This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

gosh I hate Baclofen! Didnt big pharma get the memo-MS casuses fatigue? Does the damn drug need to exhaust me on top of it? I can drink 5 cups of caffeine and I still need toothpicks to keep my eyes open. Take it away and the pain is immense. SUre is tough to find a happy medium.

I also take baclofen for spasms (03 Tabs per day). I also think the drug is a crab which gives u nothing but dizziness and fatigue. I am thinking over to switch to Tizandine (Movax) which is much cheaper and probably would give better results.

elliberato,

I'm really sorry the baclofen causes you to experience such fatigue. Are there any other meds or supplements you're taking that might contribute to the fatigue? What is your daily intake of the drug?

I know meds effect everyone differently, but I've been taking it since 2000 and went from 10mgx3 per day to 10mgx5 per day about six months ago and feel a little less spastic but no fatigue.

Taurus,

Is Tizandine often used as a substitute? I've been on baclofen so long, maybe a change would be good.

M

Maynaka

My other meds include Gabapentin (300 mg x 2 ) with multivitamins. Please see that I was first prescribed Tizindine by my neuro but later he changed it to Baclofen after seeing one lesion in my cervical area through MRI.

So sorry to hear of your problem, elliberato. I know nothing at all about baclofen, etc., but I know that too much caffeine can backfire and have the opposite effect, causing extreme fatigue. I can personally guarantee that.

I know I read research about caffeine causing fatigue years ago, and, although I can't find that one now, there are approximately one gazillion articles on the net to explain the effects of caffeine overload. I'm going to link one site which has one article after another. Then I'll add a couple of quotes from it. I always shake my head when I read threads about PwMS drinking tons of coffee, but I've never been able to find that original research.

Anyway, here's my 2 cents worth of info, and I hope it at least addresses your fatigue. Good luck to you!

http://www.naturalnews.com/012352.html
The hidden dangers of caffeine: How coffee causes exhaustion, fatigue and addiction

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Dx'd with MS & HNPP (hereditary peripheral neuropathy) 7/03 but must have had MS for 30 yrs before that. I've never taken meds for MS or MS symptoms except 1 yr experiment on LDN. (I found diet, exercise, sleep, humor, music help me the most.)

I find Tizanifine worse than Baclofen for sleepiness. I take the 2 together and still have terrible spasticity. I should ptobably have a Baclfen pump but i don't yhink the program here is adequately funded so I haven't made the short list.

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Kathy, 49 with PPMS,full time scooter.
Married to a wonderful man, mother to a darling 9 yr old boy

Hi elliberato, I'm back again.

After I posted, I worried that I had sounded too dismissive about a serious problem - the original fatigue caused by baclofen. I didn't mean that at all, just wanted to mention that caffeine can often make fatigue so much worse.

In fact, I've found that it's impossible for me to take most any kind of med for pain, etc. Even 2.5 mg of valium knocks me out cold and makes me stop breathing (like sleep apnea)...I wake up gasping for air over & over & it's terrifying!

Same thing has happened with 1 Darvon, or with antihistamines, or Pamprin (an OTC med for cramps). I have to take my BP meds in pieces spread out over the whole day. 1 Motrin knocks me out peacefully for 4 hours, but I don't stop breathing.

Anyway, since I can't drink coffee or even Diet Coke any more (digestive issues) for a little energy boost, I keep caffeine tablets on hand for emergencies (broken up into 1/4s), but if I overdo it, my eyes roll back in my head from exhaustion and I have to sleep.

Yep, I know I'm completely weird.

I think it's definitely time for you to discuss a med change with your doctor, though. I sure hope you find some relief!

_________________
Dx'd with MS & HNPP (hereditary peripheral neuropathy) 7/03 but must have had MS for 30 yrs before that. I've never taken meds for MS or MS symptoms except 1 yr experiment on LDN. (I found diet, exercise, sleep, humor, music help me the most.)

I've never had any experience of fatigue or disorientation from the baclofen but I've chalked that up to being a professional drug user for so many years. (I almost made the US team in '04 but that phelps kid could hold a bong hit for an entire length... cest la vive) but more importantly I found that Baclofen never helped me one little bit.

In fact recently when I was very crampy I tried it again before going to bed and woke up all sorts of out of joint because it over-relaxed me and all my shit got real sore when I had to sort myself out into a walking talking human being again.

It's the same thing here. I have been taking Vicodin for my herniated discs in my back for about 5 years now. So, when I take my Baclofen 3 times a day, it does nothing in terms of making me sleepy. As a matter of fact, it is an important part of my morning drug cocktail. I wouldn't be able to get through my day without it, just like some people with their coffee.

I am sorry to hear the Baclofen is not helping you. It has helped the spacticity in my hands a lot. I do think steroids helped too, but I notice a difference when I haven't taken the Baclofen.

When I joined this forum a few months ago, I could barely move my hands. I had to take one hand to move the fingers on my other. Now with the steroids and Baclofen, I can easily flip my husband off again when he is being a jerk lol. He didn't take it seriously when I had to use one hand to extend the middle finger on the other hand.

Oh wait, I already posted in here?

You know, weed (I'm on marinol instead currently which does help some but not as much) helps with my spacticity, but I'm finding that as I'm stepping up my neurontin dose, a lot of what I thought was stiffness was just pain, and my legs actually tend to work pretty well now that I'm managing the pain in them.

But you know how it is, we are all such fucking unique snowflakes.

edit again: have you asked your doc if there's anything they can put you on for the fatigue, I'm on adderall again (in part because of the fatigue in part because I've always had ADD and they want to see what treating that does in reference to my feelings of... premature grandpa syndrome) and it does work to keep the sleepys at bay.