Baclofen pump

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KarinG
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Baclofen pump

Post by KarinG »

Hi. I'm posting on behalf of my brother, who has aggressive primary progressive MS, now in its 10th year. My brother's doctors have recommended a baclofen pump, presumably to help manage spasticity/pain. He would appreciate feedback from anyone with experience using the baclofen pump. Pros/cons? Side effects? Thank you!
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Scott1
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Re: Baclofen pump

Post by Scott1 »

Hi,

I'm not sure many people who have them will be always on these boards.

You're right, it is primarily for spasticity and the issues related to it. In very simple terms, the inappropriate tightening of muscles is ultimately triggered by calcium binding to part of a muscle to make it adhere to another muscle part leading to contraction. The calcium release is controlled by the balance between sodium and potassium in the cell. What Baclofen does is modulate how quickly potassium leaves the cell. Slowing it down slows how fast calcium can be released. So Baclofen is classified as a Potassium channel blocker.
There is a different pathway that tells muscles to let go of each other to relax. That pathway is ATP dependent. Your brothers doctor should know this but if he doesn't know what to do about that then come back. Unfortunately, we can't see how your brother actually is.

As an alternative to blocking the potassium channel, you could block the calcium. A very effective medication (which I use) is Dantrium. It is routinely used in organ transplants to stop the recipients body spasming. In high, prolonged doses it is bad for the liver but 25-50mg twice daily is a perfectly acceptable dose. If you are looking for choices you might want to try that but the doctor will need to be up to speed. Dantrium will expose muscle weakness when the spasticity subsides so some manual therapy or exercise is needed to improve functionality.

Baclofen and Dantrium both have pros and cons.

Regards,
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NHE
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Re: Baclofen pump

Post by NHE »

KarinG wrote:Hi. I'm posting on behalf of my brother, who has aggressive primary progressive MS, now in its 10th year. My brother's doctors have recommended a baclofen pump, presumably to help manage spasticity/pain. He would appreciate feedback from anyone with experience using the baclofen pump. Pros/cons? Side effects? Thank you!
Magnesium can help with spasticity. Has your brother tried that? The preferred form would be an aminoacid chelate such as magnesium glycinate.
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