Baclofen is a muscle relaxant medicine commonly used to treat spasticity and spinal cord injuries. A baclofen pump was surgically inserted next to my abdomen February of 2019, with a catheter attached to the spinal column to deliver the medication. It’s the size of a hockey puck. Dr.Yablon has managed the pump for me for the past couple of years and he has 30+ years practice.
My experience with the pump has been a nightmare. I can’t count the number of procedures done on this godforsaken device. Everything from replacing and revising the catheter to replacing the pump with another. And nothing works. My tone and spasticity are pretty intense, especially late in the day.
The tone first hit like a ton of bricks almost overnight in March 2019, within a month when the baclofen pump what is surgically placed. Soon after my first discharge from Mary Free Bed, my legs and arms seized up. I continued outpatient OT, PT and Rec Therapy at MFB. Dr. Ho, my doctor at the time, increased the dosages of the baclofen pump without positive response, except for one day in May 2019 I suddenly went extremely flaccid with the arms and legs and got a little goofy. Suddenly the pump was working but I was overdosing on too much baclofen, which can be fatal. Dr. Ho drastically cut down the dosage. After a long nap, I was back to being rigid again. I’m currently on over 1100 µg of baclofen per day This is well over the typical therapeutic level.
I would welcome any input on how others have responded to the baclofen pump. And has anyone with a CSI had better luck with other anti-spasticity medications?
Leave a Reply