Tapering down baclofen

[Frank82]

Hi, guys and gals!

I was hoping you could help me out.

I'd like to taper down my baclofen dose, the fastest way possible, due to side effects. I am currently at 320mg.

I was thinking of dropping down 20mg ever 3 days. Is that to fast or should it be done slower?

Thanks.

[terryk]

Tapering down baclofen

Frank82;1378967 wrote: Hi, guys and gals!

I was hoping you could help me out.

I'd like to taper down my baclofen dose, the fastest way possible, due to side effects. I am currently at 320mg.

I was thinking of dropping down 20mg ever 3 days. Is that to fast or should it be done slower?

Thanks.

The rate at which you can safely (and comfortably) taper off baclofen will depend on both the length of time that you've been taking the drug and your body's individual chemistry.

The literature reflects that tolerance builds after 2 months or so, which may explain why folks here sometimes report that they were able to stop very quickly (or even abruptly - cold turkey) with little or no side effects.

The safest bet is dropping 10mg/day per week, but everyone's individual mileage may vary.

I personally have been over 200mg/day for more than 2 years, and when I recently dropped 40 mg/d over 2 weeks from 240 (-20mg/day per week), I experienced a fair bit of anxiety toward day 11 of the 14 days - no cravings, however, I remain indifferent and side-effect free).

The most important thing is to listen to your body.

Hope this helps and good luck,
-tk

[AL Fiend]

Tapering down baclofen

terryk;1379009 wrote:

I personally have been over 200mg/day for more than 2 years, and when I recently dropped 40 mg/d over 2 weeks from 240 (-20mg/day per week), I experienced a fair bit of anxiety toward day 11 of the 14 days - no cravings, however, I remain indifferent and side-effect free).

Hey Terry,

How long did your anxiety last, and did you do anything to alleviate it, or did it just pass eventually?

Thanks,
AL

[terryk]

Tapering down baclofen

AL Fiend;1379038 wrote: Hey Tery,

How long did your anxiety last, and did you do anything to alleviate it, or did it just pass eventually?

Thanks,
AL

Just a few hours in the evening on two days (the first pretty acute). I talked myself through it both evenings, and both instances happened before my nightly blood pressure med dosing, so taking the bp meds probably helped to set me straight before I turned in for the night. I'm chalking it up to the confluence of: a quick taper, the waning action of my beta-blocker, and probably too much coffee during the day. Interestingly enough, no matter how on edge I felt, I never thought of grabbing one of the beers that we keep in the fridge for company.

-tk

[AL Fiend]

Tapering down baclofen

Good to know tk. So great that the anxiety didn't trigger the "need" for alcohol. Hope I get there soon. At 380 currently!

[Frank82]

Tapering down baclofen

Thanks terryk!

I'll reconsider my taper down and try 12.5mg every 5 days and see how that goes. Hope, I don't experience the anxiety you did.

[Frank82]

Tapering down baclofen

I read you will get a better nights sleep, if you take your last dose 3-4 hours before bedtime. I have always dosed at, 9pm, 3am, 9am and 3pm and fall asleep at 12 and have no problem falling back to bed after my 3am dose and wake up at 7:30. I'd prefer to sleep at 11 and wake up an hour earlier than I have been.

What I would like to know is, would it be okay to switch my doses back an hour earlier without any problems? So tomorrow I do 8pm, 2am, 8am and 2pm.

Thanks.

[Greg]

Tapering down baclofen

Even though not a daily baclofen user, I seriously doubt that shifting the dose times by one hour would make any big difference. After all, you would not be abruptly changing your total daily dose or massively altering the timing, which is where people seem to go wrong from the posts I have read here over the last couple of years.