Baclofen drug, physical dependency, withdrawal, pregnancy

[Pandaboxs]

Baclofen.

I have TMD and was prescribed baclofen by my consultant at the oral surgery dept of the hospital, prescription was to be continued by my GP and has been on repeat for the best part of a year now. I'm supposed to take 30mg but take just 20.

I asked the pharmacy dispensing it whether it was addictive and was told no. I took that at face value and didn't feel the need to look into it myself.

I'm newly pregnant so was doing some research into the 2 meds I'm on and have discovered that baclofen may

not be safe in pregnancy so I want to come off it.

I've also read that baclofen withdrawals are comparable to alcohol and benzo withdrawals and can cause seizures, hallucinations, psychosis and even death. It shouldn't be prescribed long term where avoidable.

I wasn't warned about any of those things and now I'm pretty concerned.

I'm going to have to taper down slowly but jesus christ why wasn't I told about this.

Can anybody advise?

Don’t google!

Read the leaflet provided with your medication. It will have information on side effects and on cessation (stopping the medication). If you are concerned talk to your GP for advice.

Baclofen isn’t massively addictive.

@Peace43

Don’t google!

Read the leaflet provided with your medication. It will have information on side effects and on cessation (stopping the medication). If you are concerned talk to your GP for advice.

Baclofen isn’t massively addictive.

Thank you, that's really good to hear.

The label on my packet says not to cease taking without speaking to my GP. I've left a message with the surgery this morning to discuss but I'm not expecting a call back before Monday now.

I read some reviews on drug sites and forums and it shook me up.

Congratulations on your pregnancy! If it helps I think a lot of medications have this warning (particularly antidepressants etc). There's not many studies to say whether it's safe or not during pregnancy, although the limited studies that have been done with baclofen show no link to miscarriage. As I'm sure you're aware, the risk is the possibility of withdrawal symptoms in neonates after birth. Talk to your GP who likely will recommend tapering off, but try not to stress too much, although I know that's easier said than done! AFAIK there aren't many drugs that are approved in pregnancy for TMJD though (I developed it in pregnancy last year and couldn't take anything). Can I just ask how you found how effective baclofen was for tmjd as I've very recently been prescribed it. Haven't taken it yet though as want to finish a course of diazepam first (which helps a little but still on a liquid/soft diet).

Hi TheBookworm,

Thanks for the reply and reassurance. I'm slowly tapering down now and have gone from 20mg daily to 15mg. No remarkable adverse effects as of yet. I'll continue to taper over the next month.

Sorry to hear you've been cursed with TMD too, it's the pits isn't it. I developed it after my last pregnancy, it came on when DD was a few months old. No coincidence I'm sure.

I found it fairly effective when combined with ibuprofen but not fantastic on its own. Is your TMD muscular or bone? I have muscular TMD plus a disc issue on one side so double whammy. I believe it's most effective for the muscular variety.

Something worth trying, if you don't get on with baclofen, is Naproxen. I found that quite effective but GP wasn't keen to prescribe regularly, which is a bit baffling because baclofen is much stronger.

Acupuncture can also be quite helpful too.

You're very welcome @Pandaboxs. Hopefully the worry will ease a bit now you've started to wean off. I had terrible health anxiety during pregnancy (not saying that you do), but I became really obsessed about medications etc and was constantly googling. Yeah it really is a rubbish thing to have. Mines started suddenly when I was 20weeks. I had an upper wisdom tooth out that had broken and then started getting various aches and pains on the left hand side of my face. Was diagnosed with tmd but there was also a query of atypical facial pain. Currently being made a michigan splint but worried in case it makes things even worse. Would you get toothache with your tmd or is it mostly jaw pain? Incidentally after DD was born it went away for about 5 weeks then came back with a vengeance. Ended up getting a tooth out as cracked it from clenching so hard. I actually don't know if it's muscular or bone. No dentist has ever mentioned either but when I press on the 'bones' of my jaw joint it's painful. That sucks you have both muscular as well as a disc issue. Did you have to get an mri to get a firm diagnosis with regards to the disc issue? I actually have naproxen at home from a back injury years ago but bit reluctant to take it as I'm eating so little st the minute I suspect it would cause quite a bit of gastric discomfort. It's a pity your gp wasn't willing to give you a regular script when you found it helpful I must look into acupuncture too, have heard others on MN have had success with it.