How is baclofen used?

Author: SCIRE Community Team | Reviewer: Patricia Mills | Published: 21 November 2017 | Updated: ~

Baclofen is a prescription medication that is given with specific instructions from your health providers on how to take it. It is important to follow their instructions closely when taking this medication and discuss any questions you have about your use of the medication directly with your team.

Baclofen tablet 20 mg. ²

Baclofen is usually taken by mouth as a tablet. Baclofen is prescribed at a unique dose for you and then carefully monitored. Treatment is usually started with a trial of a low dose of the drug to find out if it works and then slowly increased to determine the optimal dose. This dose will then be maintained while continuing to take the drug.

You can expect some side effects when starting Baclofen (and any other anti-spasticity drug), so do not be surprised if that should happen. As your body gets used to the new drug, the side effects can improve and in some cases completely resolve. Side effects, if they occur, usually are experienced before the drug starts to work on the spasticity therefore it is important to stay on the drug as long as the side effects are tolerable. If the side effects have not improved or are not tolerable by the end of 2 weeks of starting the new drug, and you don’t feel that the benefit of the drug is worth the side effects that you are experiencing, then notify your physician as you will likely have to either decrease the dose or consider trying another drug instead.

Diagram showing an intrathecal pump inside the spinal column.³

Baclofen may also be injected directly into the sac that surrounds the spinal cord. This is called intrathecal baclofen. ‘Intrathecal’ means ‘within the spinal sac’ (also called the thecal sac).

Intrathecal baclofen is usually administered using a surgically implanted pump that is placed under the skin near the abdomen called a baclofen pump. The pump is then connected to the spinal cord fluid through a thin tube (catheter) that travels through your soft tissue underneath the skin. The pump provides a dose of the medication through the catheter at regular intervals according to its settings.

Baclofen pumps are first managed by a health provider in a hospital setting in the early days following surgical implantation. Then, the device can be programmed to release a programmed dose of baclofen throughout the day for use at home.

Regular visits to the intrathecal baclofen pump doctor are required to refill the pump and monitor for any problems. Therefore, in order for you to be a candidate for getting the pump, you need to be able to travel from where you live to where the pump can be serviced. The pump can be removed if you decide you no longer would like to receive the treatment.

Increasing oral baclofen dosage may result in a number of side effects like sleepiness. The solution is a pump implanted under the skin that administers baclofen directly to the spinal cord, aka “intrathecally”.

Typically, intrathecal baclofen is recommended when spasticity is severe and widespread throughout the body, and other approaches to manage your spasticity, such as medications by mouth, have not worked. Much lower doses of baclofen are used when given as an intrathecal injection. This may help people with severe spasticity to manage spasticity more effectively, and usually results in no side effects.

However, it is important to know that complications with the pump can occur, potentially causing episodes of too much baclofen (baclofen overdose) or too little baclofen (baclofen withdrawal) to be delivered. Therefore, it is important to consult with an intrathecal baclofen pump expert in order to determine if the pump is a good option for you.