14 Nov 2022
Baclofen is a non-narcotic muscle relaxant used in medicine to treat spasms of the jaw, muscles of the face, back, and neck. Baclofen relaxes muscles by affecting the action potential of nerve cells in the brain. It works quickly and lasts for hours. There are several different formulations of Baclofen. Generally speaking, it is available as a tablet or granules for oral administration.
Baclofen may be similar to be used as a muscle relaxant in the form of an oral tablet or granules and is usually consumed on an empty stomach with water. Medicine goes under various processes in the body right, from consumption, metabolization, absorption, and lastly, excretion. In this process, various factors are also involved that determine how long baclofen stays in the system? (FDA)
Factors Affecting The Half-Life Of Baclofen In Our Body:
Different factors affect the half-life or overall stay of Baclofen some of them are discussed:
- Food: Fatty food decreases its absorption so it's advisable not to use it with fatty foods or high calories diets that need extra time to be metabolized or digested.
- Drugs: Once absorbed, the interaction of different medicines will affect its half-life either by increasing its metabolism or decreasing it. These drugs are mentioned in the coming paragraphs. Hence doctors are advising to not mix medicine in some cases.
How Is Baclofen Absorbed?
Baclofen is absorbed through the oral route. It takes about six to 8 hours to get absorbed from the intestines. It takes 4-8 hours after absorption to reach the peak point in blood—plasma concentration. Fatty food decreases the absorption of Baclofen, so it's advisable not to take it with heavy meals. It should be taken at least 6 hours before a fatty meal.
The Half-life of Baclofen:
Half life refers to the amount of time a drug takes in the body to reduce itself to half. Baclofen stays in the body for around 24 hours with constantly decreasing concentration as time passes. The half-life of Intrathecal Baclofen is about 2 hours while oral baclofen half-life is about 6 hours.
How Long Does It Take To Eliminate From The Body?
Baclofen has a shorter half-life so it needs to be taken multiple times. It's eliminated from the body in around 20 hours. These 20 hours consist of overall effect and excretion of baclofen from the body.
Mode of excretion of Baclofen:
After reaching the peak point in blood plasma concentration, It is excreted via the renal system, so it's advisable to take a healthcare professional opinion before starting on a patient with chronic renal disease. Patients who have Gfr of less than 30ml/hr are prohibited from using these drugs. 85% of Baclofen is excreted in the unchanged form via urine. (Drugbank)
Interactions Of Baclofen:
Baclofen's interactions are divided into three groups: Severe interactions, Monitor Closely, and Minor.
- Severe Interaction: Drugs like benzhydrocodone, Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium, Sodium oxybate, metoclopramide and sufentanil SL Have powerful interactions with Baclofen. Giving both drugs at the same time can cause serious side effects. Profound sedation, respiratory depression, coma, and death may result if administered together.
- May need a monitoring group: These drugs don't cause severe side effects but increase each other's metabolism time which should be monitored closely. This group includes a lot of drugs. Some of them are Alprazolam, Amitriptyline, apomorphine, buprenorphine, butabarbital, chlorpheniramine, chlorpromazine, etc.
- Minor group: These have the slightest interaction with each other and can be used together. Examples of such drugs are Eucalyptus Sage etc.
Conclusion
Baclofen is a drug used for different spastic conditions, and it should have a great response with few side effects, but always take care of what you are taking with it at the same time because it has interactions with a lot of drugs. And secondly it stays for a period of time that is normal, but as like other medications there are factors that can affect the presence time in the body. As the name suggest baclofen is a effective pain can it be compared with Flexeril. Lets find out in Flexeril vs baclofen.
