Changing stroke rehab and research worldwide now.Time is Brain! trillions and trillions of neurons that DIE each day because there are NO effective hyperacute therapies besides tPA(only 12% effective). I have 523 posts on hyperacute therapy, enough for researchers to spend decades proving them out. These are my personal ideas and blog on stroke rehabilitation and stroke research. Do not attempt any of these without checking with your medical provider. Unless you join me in agitating, when you need these therapies they won't be there.

What this blog is for:

My blog is not to help survivors recover, it is to have the 10 million yearly stroke survivors light fires underneath their doctors, stroke hospitals and stroke researchers to get stroke solved. 100% recovery. The stroke medical world is completely failing at that goal, they don't even have it as a goal. Shortly after getting out of the hospital and getting NO information on the process or protocols of stroke rehabilitation and recovery I started searching on the internet and found that no other survivor received useful information. This is an attempt to cover all stroke rehabilitation information that should be readily available to survivors so they can talk with informed knowledge to their medical staff. It lays out what needs to be done to get stroke survivors closer to 100% recovery. It's quite disgusting that this information is not available from every stroke association and doctors group.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

What's the reason for stroke spasticity drugs?

This is only my theory, so be sure to ask your doctor for his/her explanation.
There is a great hope that by giving general muscle relaxants the antagonist muscle has enough power to overcome the spastic one. This also makes the assumption that the antagonist muscle control is only partly damaged and not dead. Botox or phenol basically paralyze one muscle while at the same time hoping that the antagonist is only damaged. This is a completely trial and error guess by your doctor because they have never come up with a specific damage diagnosis and thus are not able to compare cases against each other. They are completely flying blind.
This one is interesting for what it eventually says.
http://www.drugs.com/newdrugs/fda-approves-movement-disorder-cns-therapeutics-gablofen-baclofen-severe-spasticity-2435.html
This is just another way to deliver baclofen, similar to the baclofen pump. This line from the article is key; and the need for intrathecal baclofen therapy is life long since it does not cure the cause of spasticity. Remember none of the drugs for spasticity,even botox, cures spasticity.
Ask your doctor about side effects.
Abrupt discontinuation of intrathecal baclofen, regardless of the cause, has resulted in sequelae that include high fever, altered mental status, exaggerated rebound spasticity, and muscle rigidity, that in rare cases has advanced to rhabdomyolysis, multiple organ-system failure and death.
The most common adverse reactions in patients with spasticity of spinal origin were somnolence, dizziness, nausea, hypotension, headache, convulsions and hypotonia. The most common adverse reactions in patients with spasticity of cerebral origin were agitation, constipation, somnolence, leukocytosis, chills, urinary retention and hypotonia.

Because there is no decent understanding of spasticity or any known cures there is the hope/placebo that the drugs given will help.

1 comment:

  1. From my own experience with Baclofed, it allows me to do more repeats of an exercise which, in turn, has a positive reaction to my brain and the connection to the particular limb. I am hoping that Botox will do the same for the finer movements.

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