Baclofen dilemma

[David1949]

Baclofen dilemma
My prescription for Baclofen says take 1 or 2 tablets at bedtime. If I take 1 its not very effective at stopping muscle spasms. If I take 2 it reduces the spasms quite a bit but makes me very weak the next morning.
Does anyone else have similar problems? If so have you found an effective solution?

[NHE]

Baclofen dilemma
My prescription for Baclofen says take 1 or 2 tablets at bedtime. If I take 1 its not very effective at stopping muscle spasms. If I take 2 it reduces the spasms quite a bit but makes me very weak the next morning.
Does anyone else have similar problems? If so have you found an effective solution?

Perhaps 2 tablets is to high of a dose for you. Can you use a pill cutter to cut the tablets in half? Then take 1¹/₂ tablets.

[Scott1]

Hi,

I didn't handle a dose above 5mg of Baclofen very well. I gradually got it to 10mg a day but after a week I was too bilious and had to cut back to 5mg. Baclofen is supposed to work by slowing how fast potassium leaves a cell and thereby slowing the rate at which calcium triggers strands of muscle fibres bind to each other.

The other way (which I use) is to take something that blocks the ion channel the calcium flows through (Ryanadine receptor). You could try a very effective tablet called Dantrium but, from what you say, you won't like how weak it makes you. It's substantially more potent than Baclofen. The solution to the weakness is to exercise the muscle eccentically as happens in Pilates and Yoga. It takes a fair bit of work to do that.

The other thing you could try is a big lift in your magnesium intake. It also targets the Ryanadine receptor. You might find a combination of the lower dose of Baclofen and a bit of magnesium might be happy medium.

Regards,

[Music]

Hi,

Baclofen did not work for me but Vitamin D and Magnesium do. Each of us are different tho.

Take care.

[David1949]

Baclofen did not work for me but Vitamin D and Magnesium do. Each of us are different tho.

Thanks for the info. May I ask how much of each you take?

[Scott1]

Hi,

The easiest answer is to point you to the magnesium tablet I take. http://www.aminoz.com.au/ethical-nutrie ... 83EALw_wcB

The ingredients are listed. Each tablet is big enough for a horse! I prefer tablets as the dose is standard whereas powder is more of a guess.

1 tablet twice daily is usual for me. When I was particularly tight I did take one at midday as well.

I don't use Vitamin D at all and never have. I'm sure others are well justified taking it. My view is that the Vitamin D receptors are all controlled in a complex by another receptor called the Retinoid X receptor. As an analogy you could say the RXR is like the switch at the mains and the vitamin D receptors are like the lights in the ceiling. Nothing happens to the lights if the mains are off. To up-regulate the RXR you need 9-cis retinoic acid. The safest and simplest way to get that is carrot juice. If you to take retinoids as a vitamin A tablet you'll end up with a toxic liver if you aren't careful . Nothing against Vitamin D tablets but I think I get enough exposure from sunlight and having things like mushrooms in my diet. Vitamin D levels oscillate in natural settings so I can't imagine I really know what the right level should be. It's just not something I worry about but I can understand the concern of others. You would probably need a tablet if you follow a low fat low cholesterol diet like Jelinek or Swank as there is an interplay with forms of cholesterol at work in the body but you're streching my knowledge.

Regards,

Regards,

[Music]

Baclofen did not work for me but Vitamin D and Magnesium do. Each of us are different tho.

Thanks for the info. May I ask how much of each you take?

Hi David,

I take 5000 IU of Vitamin D per day and 2 - 200 mg of Magnesium as well. Vitamin D worked well for me long ago and had taken different dosages before settling on 5000 IU. The Magnesium helps with other things also.

Take care,

Terry