Baclofen - Sleep Paralysis

[K9Lover]

How many of you have experienced the side effect known as "sleep paralysis", where your body is asleep, but your mind is awake and you are unable to move? It can last anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes, and can be very frightening. I'm just wondering how common this one particular side effect of Baclofen is.
Thanks for any info!

[azuldog]

Baclofen - Sleep Paralysis

Re: sleep paralysis

K-9... I experienced sleep paralysis (not on Bac) and it is terrifying. I felt like there was a 'presence' in the room and I could not move. I dont ever want to have that again. On Baclofen I have had many hallucinations, some very interesting, some not so. These have been visual, auditory and tactile. It has also effected my memory and attention span. Having said all that I will continue on it. I'm a child of the 60's, so bizarre phenomena are OK with me! I just dont want the paranoid stuff. I think if I can 'hit the switch' profound things will happen down deep. At least that's what I'm hoping. How could it not change the course of one's life in a positive way?

best wishes,

dog

[Henrietta]

Baclofen - Sleep Paralysis

Hi K9Lover (by your photo I can see why you do!)
I just wrote about this on another thread and think I can add something here. I definitely experienced this side-effect at higher baclofen doses. Just a recap: I?m 5?-4? and 110 lbs. I tirated up (slowly slowly slowly) to 130 mg before the switch kicked in. I have been AF for 7 weeks and have tirated (slowly slowly slowly) down to 50 mg.
Paralysis is a pretty strong word for it. Your body is definitely asleep and non-responsive, but it?s more like you are trying to wake up from a dream, and your mind has somehow made it first to consciousness and you just have to wait a little longer for your body to catch up. It only happened to me a few times and never lasted more than 10 to 20 seconds. I suppose I would have found the experience much more terrifying though if I hadn?t read about it beforehand. But since I knew this was in the realm of possibility on baclofen, when it actually happened it was no big deal.
I also experienced another related side-effect that I haven?t really read about here. At night my body would become absurdly relaxed. It sounds pleasant, but it really wasn?t! It was almost to the extent that if I didn?t have my head and extremities perfectly positioned or supported I would wake up with small aches and pains. For instance, I had to really work out the exact arrangement of my pillows or I would wake up in the morning with a crick in my neck.
Anyways, stick with it K9Lover! We?re all different and all of our baclofen experiences will be different too. But we all probably share the same depressingly similar problems if we keep drinking!

[Lo0p]

Baclofen - Sleep Paralysis

I've had this experience with other meds. It certainly is one of the most frightening experiences I've ever had. Never with baclofen though.

[azuldog]

Baclofen - Sleep Paralysis

Sleep paralysis throughout the world

Actually sleep paralysis is known in many different cultures. It is not necessarily drug related.
In Africa, Haiti, etc. it is explained by superstitions. I only experienced it one time (not on Bac), it was while I was home alone and napping. I woke up but could move my body and as I said earlier I felt a 'presence' in the room. It was terrifying. I dont know how long it took but it passed. If you look up Baclofen on Wikipedia it has a section on Withdrawal Syndrome and this should be taken seriously. Ive experienced some of this phenomena on the the way up, I dont know why. Anybody should be OK if they titrate up slowly.

best wishes,

dog

[ishallbereleased]

Baclofen - Sleep Paralysis

I had this experience with another med (a tranquilizer), it was a nightmare from which I could NEVER wake up. I was awake but unable to get out from a huge black ball (that was my nightmare/hallucination).

It was SO terrifying that I'm afraid to try Baclofen (even though no doctors will prescribe it to me).

[corkit]

Baclofen - Sleep Paralysis

How many users of BAC on this forum have experienced paralysis while sleeping? This is my fifth day on Bac and it would be nice to know if I need to prepare for it happening to me and at what dosage did this happen to you?

Thanks

[azuldog]

Baclofen - Sleep Paralysis

Bac...no sleep paralysis

None. But I am only sleeping 4 hrs a night. Havent had this problem in the past.

Hoping I hit my switch soon and then taper down.

good luck,

dog

[eight days a week]

Baclofen - Sleep Paralysis

I've noticed that after going above 70mg Bac a day (I'm now at 85mg) my dreams had been really crazy. Up to that point I was taking my last dose of Bac shortly before sleeping, and I slept wonderfully and deeply. I've also recently found that, for me, Bac seems to have almost a stay-awake effect at these levels.

Doesn't Baclofen work for about 1-4 hours after taking it, or have I got that wrong? If so surely taking it well away from the hours before you sleep should help with this possible SE?

On that basis, for the dreams, I don't take any Bac in the few hours before going to bed. And they haven't been a problem since I made that change.

Just a thought, I guess we all need to experiment...