Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

[Larisa]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

drugs

My dope is in NY!!! YAAAAAAAAYYY!!!!

[me1455]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

hey guys, day five of bac, i could swear i feel a tad of it already. but it could be in my head bc when you binge alot you tend to not have as much craving the next day for example. anyone else notice at only 30mg? im not sure yet but i really feel like it may be possible to moderate. i could swear that i drink slower and after a few dont feel as much of a high from it and i could maybe stop... it could all be in my head. totally have to see as i up the dosage .anyone have similar feelings? one thing i know is sthat with how much im drinking, i drink to simply relieve the depression.. so i actually have felt like the bac may be working but i still want to drink to get up to a normal mood if u understand what i mean.

either way i def need a few af days. i have no job right now so its making the drinkikng issue not good. if i had ajob i could prob tell more as to whether iim doing better. goin to the doc tomororww.. gonna say ive been on bac and dont want to simpy stop it.. hopefully he'll take it. with no job its gonna be hard paying for the bac. (hopefulluy getin a job soon but goin for my masters in september and will barely b able to work)

[Evie.Lou]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

me1455;663671 wrote: hey guys, day five of bac, i could swear i feel a tad of it already. but it could be in my head bc when you binge alot you tend to not have as much craving the next day for example. anyone else notice at only 30mg? im not sure yet but i really feel like it may be possible to moderate. i could swear that i drink slower and after a few dont feel as much of a high from it and i could maybe stop... it could all be in my head. totally have to see as i up the dosage .anyone have similar feelings? one thing i know is sthat with how much im drinking, i drink to simply relieve the depression.. so i actually have felt like the bac may be working but i still want to drink to get up to a normal mood if u understand what i mean.

either way i def need a few af days. i have no job right now so its making the drinkikng issue not good. if i had ajob i could prob tell more as to whether iim doing better. goin to the doc tomororww.. gonna say ive been on bac and dont want to simpy stop it.. hopefully he'll take it. with no job its gonna be hard paying for the bac. (hopefulluy getin a job soon but goin for my masters in september and will barely b able to work)

I noticed it after 3 or 4 days on 15mg
By the time I was at 30mg I was home free !!!
Everyone is different .... but no matter WHAT, Baclofen is NOT gonna MAKE you stop !!!
What it will do is help you stop if that is your deep desire.
Alcoholism isn't for wimps .......
It is a really tough and devastating disease.
There is HOPE if you are truly motovated. If I can do it, I KNOW you can !!!

[beatle]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

I just started today with Bac (thank you to you know who!).

As I understand it, people have varying reactions at different doses. It seems that most concur that eventually something kicks in.

I would just like to mention that if you compare the cost of Bac to the cost of what you consume in alcohol daily, there is almost no doubt the Bac is a better alternative, financially speaking.

Good luck to you and to me!

[Cinders]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

Good luck, Beatle!!!

Remember Evie's warning about drinking and taking meds, so just be careful. Okay?

Do you plan to taper off alcohol as you titrate up on Baclofen?

Please keep us posted. I know you want this as badly as I do.

Cindi

[me1455]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

hey yeah, i agree about the cost, i would never complain until i recently have no job, no money. i was a babysitter and they dont need me bc the kids are going to camp. however, evie loe, alcohol has brought me hell and i still dont feel the deep desire to stop... i prefer to moderate. i really am immature i suppose... im 27..i have friends and we go out and alot of them want to get high on drugs or drunk out of their mind...

as far as it working thogh, i truly felt something at 30 like you did.. i wasnt sure if it was in my head or not.. but i u say u felt it then it probably wasnt in my head..

we'll see how things go.. hopefully better.. good luck with you guys!

[beatle]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

Thanks Cindi,

I've already reduced my intake of alcohol significantly over the last few weeks. Of course, I am shooting for zero, and I'm hoping/expecting the Bac to help me reach that goal.

I am keeping track on a pad of paper of everything that goes into my mouth, so no worries there.

I will definitely keep you posted (like it or not!).

[Cinders]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

A quick post here from me on my day.

I flew first class all the way, and was sitting there when everyone was drinking around me.

I have to admit it was a bit uncomfortable.

But, I did not cave nor did I have a huge desire to, I just wished I could.

The Baclofen rescued me again. In the past, I would have just given into the thoughts because my body would have been screaming for the alcohol at the same time.

Now I am just dealing with the thoughts.

I can do this.

Cindi

ps On the Atlanta to Newark leg, I had taken my Baclofen when we first took off. I fell asleep and scared the flight attendant. I woke up with her trying to take my pulse. I guess I had fallen into a deep sleep. I was a little embarrassed. :blush:

However, I always fall asleep on planes. It is a Pavlovian response to taking off. Years of flying and boredom, I think. I guess the Baclofen just made my sleep a little deeper than usual.

[veritas]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

Cinders, that is really wonderful. I am so happy for you.

Me, I found that the Baclofen kicked in very quickly. I did drink, but it felt different. I certainly understand not wanting to drink. You don't have to be young to feel that way. That is what makes us alcoholics. Try telling someone who has run 10km that water is bad for them, it does not work. Craving is the same, its like a thirst for something missing in our bodies. Once that something is there, you can make different decisions.

[Zman]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

Me1455,

I guess im kind of immature too, in that I would love to be able to moderate and just be a normal drinker. I'm 30 and my friends are big drinkers too, but they dont black-out everytime they go out like I do.

My plan is to titrate up until i hit my switch and then go AF for a month or two, and then see what it is like to drink. But one thing at a time. I just want to hit my switch first.

I am now on my second day of 15mg-15mg-15mg (so 45mg total), and there are still cravings. In fact, I downed a bottle and a half of wine last nite. Lets see...

[veritas]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

Zman, best of luck.:l

[Zman]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

Ok boys and girls,

So im up to 45mg and even tho sometimes i feel like i feel something, i obviously dont because i am still drinking like a crazy person. Tonight i went out with some work friends to play pool and, as usual, I drank 3 times as much as anyone else there. Is it too early too lose hope? What if i titrate up to 150 and i still dont feel any difference?

[Cinders]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

zman,

Please be a bit patient. It took me until I hit 80 mg a day to start to feel anything at all.

However, after that I titrated too quickly and paid the price with horrible dreams, etc, and had to back down anyway.

Please be very careful with the drinking and taking Baclofen.

I was trying to quit when I started and just accepted that I was going to have to white knuckle it for a while until the Baclofen started helping. It was all I knew to do.

Put a plan in place today to figure out how to taper down, firm limits!!, while you are titrating up.

You truly do not want to drink a whole lot while on Baclofen. Both are CNS depressants.

Good luck and don't panic.

Put a good plan into place.

Cindi

[Anna B]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

Hi all,

This is a great thread. I've been out of town so I'm now just catching up on everyone's baclofen progress. Here's what's happened to me in the last 2 weeks. I started 2 weeks ago on Monday and (as I think I said in another thread), I got extremely sick from the baclofen. I was taking the normal dosage (5 mg 3 times per day) but without food and my body REBELLED. I was constantly nauseous and I was vomiting constantly. I couldn't work for three days. Please note though, I get nauseous very very easily, so this is likely something pretty specific to me and not baclofen, in general. Needless to say, at least I didn't drink anything for those three days!!

After that, I started taking the bac w/ food and had 2 more days AF--which is a miracle for me. I started titrating up (again while taking it w/ food) and was feeling extremely tired so I've been taking it slow. After two weeks, I'm at 30-35 mg per day and slowly increasing my dosage. I think I'm just one of those people who needs to take things slow. A lot of smart people on this board have pointed out that everyone's body is different and we will all react differently to the bac. This is SO true.

I'm still drinking but less than I was before, in general. I definitely need to keep titrating up, though, b/c I'm certainly not feeling the "switch" going off yet.

One interesting thing has happened with me is that even if I drink earlier in the evening, by the time the night is winding down, I stop wanting to drink. This is a really big change for me as my usual drinking MO is to continue drinking as much as possible until I pass out/fall asleep. So that's definitely a positive change!

Another thing I've noticed--which it seems happens to others as well who are taking bac--is that AL affects me a lot more than it used to. I threw my husband a birthday party w/ all of our friends last Thursday. Our parties are usually pretty crazy; our friends are big drinkers (I usually plan on 10-12 drinks per person) and I cave into the pressure to drink alongside everyone else. Well, I did so that night and I ended up passing out in my bed while the party was still going on. I never do that--I"m always the last person awake and partying. That scared me a lot and I"m definitely going to do everything possible to avoid binges like that.

Thanks to all of you for your stories. I'll continue titrating up and posting my progress here. I hope you all do the same! I love this community.

[Cinders]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

Anna,

Welcome back and really great to hear you are making some progress.

Take it slowly and, yes, try to keep the drinking as low as possible. Baclofen warns about drinking while taking it.

It will be fascinating to watch as you titrate up slowly how this goes for you. Thank you for posting and keeping us up-to-date.

Cindi