baclofen, asthma and/or thyroid disease

[penelope67]

I am on day 6 of my Baclofen protocol, up to 50 mgs
my asthma is pretty bad at night (this may have nothing to do with Bac)
my face is starting to look weird(doughy) and i am gaining weight
my hair is weird too, kind of flat and dry
these are hypothyroid symptoms too

I figured I better ask if anyone who has done the baclofen protocol has asthma or hypothyroidsm (in my case hashimoto's) and may have advice to offer, do's and don'ts

i don't want to reinvent the wheel here and want to be sure I know whatever there is to know about taking baclofen while having these other two conditions

i have read through all the baclofen threads I could manage, including SEs and i do not recall anyone mentioning asthma or hypothyroidism
but i want to double check...

anyone??

[PJS]

baclofen, asthma and/or thyroid disease

I can't answer from experience but would suggest going to an online med page and look at the contraindications for Baclofen. I wish you well.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

baclofen, asthma and/or thyroid disease

Hiya, Pene.

I don't have issues with either condition, so I can't advise on those specifically. Is your asthma and Hashimoto's well treated and under control? I would imagine a cautious, slow and steady approach to bac is a good idea. But of course, I think that anyway! 50mg in 6 days is a bit more quickly than the current protocol, but it's been done by many.

It would be helpful if you documented your experience here for others who come behind, too. Let us know how it goes and hang in there!

[penelope67]

baclofen, asthma and/or thyroid disease

I was taking T3 until recently when my insurance refused to pay for it
i don't think it helped me much anyway

my thyroid panel was fine as of a few months ago

I am just looking for anyone with experience taking bac while having thyroid disease and/or asthma

[Grommet]

baclofen, asthma and/or thyroid disease

I can't speak to asthma, but I too have hypothyroidism and have been taking 50 mg of Levothyroxine for about 6 years. I have had no issues at all with Bac. Also, I discussed this with my primary as well as Dr Levin and both said there were zero counterindications.

Hope this helps.

[penelope67]

baclofen, asthma and/or thyroid disease

great thank you for sharing that Grommet. that makes me feel better. I decided to just be more careful by waiting 2 hours after taking Sinthroid before I take Bac.

[Doggygirl]

baclofen, asthma and/or thyroid disease

Bluto;1234127 wrote: Illl send you a fre bottle of T3 Levothryoxine...

I storngly urder you to not elf medicae allll of us do.


Give mea weeks's tome tp get ot fp free pf cjar ge pf dpirs amd 50mg tocre cao;u
Pr ;es as sumpomts pesists.

Iama cardiovascularwithweaktraininginendrinoogloy.ButIl l get upi tuat t3 b0ttlre in about awee.

U alsoneed29naugue u100 t0 9 juect it liie adiabeticj


BY THE WAY a full thyrod panel should be doe aswell a s completeetabolic panel. YOu may have had tyrooooood issues inte past. Now you ca low on something else

Bluto. First off, Levothyroxine is NOT T3 medication it is synthetic T4. Send someone a free bottle of this? With no thyroid hormone panel to guide dosing? What the hell????? I don't know what buttons are stuck on your keyboard (or other places) but this is really really really bad medical advice.

DG

[penelope67]

baclofen, asthma and/or thyroid disease

no worries on my end, I have been under treatment for hashimoto's since 1998
my doc added Cytomel (T3) to my Sinthroid dose a few years ago. I am fully aware of the differences and I have a doctor treating me for this condition

[Doggygirl]

baclofen, asthma and/or thyroid disease

That's good penelope. I hope you know my post was not directed at you. I'm glad to know you are under a doctors care for your thyroid condition.

[penelope67]

baclofen, asthma and/or thyroid disease

yes I know, and with everything that has come to light there is definitely something to worry about! This whole situation has kind of rattled me a bit

[pansy]

baclofen, asthma and/or thyroid disease

Hi Penelope,

I have been taking bac for the last month and have not had any issues with asthma, although I am at a pretty low dose. I did have some breathing difficulty last night, but I really did not equate it with asthma - more from anxiety when often I cannot seem to take a deep breath. However, your post got me to thinking and I will post what I found. [note - I do have a history of asthma and allergies, plus also hypothyroid]

Ann Pharmacother. 1993 Jul-Aug;27(7-8):883-4.
Baclofen-induced bronchoconstriction.
Dicpinigaitis PV, Nierman DM, Miller A.
Source
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
To report the occurrence of acute bronchospasm in one asthmatic patient and increased bronchial reactivity in another following the administration of a single dose of oral baclofen.
CASE SUMMARY:
On two separate occasions, a 46-year-old asymptomatic asthmatic man developed dyspnea and chest tightness one hour after the ingestion of baclofen 40 mg. Pulmonary function studies revealed a significant decrease in airflow relative to baseline. A 33-year-old asymptomatic woman with a history of exercise-induced dyspnea and wheezing displayed bronchial hyperresponsiveness to inhaled metacholine 2 hours after ingesting 40 mg of baclofen. The patient had had a negative methacholine challenge test 72 hours earlier.
DISCUSSION:
The gamma-aminobutyric acid-agonist baclofen has been shown to reduce airway responsiveness to various bronchoconstricting agents in animal studies. The etiology of this seemingly paradoxical response in two patients is unclear, but may offer insight into the neurally mediated airway constriction that occurs in asthma.
CONCLUSIONS:
Clinicians should be aware of the possibility of baclofen-induced bronchospasm, especially in asthmatic patients

Note: there are other studies which identify baclofen as a possible promising treatment for asthma. It seemed that the two people in the above cases had unusual reactions. I am not sure of this, as I am most definitely not a regular reader of medical articles, which tend to be heavy on chemistry .... I would be interested in seeing the interpretations of the other members who do have expertise in chemistry. The second case, where the woman had a decreased response to metacholine (wtf is that?) would make sense as I think baclofen has moderate anticholinergic effects, which is why they do not recommend it for people with Alzheimers.

Good luck!
Pans

[penelope67]

baclofen, asthma and/or thyroid disease

yes u have to be careful, I just titrate down if the SE is too scary. i also find taking my dose as close to bedtime as i can helps too bkz there are SE's from withdrawal as well

[penelope67]

baclofen, asthma and/or thyroid disease

I am titrating up very very slowly now

[pansy]

baclofen, asthma and/or thyroid disease

Yes, I am going up very slowly. I started prior to Christmas and am still at 40 -50 mg .... some might say too slow, but it works for me.

[penelope67]

baclofen, asthma and/or thyroid disease

yea I know it is frustrating but i just can't tolerate the side effect and I have to be careful. i took an extra 20mg the other day thinking I would be relaxed by that and ended up in a 24 hour manic and insomniac period from hell. it was one of the worst things I have ever experienced. i also started just before Xmas and i am holding at 40mg now.