Baclofen for binge eating: An open-label trial

Objective: Baclofen is a GABA-B agonist that may be useful in the treatment of substance use disorders, and also reduces 'binge-like' eating in rodents. We hypothesized that baclofen might be effective in reducing binge eating episodes in binge eating disorder (BED) and bulimia nervosa (BN). Method: Seven women with BED (n = 4) or BN (n = 3) took baclofen (60 mg/day) for 10 weeks. Results: Six out of seven patients completed the full 10-week trial. Five out of seven participants (3 BED; 2 BN) demonstrated 50% or greater reduction of frequency of binge eating from beginning to end of the study. Three out of seven participants (2 BED; 1 BN) were free of binge eating at study end. Four out of seven participants elected to continue baclofen at study end. Baclofen was well tolerated by the participants. Conclusion: In this open-label trial, baclofen was associated with decreased binge eating frequency in patients with BED and BN.