for prevention of cluster headache attacks. Therefore, we treated 16 symptomatic patients with cluster headache with daily baclofen, 15 to 30 mg, in three divided doses for the cluster period and 2 weeks after. Within a week, 12 patients reported the cessation of attacks. One was substantially better and became attack free by the end of the following week. In the remaining three patients, the attacks worsened and corticosteroids were prescribed. One of these was also given verapamil. Three of the 16 patients had an additional cluster period, which cleared with a second course of baclofen. In this pilot study, baclofen seemed to be effective, safe, and well tolerated for cluster headache, and seemed to retain its efficacy on repeated clusters. |
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Quote:1: Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2004 Apr;8(2):157-61. Related Articles, Links
A review of nonvalidated and complementary therapies for cluster headache.
Bilchik TR.
Department of Neurology, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Private Practice Neurology, Hartford Neurology, 85 Seymour Street, Suite 800, Hartford, CT 06106, USA. tbilchi@harthops.org
Cluster headache is arguably the most disabling form of primary headache. There is a great deal of information available about alternative therapy for migraine, but very little regarding alternative therapy for cluster headaches. This article reviews the popular and scientific print and electronic sources of information about alternative and complementary treatments for cluster headache dietary supplements, herbal modalities, folk remedies, physical and manual therapies, and unlabeled use of prescription drugs such as botulinum toxin, baclofen, and methylphenidate |
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I'll have to look into this some more, but for now it's a start. Can't hurt to give it a shot! And I don't think he was trying to substitue the same type of med by going from lithium to baclofen. We haven't had much success with probably 50+ meds between my 2 headache types...so we're trying the weird stuff now.
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don
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Souded like he was from the first post.
Quote:| so we're trying the weird stuff now |
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I dont think using an antispasmodic is wierd but it is not a first line defense either. May be good as a complementary med.
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Lizzie2
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Re: Baclofen
« Reply #5 on: Aug 19th, 2004, 6:24pm » |
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Yeah I'm still on the verapamil and I'm on day 2 of another pred taper. It doesn't knock them out for me, but sometimes it gives me a couple of days without CH. When I first started the verap/lith combo, things went pretty well except for feeling pretty nauseated. It's when they messed with the dose and went from short release to extended release that I really started getting sick all the time. Well I'll just have to see how this one goes...
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Prense
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Re: Baclofen
« Reply #6 on: Aug 19th, 2004, 6:26pm » |
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on Aug 19th, 2004, 6:17pm, Lizzie2 wrote:| Therefore, we treated 16 symptomatic patients with cluster headache with daily baclofen, 15 to 30 mg, in three divided doses for the cluster period and 2 weeks after. Within a week, 12 patients reported the cessation of attacks. One was substantially better and became attack free by the end of the following week. In the remaining three patients, the attacks worsened and corticosteroids were prescribed. One of these was also given verapamil. Three of the 16 patients had an additional cluster period, which cleared with a second course of baclofen. In this pilot study, baclofen seemed to be effective, safe, and well tolerated for cluster headache, and seemed to retain its efficacy on repeated clusters. |
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hrmmmm....
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Where does the white go in a snowman when the snow melts?
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don
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Quote:
hmmmmmm what?
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Lobster
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Re: Baclofen
« Reply #8 on: Aug 19th, 2004, 9:15pm » |
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I tried it.
First time I had an allergic reaction to it. Had to stop after a few days.
Second time was pretty good. Took it during one of those periods when no preventatives were working.
I would say that it at least helped kick my cycle away, and lessened the severity of the shadows & CH's quite a bit.
It is one of those drugs where you can -feel- it when you are on it. A not-unpleasant buzz, so to speak.
Lobstah
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Rock beats Scissors.
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floridian
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Baclofen is not well understood, but it is known to work on the GABA-B receptors. It prevents a rise in body temperature from the drug MDMA (which has serotonin & amphetamine like properties). Given the fact that heat is a CH trigger and our serotonin is somewhat deranged, the cooling/serotonin modulating effects of baclofen could explain how it helps some people.
Baclofen can prevent some types of epileptic activity, although it seems to trigger epilepsy in children with cerebral palsy. Baclofen partially blocks glutamate, which is part of cluster pain. Baclofen reduces dopamine release.
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