Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

[brightlite]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

bump so we don't reinvent the wheel

[Topsy-Turvy-Tracy]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

'nother BUMP.

[Otter]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

My wife is now on 20 mg in the morning and 10 mg every hour or two during the day. She is also taking an SSRI, Fluoxetine and 1 gram of L-Tryptophan at night with Melatonin for sleep. The regular low doses during the day appear to be doing the job. I am concerned that higher individual doses of 30mg and over during the day create spikes with side effects and withdrawal during the day and thus encourage a return to drink.

I came across something called a serotonin deficiency syndrome associated with alcoholism which can be treated with L-tryptophan. I think there is something to this as it is associated with aggression which comes with withdrawal from alcohol.

I think there is scope for discussion about the level of maintenance dosages, timing and frequency and I personally think this is key to Baclofen treatment. I will refrain from opening a new thread.

Much love to all

Otter

[terryk]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

bump

[lvb65]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

I feel awkward on a forum, yet, at the same time curious to read about the experience from people using or considering the use of Baclofen for their addiction. It took me a while to find postings that gave me the information I was looking fore. And now I am ready to share my experience.
I am male, 65 year old with a long history of drinking. I think I was 14 years old when I first got pissed. It was a trrible experience and even now I can?t smell Whisky without an urge to vomit. Although I drank regularly from 18 years on, it was not steadily and not always to the point of oblivion. Occasionally I would however, go over the top. Overall, I think I managed my drinking habit reasonably well except for the last 20 years. When drinking became a substitute for painkillers. In the course of the years I have tried several times to quit drinking on my own, without much success. Once I went for help, when I spoke about my background and the amount of alcohol I was drinking then ( 1 bottle of wine a day) the reaction was, ? oh, is that all?. That wasn?t exactly what I needed at thet time. We tried a scheme for a while, but the motivation soon vanished.
In my profession as an artist, it wasn?t conspicuous to drink. I never was a bar type, but on social occasions there was always alcohol involved. Drinking was a natural thing to do. Besides, my mother was an alcoholic for as long as I can remember.
Looking back, drinking was for me the only way to be able to deal with stress, anxiety, uneasiness, uncertainty and social involvement. And I never felt completely comfortable in company.
For my work, alcohol was a boost to lift me over moments of anxiety or give me energy to achieve in physical efforts. Later on in life alcohol became more and more indispensable for oppressing pain in back and knees. So much so, that I needed to drink from morning till night to be able to function. This has had an inevitable impact on my general health condition.
Some months ago Ameisen?s book came to my attention. This was the story I had been waiting for. Wow!
I tried to get support from medics, to no avail, like so many. Luckily I live in a country where it is not difficult to buy Baclofen at the Pharmacy without prescription. So I decided to do it on my own.
I started almost 6 weeks ago on the scheme that Ameisen describes in his book. Slowly titrating, starting with 15 mg p/ day. Adding 10 mg after every three days. Only after the first 3 days did I drink a few glasses of wine and none thereafter. From the start I kept a diary. Some of the SE described by others, I recognize. I am so grateful for the postings I read. I experienced almost from the start very vivid/ clear cut dreams, a bit dizzy, hard to focus my thoughts, difficulty reading, numbness/ twinkling in fingers and lips, and an almost constant pressure in my head. In the beginning it felt like a stiff hangover. But there was also a feeling of peace of mind. Things around me became much clearer visible. The thought of drinking became slowly less. Only occasionally do I think of a glass of wine, the thought disappears just as fast as it came into mind. In the beginning I craved for something to bite, this too has become less, but I need a lot of fruit and nuts to eat. After two weeks I quickened the titration and by day 30 was taking 150 mg/ day. Most side effects stayed unchanged, but the pressure in my head became too much. It was then, that I started to look on the internet for experience by others. I was a bit worried about the pain in my head. I lowered the doses to 125. This helped somewhat but now and then the thumping in my head becomes too strong. I also started wondering how one feels the moment when the ? switch? is felt when you get there? There were some impressive accounts on the forum. I am committed to achieve this moment but reluctant about the doses necessary to achieve it. Anyway, it is encouraging to read all the different accounts and motivations on this forum. I hope to have some response and good advice for the road ahead that may also be useful for others.
It is obvious that there is a common denominator in all the stories that are posted and it is fascinating to realize that every story has a personal background. The thing that marvels me is, that Ameisen managed to find the tone that inspires so many. With his background, knowledge and persistence he was the right person at the right time to put all the loose ends together and give so many an outlook to a way out. I sm at the beginning of the track, but I am encouraged bye the stories of others who have been on the track for somewhat longer with good results.

[Sunnyvalenting]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

Your story is similar to mine.
58 year old woman, drinking since teens. Trying to quit for 15 years. Finally did so with help of fairly low dose of baclofen. I am thinking that because of my age and size or sex I needed less than most. I never drank at all even on just 30 mg/day. I am abstinent for 10+ months now and only take 20 mg at bedtime. I feel free at last to work and play as an adult.
For me the side effects slowly dissipated over a few months. The highest dose I got to was around 100/day. Don't know if I really needed that much but was following instructions of a clinic where I had gone for help.
Re switch: I just figure I am where I need to be if I am not drinking and it is not hard to not drink. I wouldn't spend a lot of time wondering. It is not as tho there is a "sign in the road" saying you are there.
Best of continued success to you and keep posting!
Sunny

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

spam, reported

[tiptronic_ct]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

I don't know whether to laugh or cry...

I was in serious danger of running out of baclofen after two consecutive orders from Inhouse were detained by South African Customs.

I've managed to find a doctor who has prescribed baclofen (to a max of 70mg per day) and felt ecstatic / relieved until I heard what the stuff costs locally!!!

Three bloody times the price of Pacifen from Inhouse (which is already not cheap compared to GoldPharma): ZAR2.20 vs ZAR5.95 per fecking tablet (1US$ = ZAR7.00)

And this is for a generic - Bio-Baclofen. There is something rotten in the state of our local pharmaceutical industry.

The pharmacist was a bit freaked out... they didn't have enough stock to fill the prescription and she was worried about my knowledge of titration. Har de har de har.... if only she knew...

Next, I'm off to see a neurologist who was contacted by the psychiatrist who gave me the prescription. Apparently, she is interested in finding about more about bac for alcoholism and most likely willing to prescribe it as a chronic med. But the same old tune: only up to a certain dose.

I'm just very grateful that I could still place online orders while I was on really high doses. Inhouse will no longer be delivering to South Africa, so I've run out of online options... :upset:

[TracyA]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

tiptronic_ct;1084164 wrote:
I'm just very grateful that I could still place online orders while I was on really high doses. Inhouse will no longer be delivering to South Africa, so I've run out of online options... :upset:

Crap, Tip. It doesn't make me want to laugh or cry - it makes me want to punch something. I hope the neurologist is more open-minded.

Aren't you within the 80 mg range now?

[bleep]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

Wow, that is quite steep. Why the sudden problem, do you know?

[Lo0p]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

Umm...could one of us mail it to you?

[tiptronic_ct]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

TracyA;1084173 wrote: Crap, Tip. It doesn't make me want to laugh or cry - it makes me want to punch something. I hope the neurologist is more open-minded.

Aren't you within the 80 mg range now?
I'm at 45mg - I started tapering dowm immediately when I heard about the 2nd "detainment" - am doing fine on it so I probably won't need all that much.

bleep;1084176 wrote: Wow, that is quite steep. Why the sudden problem, do you know?

Inhouse claims that South Africa has introduced more stringent laws and regulations. It makes sense when I read the letter Customs sends you when they detain a package. It is illegal to even import supplements (multivits etc etc.)

Lo0p;1084180 wrote: Umm...could one of us mail it to you?

Thanks for the offer, Lo0p :l (in a manly way, of course )

I coughed up for it, so I'm OK for now. As I said above - if I remain fine on the lower dose, the money isn't that much of an issue.

[tiptronic_ct]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

And an interesting observation: I have some somnolence again at this lower dose

[bleep]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

So what a result then! Less baclofen, that costs you more, and puts you to sleep.

A real winner.

Glad to hear it's sorted.

[tiptronic_ct]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

Yep: see the silver lining and all that

What messes with my mind is the others in South Africa who need help: they're going to have an almost impossible obstacle to overcome :upset::upset::upset: