Although baclofen treatment is associated with abstinence, its lack of association with improvement on other drinking outcomes, such as binge drinking and the percentage of abstinent days, should be balanced against its adverse effects. Of particular concern among these is sedation (reported by 46.5% of high-dose baclofen patients, compared with 24.5% of placebo patients).53 In a low-dose baclofen study (30 mg/day),24 the common adverse events observed more frequently with the drug than placebo were drowsiness (39.1% vs. 32.6%), dizziness (26.4% vs. 22.8%), headache (25.3% vs. 19.6%), confusion (23.0% vs. 15.2%), muscle stiffness (16.1% vs. 12.0%), excessive perspiration (14.9% vs. 10.9%), itching/pruritis (14.9% vs. 9.8%), abnormal muscle movements (13.8% vs. 9.8%), numbness (12.6% vs. 1.0%), and slurred speech (10.3% vs. 4.3%).
