Pain in abdominal muscles

hi and welcome 2510, baclophen is bad and did nothing for me also, I heard baclophen is bad for nerve regeneration, especially what we need in our situations. I don't have bad pain, mostly minor and moderate pain, cannabis has helped me in dealing with pain. only drug I take currently.

2510, I will send you a PM with the phone and name of the company where I order Kratom. 4 ounces of the Maneg Da strain will cost, with shipping, about $40, maybe $42. As Sam said, Baclofen does nerve damage. It also does brain damage. Doctors gave me Baclofen. I quit taking it when I realized what they were doing to me. I need my brain to defend myself!

I much prefer alternative therapy to medicinal drugs, though I realize that not everyone feels this way. I will suggest to you Valerian Root as an herb that relaxes you. Herbs will seldom give you the same potent “kick” that a drug will give, but in my experience, herbs don’t do the harm that drugs do. Plus, with herbs, YOU are in charge. They become your “friend”, available when and if you need them. You don’t have to finish a “round” of them. You can quit taking them once your problem is solved. You can share them with a friend, since they aren’t a prescription.

But doctors are almost never taught about herbs, so they can only advise against them,...as anything else would be malpractice.

If you don’t mind telling us, what is your level of injury, 2510? I’m paralyzed from mid-chest down, so what I think of as exercise and what you think of as exercise could be two very different things. And, along that same line, you said, “Pain management is one thing but I want to function as well.” I feel the same way, but depending on your level of injury, we might be thinking of two very different things in the realm of “functioning”. Are you able, for example, to drive a car? In that case...whoa!...not marijuana for pain. So, maybe clue us in a little more on your level of injury and in what activities you are able to participate.

tetra, - every time I read your pain and meds experiences I am reminded how similar to Peter your experiences are (not how you acquired your injury but how it affects you). I wonder if the level of your injury which is very similar to Peter's is the reason? Am I right in thinking that people with cervical injuries are more likely to experience spasticity?
2510,Peter's experience with baclofen is similar to tetra's - makes him weak but helps calm down the "background tension" that she describes. Dosage is always a balancing act. Enough to enable him to move around but not enough to make him weak (he very gradually cut down from 80mg to 40mg). He was told that the large amount of baclofen he was taking in the early days could have been detrimental rather than beneficial. The weakness it was causing actually exacerbated the spasticity. Also agree that it does little for pain - though with him bad spasticity and pain go hand in hand. He takes Lyrica (Pregablin) for nerve pain. I know many don't like it and some have bad side effects but for him it makes his life pain free enough for him to function.
Might be worth mentioning that the spasticity is very variable and often improves over time. Peter's started to ease after about 2 years to be tight muscles rather than full blown, legs flying spasticity - though any over exertion (too much exercise) amongst other things can ramp it up again. He is over 5 years post and has learned to some extent to predict what will and won't help and he is still moving very slowly forward - each year brings more function than the last. Though sometimes it is unpredictable - Now for instance he is having a bad patch and we cannot fathom what it is. He is seeing a neurologist later today to see if he can help. We suspect adding a new drug (Tamulosin) for prostrate problems might be putting things out of kilter though his GP thinks not. Another spasticity puzzle to solve
For Peter gentle stretching rather than exercise helped lots in the early days. You can find lots of videos on the internet but if you can get a Physio to show you how or do passive stretching for you it helps. "Proper" exercise was a real no-no to start with and he just ended up more tight. After around 2 years he was able to do more - but even now it's a real balancing act. Annoy his tight spasticity prone left hand side by too much/too vigorous movement and it behaves like a spoilt toddler having a tantrum.
Another thing that helps him relax tight muscles is a hand held gentle electric massager. Not too vigorous. Heat pads (microwave) often help the pain too.
I am so sorry to hear your experiences and hope your neurologist helps. Apologies if none of what I have written is new to you. Hopefully others will post about what helped them then you can try different things until you work out your own recipe.

this injury SCI, is very challenging, but attitude is what makes us happy or sad. your still new to this injury, and what is lost hurts, mourn.... there comes a day where u will most likely say, I'm still here and I better make the best of it. as days go by it will get easier, and I still go through days where I'm just pissed, part of mourning what's lost.

Articles on Baclofen and the central nervous system:

This one is from 1985, and is available for a fee. Baclofen-Induced Memory Impairment
journals.lww.com/clinicalneuropharm/Citation/1985/09000/Baclofen_Induced_Memory_Impairment.11.aspx

Baclofen Intoxication: Report of Four Cases and Review of the Literature - 1992
“...Patients with chronic intoxication present with hallucinosis, impaired memory, catatonia, or acute mania...”
journals.lww.com/clinicalneuropharm/Abstract/1992/02000/Baclofen_Intoxication__Report_of_Four_Cases_and.8.aspx

Not scientific, but here is a page of Social Media Comments From Around the Web where people complain of memory loss, or amnesia, which they attribute to Baclofen.
www.druginformer.com/search/side_effect_details/Baclofen/amnesia.html