Baclofen in PTSD Treatment

This is my second round on Baclofen for MS AND severe spondylosis. It causes insomnia for me, but the trade off is that I have far fewer "brain fog" days and I seem to have more energy. While I do not really notice that I'm calmer (in fact I seem slightly more angry and agitated than usual) this could be because my doctor dropped me off all pain medication, from 16 mg per day to nothing without titrating the dose down first, so the past few months have been a "challenge" and may be contributing to that sense of agitation. PS... I do also have well documented PTSD related to military service.

I was given baclofen for another condition but noticed my complex PTSD was suddenly absent. Because the medicine was prescribed for a different condition, obviously I wasn't having a placebo effect. It took some research before I found a 2008 small sample study with baclofen and PTSD that showed a 100% efficacy. I found it works on PTSD with low doses. Best of all, over time it retrains the brain. Taking 10-20 mg 3 times a day was my original dosage. Also, I could split a pill and take 5-10 mg extra when faced with a particularly stressful situation. It's been 3-4 years since that first prescription. I can handle more stress than average people now. I'm rarely jarred. I can do without my baclofen completely although I do keep some on hand in case I'm ever in another high stress situation. It's the only thing that was able to retrain my brain to stop the excessive fight-or-flight reaction. I've been trying to bring attention to this for a long time. I hate that so many people are suffering excessively when there is something so simple that can immediately be done to ease the symptoms.

I had no idea about the PTSD aspects. I was taking it for severe pain that included spastic muscle contractions especially in my jaw and shoulders, especially at night before I fell asleep, sometimes my whole body would jerk me awake and then I'd realize I was tense enough to scream or lash out at anyone who even so much as spoke to me. For no reason. I do have PTSD but not from military service, from a violent and unfortunate childhood that thankfully did not make me a criminal, but I walk a tightrope every day between the desire to hurt myself, hide away and never talk to people, lash out at everyone even loved ones (verbally), or simply cry all the time. Sometimes there is no reason for feeling that way. I'm very very aware of the risk of becoming an abuser myself because I was raised by one, and I'm full of the shame of that, and the fear of it. OK enough baring of the soul. That's just so you know that non military people have PTSD too.
Lately I've been getting better and better with a Paleo diet, but a ketogenic one which seems to reduce my pain levels a lot. It's hard to have enough protein in it, but I calculate obsessively and I'm good at it. I have a book by Kossoff and another by Volek to help me. I voluntarily got off of all pain drugs and I was on way too many, and sleep drugs. They were messing with my head too much. I hate drugs that mess me up and I hate alcohol or anything that makes me loopy. Baclofen does relax me and stops the twitching which must be a holdover from the torticollis I had as a kid. I've found that I can use small amounts of it, and I got off of it a few times just to see if I could. Yes, but then anxiety follows in a few weeks and I go back on. If I take too much, it gives me nasty dead, no feelings depression. I call it chemical depression. Then I have to back it off slowly until I can feel again. I'm experimenting with GABA supplements now to see the difference.
The interesting thing is, I also had Gabapentin for a while. Took both that and Baclofen at the same time. It wasn't a problem and seemed to give me energy. Then later, when I tried it again, I got a horrible hundred-years migraine. Could be a coincidence.
I went on the keto diet because people were always prescribing things like Lyrica, Gabapentin, Amytriptiline etc... to try and control my pain and I was sick of it. They never really helped. At least gabapentin gave me some energy, but I wasn't in less pain. Thanks for letting me know about the PTSD effects of baclofen. I figured I'd let you know what worked for me for pain, since they seem to go together for other people too (I mean, PTSD and pain).
Sorry this is rambling a bit. I got off of baclofen lately and now I can't sleep until it is re-established. In a couple of days I'll be better again thanks to your tip.

Here 2 Clinical Trials proving the efficacy of Baclofen for PTSD:
- Baclofen add-on to citalopram in treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24525635
- Baclofen treatment for chronic posttraumatic stress disorder. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12921495

I take Baclofen combined with gabapentin. A truly magnificent combo which gets up the nose of those pushing alternative medicine. Migraines have gone from 10-15 month to 1-2. No amount of diets or excercise achieved that. And believe me I tried for 3 decades. 30 years of being told to avoid "toxic" pharmaceuticals. Who do I sue for the unnecessary misery and suffering I went through? Nobody apparently. My fibromyalgia pain is greatly reduced. Big pharma drugs have enabled me to live when I had contemplated ending it all. So the question is, how will you use this information, and when?