This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

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.

elliberato wrote: I can drink 5 cups of caffeine and I still need toothpicks to keep my eyes open.

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

...but just one caffeinated drink – whether it's a soft drink, caffeinated tea or coffee – will put your body on the caffeine rollercoaster. When you consume caffeine, the drug begins its effects by initiating uncontrolled neuron firing in your brain, according to Stephen Cherniske in his book, Caffeine Blues. This excess neuron activity triggers your pituitary gland to secrete a hormone that tells your adrenal glands to produce adrenalin.

Adrenalin is what gives athletes that winning burst of energy and Good Samaritans the ability to rescue people by lifting cars. Adrenalin is also the source of our "fight-or-flight" response, which enabled our prehistoric ancestors to escape from saber-toothed tigers and other predators. By stimulating your adrenal glands to produce adrenalin, caffeine puts your body in this "fight-or-flight" state, which is useless while you're just sitting at your desk. When this adrenal high wears off later, you feel the drop in terms of fatigue, irritability, headache or confusion.

After prolonged "caffeinism," your body enters a state of adrenal exhaustion. Your caffeine consumption has simply pushed your adrenal glands so much that they've burned out. Ralph T. Golan, ND, describes this unfortunate state in his book, Herbal Defense: "Caffeine forces your glands to secrete when they don't have much left to give, and they have to keep digging deeper and deeper, making you more and more tired over time. And over the years, it takes more and more coffee to get the same result. Some people reach the point of drinking half a dozen or more cups of coffee to get the same result and it's barely keeping them awake. That's severe adrenal depletion."

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.

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!

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.

Bender wrote: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.

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.