I have multiple sclerosis and have now had a baclofen pump fitted .?

Question

Does anybody else have one fitted, and how does it help them?

Answer 1

Baclofen can be taken orally as a pill or delivered directly into an area of the spine called the intrathecal space. The intrathecal space contains the cerebrospinal fluid -- the fluid surrounding the spinal cord and nerve roots. Often MS patients receive intrathecal Baclofen because oral Baclofen causes unpleasant side effects, such as confusion, weakness, and sleepiness. But intrathecal Baclofen delivers the drug right to the target site in the spinal cord. Since the medication does not circulate throughout the body, only tiny doses are required to be effective. Therefore, side effects are minimal.
A friend of mine has multiple sclerosis and she had been taking baclofen orally and recently changed to a pump and the side effects disappeared.

Answer 2

Hi Tina,
Actually, Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease which destruction of Myelin in the Central Nervous System (CNS).
Baclofen is not mainly for MS; however, since some patients (pts.) develop weakness in their muscle as one of the clinical manifestations of MS, so Baclofen can deal w/ treatment of MS pts. w/ painful muscle spasticity.
There is a black box warning of abrupt discontinuation of intrathecal administration which may worse the symptoms more and back again " withdrawal symptoms" So it required programming and monitoring of the infusion system, procedures, pump alarms. It is very important to keep scheduled refill visits for clinic.

I hope you will be better soon. Take Care!