I want to try (try being the operative word) to write a review article on the use of baclofen in treating narcolepsy, as I can't find one and people appear desperate to have one to show their docs so they can get them to write it for them.
It isn't going to be easy. As you would expect, the subject is very complex. Most of the references I can find deal with the subtle differences in the actions of various GABA agonists. It's deep neurochemistry and I am not in any way qualified to hold forth on this.
I've already scoured the net and now have 6 articles to work with. I didn't have access to some others that I wanted to read.
I'm particularly interested in any information anyone has on the history of how baclofen came to be used for N.
Please help me out if you can, and while you're at it, wish me luck. I'm going to need it.
I will help you in anything I can start collecting the articles
Sodium oxybate, an approved treatment for nacrolepsy symptoms, and baclofen both appear to act primarily as GABA-B agonists. Perhaps baclofen may exert a similar neuropharmacological effect via these receptors but without the side effects and drawbacks of sodium oxybate (GHB). I think it's an interesting possibility but I am not a medical doctor.
Good luck.
Baclofen is currently being used to treat a growing number of narcoleptics, and is at least as efficient as Xyrem (sodium oxybate) in treating cataplexy and in consolidating sleep. A month's supply of baclofen costs about US$25.00. A month's supply of Xyrem averages, depending on dose, about US$8,000.00. It is used off-label for narcolepsy at this time. Interestingly, narcoleptics take baclofen specifically for the side effects.
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