I decided to post up about some difficult experiences I have had with high dose Baclofen & anxiety. Apologies for the very long post I wanted to make sure I included all the details so that anyone who has experienced similar effects could recognise these symptoms in themselves.
I originally titrated up to 250mg and was completely anxiety free. For the first time in my life I could speak completely confidently in front of large groups of people, handle confrontations and was free of worry. Accompanying this freedom from anxiety was a hypomania. The feeling of being unstoppable and being able to achieve anything after years of crippling anxiety was liberating.
The problem was that I was sleeping less than 1 hour a night whilst needing to nap in the daytime. I decided to drop down my dosage. I had read on this forum that Pregabalin could be used to assist with sleep. I already had Pregabalin as I had been prescribed this previously for anxiety. At 6pm I had taken 150mg of Baclofen and I decided to take 300mg of Pregabalin. I had the most severe all over body convulsions / muscle spasms for the next 3 hours. I attribute this to a bad reaction from the combination of the two drugs - then exacerbated by the drop from 250mg to 150mg in Baclofen.
Over the next week I stabilised my dosage at to 220mg Baclofen and did not take more Pregabalin. I continued to experience some muscle spasms but this lessened over the next two weeks. However it is an ongoing problem that I am now very susceptible to muscle spasms. I find that now if I miss one dosage of 40mg I experience tingling & muscle spasms in my legs the next day whereas previously this was not the case. I would suggest avoiding mixing Pregabalin and Baclofen.
Through this period I did not experience anxiety or other negative effects. But this experience had frightened me and I made the decision to titrate down Baclofen by 30mg per week.
This went well until I hit 150mg. At this dosage I started experience light muscle twitching in my hands and irritability especially when concentrating. I remained at this dosage for the following four weeks and the irritability symptoms began to subside. However, towards the end of this period I noticed that I was beginning to experience some anxiety again.
At a meeting where I was required to speak in front of 30+ people I experienced rapid heart beat and shaking legs for the first time since I first started Baclofen. I attributed this to withdrawal and increased my dosage to 180mg that day but I am not convinced this helped. The next day I had another meeting of a similar nature and decided to stay at 180mg. However as I was due to enter the meeting I was having a panic attack, heart pounding, voice quivering and legs shaking. I decided to take an additional 50mg Baclofen (a total of 230mg). Previously this would have completely eliminated my anxiety but this time it didn't seem to work.
In the days following this I experienced the most severe crippling anxiety I have ever experienced in my life. Far worse than severe hangovers or alcohol withdrawal. This involved panic attacks, crippling pain in solar plexus, feeling of dread, throbbing heartbeat and overwhelming waves of anxiety from morning till night. The slightest loud noise or anxiety provoking situation made me experience anxiety akin to being held at gunpoint. I attributed this to withdrawal and decided to stabilise at 200mg per day.
I have been on this dosage for 6 weeks and it has not got better. My doctor prescribed me Buspar (15mg). I think this reduced some of the above symptoms but with it came a lump in the throat which made it very difficult to talk so i discontinued this after four weeks.
I have began to realise that it may not be withdrawal symptoms I am suffering from but a bad reaction to high dose Baclofen. In the morning I wake up with moderate anxiety. It is when I take the first dosage (40mg) that the severe anxiety symptoms begin to kick in. I can relate to a lot of the symptoms experienced by TX Git Slinger on his thread (sorry can't post links I'm a new user!). It has been difficult to accept that similar dosages of Baclofen that once eliminated my anxiety are now causing severe anxiety.
I am hoping I will get better but am concerned that if I have to come off Baclofen I will be back to the same position I was before I took it with insufferable anxiety - or that some of the current severe anxiety may remain. In the mean time my doctor has prescribed me Diazepam 2mg x 3 per day. I have taken these a couple of times in situations of extreme panic and they do seem to have helped. I am too scared of what I have read of Benzodiazepam withdrawal symptoms to take these every day though. I don't think I could cope with any more anxiety on top of what I am currently experiencing!
I originally titrated up to 250mg and was completely anxiety free. For the first time in my life I could speak completely confidently in front of large groups of people, handle confrontations and was free of worry. Accompanying this freedom from anxiety was a hypomania. The feeling of being unstoppable and being able to achieve anything after years of crippling anxiety was liberating.
The problem was that I was sleeping less than 1 hour a night whilst needing to nap in the daytime. I decided to drop down my dosage. I had read on this forum that Pregabalin could be used to assist with sleep. I already had Pregabalin as I had been prescribed this previously for anxiety. At 6pm I had taken 150mg of Baclofen and I decided to take 300mg of Pregabalin. I had the most severe all over body convulsions / muscle spasms for the next 3 hours. I attribute this to a bad reaction from the combination of the two drugs - then exacerbated by the drop from 250mg to 150mg in Baclofen.
Over the next week I stabilised my dosage at to 220mg Baclofen and did not take more Pregabalin. I continued to experience some muscle spasms but this lessened over the next two weeks. However it is an ongoing problem that I am now very susceptible to muscle spasms. I find that now if I miss one dosage of 40mg I experience tingling & muscle spasms in my legs the next day whereas previously this was not the case. I would suggest avoiding mixing Pregabalin and Baclofen.
Through this period I did not experience anxiety or other negative effects. But this experience had frightened me and I made the decision to titrate down Baclofen by 30mg per week.
This went well until I hit 150mg. At this dosage I started experience light muscle twitching in my hands and irritability especially when concentrating. I remained at this dosage for the following four weeks and the irritability symptoms began to subside. However, towards the end of this period I noticed that I was beginning to experience some anxiety again.
At a meeting where I was required to speak in front of 30+ people I experienced rapid heart beat and shaking legs for the first time since I first started Baclofen. I attributed this to withdrawal and increased my dosage to 180mg that day but I am not convinced this helped. The next day I had another meeting of a similar nature and decided to stay at 180mg. However as I was due to enter the meeting I was having a panic attack, heart pounding, voice quivering and legs shaking. I decided to take an additional 50mg Baclofen (a total of 230mg). Previously this would have completely eliminated my anxiety but this time it didn't seem to work.
In the days following this I experienced the most severe crippling anxiety I have ever experienced in my life. Far worse than severe hangovers or alcohol withdrawal. This involved panic attacks, crippling pain in solar plexus, feeling of dread, throbbing heartbeat and overwhelming waves of anxiety from morning till night. The slightest loud noise or anxiety provoking situation made me experience anxiety akin to being held at gunpoint. I attributed this to withdrawal and decided to stabilise at 200mg per day.
I have been on this dosage for 6 weeks and it has not got better. My doctor prescribed me Buspar (15mg). I think this reduced some of the above symptoms but with it came a lump in the throat which made it very difficult to talk so i discontinued this after four weeks.
I have began to realise that it may not be withdrawal symptoms I am suffering from but a bad reaction to high dose Baclofen. In the morning I wake up with moderate anxiety. It is when I take the first dosage (40mg) that the severe anxiety symptoms begin to kick in. I can relate to a lot of the symptoms experienced by TX Git Slinger on his thread (sorry can't post links I'm a new user!). It has been difficult to accept that similar dosages of Baclofen that once eliminated my anxiety are now causing severe anxiety.
I am hoping I will get better but am concerned that if I have to come off Baclofen I will be back to the same position I was before I took it with insufferable anxiety - or that some of the current severe anxiety may remain. In the mean time my doctor has prescribed me Diazepam 2mg x 3 per day. I have taken these a couple of times in situations of extreme panic and they do seem to have helped. I am too scared of what I have read of Benzodiazepam withdrawal symptoms to take these every day though. I don't think I could cope with any more anxiety on top of what I am currently experiencing!
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