Baclofen vs Phenibut for anxiety
Short answer: For anxiety, users rate them about the same: 89% report improvement with Baclofen (18 reports) and 89% with Phenibut (419 reports).
Baclofen has 168 meta-analyses and 214 randomized trials on PubMed; Phenibut has 3 and 1.
Based on 68 reports about Baclofen and 1,030 about Phenibut. Not medical advice.
| Baclofen Medication | Phenibut Substance | |
|---|---|---|
| Users say it helped | 61%helped28 reports · medium confidence | 43%helped628 reports · high confidence |
| Verdict | Mostly positive | Mixed |
| Research | AResearch: Strong | BResearch: Moderate |
| Meta-analyses / RCTs | 168 / 214 | 3 / 1 |
| Mainly used for | ||
| Anxiety % reporting improvement | 89% (18) | 89% (419) |
| Mood % reporting improvement | 71% (7) | 90% (181) |
| Sleep % reporting improvement | 62% (8) | 86% (90) |
| Focus % reporting improvement | — | 72% (47) |
| Energy % reporting improvement | 100% (2) | 79% (38) |
| Common side effects | withdrawal, dizziness, hallucinations, insomnia | withdrawal, tolerance, addiction, dependence |
| Typical dose reported | Not listed | 500 mg |
Effective medical and surgical interventions include anti-convulsants, bisphosphonates, botulinum toxin, botulinum toxin plus occupational therapy, botulinum toxin plus casting, diazepam, dentistry, hip surveillance, intrathecal baclofen, scoliosis correction, selective dorsal rhizotomy, and umbilical cord blood cell therapy. We have provided guidance about what works and what does not to inform decision-making, and highlighted areas for more research.
Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep, 2020 ↗“Baclofen(10/10): Not really a nootropic, but it felt identical to phenibut. Whats even better, I was able to take it regularly and keep the anxiety-reducing benefits...”
Phenibut withdrawal appears to have a range of severity. It is important to recognize that patients undergoing phenibut abstinence may have progressive symptom worsening during early withdrawal. All published cases of abrupt phenibut abstinence were admitted inpatients for symptom management. Benzodiazepines or barbiturates with adjunctive baclofen appear to be the most commonly used drugs for moderate to severe withdrawal. Outpatient management via slow phenibut tapers with or without adjunctive gamma-aminobutyric acid agonist therapy may be successful. However, there is no standard treatment
Clin Toxicol (Phila), 2023 ↗“Phenibut every 3 days. Hands down most effective I've tried. Plus you wake up feeling amazing.”
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Percentages come from first-hand user reports and are not clinical outcomes. Talk to a doctor before starting, stopping or combining anything. How we rate