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Baclofen, sold under the brand name Lioresal among others, is a medication used to treat muscle spasticity, such as from a spinal cord injury or multiple sclerosis. [ 8 ] [ 9 ] It may also be used for hiccups and muscle spasms near the end of life, [ 9 ] and off-label to treat alcohol use disorder [ 10 ] [ 11 ] or opioid withdrawal symptoms. [ 12 ]
Long-term benzodiazepine use may lead to the creation or exacerbation of physical and mental health conditions, which improve after six or more months of abstinence. After a period of about 3 to 6 months of abstinence after completion of a gradual-reduction regimen, marked improvements in mental and physical wellbeing become apparent.
In medicine, tapering is the practice of gradually reducing the dosage of a medication to reduce or discontinue it. Generally, tapering is done is to avoid or minimize withdrawal symptoms that arise from neurobiological adaptation to the drug.
Symptoms may also occur during a gradual dosage reduction, but are typically less severe and may persist as part of a protracted withdrawal syndrome for months after cessation of benzodiazepines. [143] Approximately 10% of patients experience a notable protracted withdrawal syndrome, which can persist for many months or in some cases a year or ...
In 2008, Ameisen wrote a best-selling book, The End Of My Addiction, published in France as Le Dernier Verre (The Last Glass), describing his experience of curing his alcoholism with baclofen. [6] In 2007, an Italian team also showed the effectiveness and the safety of baclofen as a treatment for alcohol addiction. [7]
A meta-analysis found cognitive impairments in many areas due to benzodiazepine use show improvements after six months of withdrawal, but significant impairments in most areas may be permanent or may require more than six months to reverse. [128] Protracted symptoms continue to fade over a period of many months or several years.
[69] [70] Baclofen withdrawal can be more intense if it is administered intrathecally or for long periods of time. If baclofen or phenibut is used for long periods of time, it can resemble intense benzodiazepine, GHB, or alcohol withdrawal. To minimize withdrawal symptoms, baclofen or phenibut should be tapered down slowly.
Baclofen in my view was probably just suppressing alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Baclofen's suppression of temporary withdrawal symptoms may be being misinterpreted as being a successful treatment of alcoholism. We need to be careful about adding primary sources, especially weak primary sources and giving undue weight.