Ozobax Liquid: Uses, Dosage, Side Effects, Precautions and Alternates

Quick overview

Ozobax Liquid is a liquid form of baclofen, a prescription skeletal muscle relaxant that acts as a GABA-ergic agonist. It is used to treat muscle spasticity, spasms, and stiffness caused by multiple sclerosis or spinal cord injury or disease in adults and children 12 years and older. The medicine works on the brain and spinal cord to calm nerve signals and reduce muscle tightness. It is not intended to treat muscle spasms caused by rheumatic disorders.

What is Ozobax Liquid

Ozobax is a liquid form of baclofen, a prescription muscle relaxant. It is a gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA-ergic) agonist used to treat muscle spasticity from multiple sclerosis or spinal cord problems.

Ozobax Liquid uses

• Treats muscle pain, spasms, and stiffness (spasticity) in adults and children at least 12 years old with multiple sclerosis or spinal cord injury or disease
• Helps relieve flexor spasms, related pain, clonus, and muscle rigidity from multiple sclerosis
• May help in people with spinal cord injuries or other spinal cord diseases
• Not meant to treat muscle spasms caused by rheumatic (inflammatory) disorders

Benefits of Ozobax Liquid

• Can ease leg stiffness, spasms, cramping, and painful tightness from multiple sclerosis
• Dose adjustments can help find a balance between symptom relief and side effects
• Offers a non-injection liquid option for treating multiple sclerosis-related spasticity
• Does not cure the underlying condition but may allow other treatments like physical therapy to work better

How Ozobax Liquid works

The exact way baclofen works is not completely understood. It is similar to a natural body chemical called GABA that helps calm nerve signals, and it acts on the brain and spinal cord to reduce muscle spasms, tightness, and related pain.

Ozobax Liquid dosage

Follow all directions on your prescription label and any instruction sheets given by your doctor or pharmacist. Take it by mouth, with or without food, usually several times a day as directed. Shake the liquid well before each dose if it is a suspension. Measure each dose with the special measuring device or oral syringe provided; do not use a regular kitchen spoon. Take it at the same times each day to help you remember.

Do not take more, more often, or for longer than your doctor tells you to. Do not stop taking this medicine suddenly; your doctor may need to lower your dose slowly before stopping to avoid dangerous withdrawal effects. Call your doctor if your symptoms do not improve or if they get worse. If a dose is missed, take it as soon as you remember, but skip it if it is almost time for the next dose; do not take two doses at once.

Available forms and strengths

• Tablet
• Oral solution (liquid)
• Oral granules (packet)
• Suspension

Side effects of Ozobax Liquid

Common

• Drowsiness
• Dizziness
• Weakness or tiredness
• Nausea
• Confusion
• Low blood pressure
• Headache
• Trouble sleeping (insomnia)
• Constipation
• Increased need to urinate or urinating more often
• Sweating

Serious

• Signs of an allergic reaction: hives, difficulty breathing, swelling of the face, lips, tongue, or throat
• Severe drowsiness or sedation
• Trouble standing or sitting up straight, problems with balance
• Fever, seizures
• Confusion, hallucinations
• Muscle stiffness, itching, tingling in hands and feet (possible signs of withdrawal)
• High blood pressure symptoms: severe headache, blurred vision, pounding in your neck or ears
• Bloody or dark urine
• Chest pain
• Fainting
• Mental depression or other mood changes
• Pounding heartbeat
• Ringing or buzzing in the ears
• Seeing or hearing things that are not there
• Skin rash or itching
• Slurred speech or other speech problems
• Swelling of the ankles
• Unusual excitement
• Serious eye symptoms such as sudden vision loss, blurred vision, tunnel vision, eye pain or swelling, or seeing halos around lights
• Fast, irregular, or pounding heartbeats, fluttering in the chest, shortness of breath, sudden dizziness or passing out

Warnings and precautions

• Do not stop taking this medicine suddenly. This can cause dangerous side effects including hallucinations, seizures, high fever, confusion, severe muscle stiffness, organ failure, or death. Your doctor may need to lower your dose slowly.
• Use with caution if you have had a stroke, since this medicine has not been shown to help much in stroke patients and they may not tolerate it well.
• Use with caution if you have psychotic disorders, schizophrenia, or confusion, as this medicine can make these conditions worse.
• Use with caution if you have a history of autonomic dysreflexia, since this medicine or its sudden withdrawal may trigger an episode.
• Use with caution if you have epilepsy, as seizure control may get worse.
• Use with caution if your muscle stiffness helps you stay upright or move around, since relaxing those muscles could affect your posture or balance.
• Ovarian cysts can occur with this medicine, though they usually go away on their own during treatment.
• This medicine adds to the effects of alcohol and other drugs that slow the brain, such as sedatives, sleep medicines, narcotics, or other muscle relaxants.
• It is not known if this medicine will harm an unborn baby. If taken during pregnancy, the baby could be born with withdrawal symptoms such as tremors or seizures and may need medical treatment. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or planning to become pregnant.
• This medicine passes into breast milk. Withdrawal symptoms can occur in breastfed babies when the mother stops taking this medicine or when breastfeeding is stopped. Talk to your doctor before breastfeeding.
• This medicine is removed from the body mainly by the kidneys, so it should be used carefully in people with kidney disease, and a lower dose may be needed.
• Drinking alcohol with this medicine can cause dangerous side effects, including increased drowsiness.
• Avoid driving or hazardous activity until you know how this medicine affects you, since dizziness or drowsiness can cause falls, accidents, or serious injuries.

Storage

• Store the tablet and granule forms at room temperature away from light and moisture
• Do not store in the bathroom
• Different brands of the liquid form have different storage needs; check the product package or ask your pharmacist
• Some oral solution brands must be stored in the refrigerator; do not freeze
• Throw away any leftover oral suspension 2 months after you first open the bottle
• Keep out of the reach of children and pets
• Do not keep outdated medicine or medicine no longer needed
• Do not flush medications down the toilet or pour them into a drain unless told to do so; ask your pharmacist or local waste disposal company how to properly dispose of unused medicine

When to see a doctor

• Get emergency help right away if you have signs of a serious allergic reaction, such as hives, difficulty breathing, or swelling of the face, lips, tongue, or throat.
• Call your doctor right away for severe drowsiness, trouble standing or balance problems, fever, seizures, confusion, hallucinations, muscle stiffness, or tingling in the hands and feet, or symptoms of high blood pressure like severe headache and blurred vision.
• Seek emergency medical attention if you think someone has taken too much of this medicine.
• Get emergency help right away if signs of overdose occur, such as blurred vision, severe dizziness, irregular or shallow breathing, seizures, or pale/blue lips or skin.

Alternatives

• Fleqsuvy
• Ozobax DS
• FIRST Baclofen
• Lioresal
• Gablofen
• Lyvispah
• Lioresal Double Strength