About 10%-20% of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) receive baclofen to control their spasticity, but up to half of patients stop the medication in the first six months, a large Swedish population-based study shows. The high rates of discontinuation suggest baclofen has “a low success rate of…

Baclofen, an approved therapy for spasticity in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, promoted the repair of myelin — the protective sheath around nerve fibers that’s progressively lost in MS — in a mouse model of the disease, a study showed. These findings suggest baclofen — sold as oral tablets,…

Over the many years I’ve lived with multiple sclerosis (MS), I’ve used several medications to treat my MS symptoms. Some have helped, some haven’t, and some worked at first but then lost their efficacy. I recently returned to three of them that I’d stopped using for various reasons.

FDA Decision on Ublituximab for Relapsing MS Pushed to Year’s End Ublituximab is similar to Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) and Kesimpta (ofatumumab), which also target B-cells, the immune cells that play a role in the inflammatory attacks that harm the central nervous system of people with MS. Each of…

Lyvispah — a dissolvable granular formulation of baclofen — is now commercially available in the U.S. for adults and adolescents, 12 and older, with spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis (MS) and other spinal cord disorders. In people with MS, the strawberry-flavored formulation is particularly suitable to ease flexor…

Once upon a time, long, long ago, when I was very young, we British children would be asked, “What’s through the round window?” The line was from a TV series called “Play School.” The swinging ’60s may have been breaking in London, but culturally, this was the happening show…

“Hey, man, I’m alive. I’m taking each day and night at a time/ I’m feeling like a Monday but someday I’ll be Saturday night.” — Bon Jovi Multiple sclerosis (MS) medications can generally be separated into two categories: disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) and those that help to manage symptoms. While…

Worsening of Disability Evident in Older Patients Who Stop DMTs Some neurologists believe that multiple sclerosis (MS) progression slows, or even stops, when people reach their 60s, so they advise patients that there’s no need to continue their disease-modifying therapies (DMTs). Personally, I think a DMT age ceiling is…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Lyvispah, a dissolvable granular formulation of baclofen, to treat spasticity in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). The strawberry-flavored formulation, developed by Saol Therapeutics, is particularly suitable to ease flexor spasticity, the involuntary bending of the knees and hips toward the…

I’ve written about trigeminal neuralgia (TN), which entails severe facial pain, many times. Let me count the ways. Please excuse me while I go off and search through my columns. I’ll be a while. Well, it turns out I’ve written specifically about it only three times,…

Now I know what it is like to write like Jack Kerouac and Hunter S. Thompson. Not because I have their talent (if only), but due to the inescapable fact that I’m so high that the children’s Christmas kites flapping in the park are far below me! Oh, it turns…

Helicopters were whirling in my brain. Turns out, it was a solitary police one. Though it was another hot night, my wife closed my windows in case of a prowler. I’m on the ground floor, after all. It was a dark moment in my life. Another relapse had struck…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has agreed to review  Osmotica Pharmaceuticals‘ amended request for the approval of arbaclofen extended release (ER) tablets to treat spasticity in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), the company announced.

Editor’s note: “Need to Know” is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the forum topic “Are you still driving? Should you be?” from Dec. 27, 2018. At…

Arbaclofen extended-release (ER) tablets taken twice a day can effectively reduce spasticity (muscle stiffness) in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) with similar potency to that of standard and more-frequently-dosed baclofen (brand name Lioresal), Phase 3 clinical trials show. Latest trial data were presented in two posters during the 33rd Annual Meeting…

  Editor’s note: “Need to Know” is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the forum topic “What is Trigeminal Neuralgia?” from May 2, 2018. What causes…

Editor’s note: “Need to Know” is a series inspired by common forum questions and comments from readers. Have a comment or question about MS? Visit our forum. This week’s question is inspired by the forum topic “How Do You Manage MS-Related Balance Issues?” from…

It’s been about nine months since we created the MS Forums section on the Multiple Sclerosis News Today website. It’s a place designed to host conversations about our MS experiences and to find some answers from reliable sources when you have a question. You can even begin your own…

A new clinical trial evaluating the effectiveness of extended-release baclofen capsules in relieving spasticity related to multiple sclerosis (MS) is calling for 135 people with any form of the disease. The study, taking place in six U.S. states, is sponsored by Sun Pharma, the drug’s developer. Baclofen, an approved MS…