Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

[Shantao]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

another guinea pig

Hi everyone,

I've been reading all the baclofen thread and i just finish this one and it is time for me to come on board!

I'm a 42 yrs old female 5''2' and 120 pounds.i have an history of alcohol for 25 yrs.my grand-grand-father,grand-father,and father were all alcoholic as well as 6 of my sibling so it is definitively in my gene.

as far i my journey go i tried stoping by myself many times and for many year was able to stop 4 month out of the year to give a break to my system as i was drinking all of the times.
The last 2 yrs however thing took a turn for the worse and i was not able to stop anymore.
Not only i was not able to stop anymore but i was drinking on the job everyday(i would go in the bathroom at my break and lunch and drink(mostly vodka as the smell is not as strong)I was doing so without my significant other knowing and was able to pull it off untill 2 week ago when he throw me out of the house...he took me back i week later but i cannot drink no more.I don't work any more as the whole situation made me have a mental breakdown.

about three months ago i came across MWO and discover topamax was able to have it prescribe by a doctor(under false pretence of migraine)it did work for a while but i started loosing my hair very badly so i stopped(i lost about 50% of my hair since).


then i came back here and saw that Baclofen seem effective so i went to another doctor and (still under false pretence of anxiety) got baclofen to a maximum of 60mg...i dunno if that would be enought considering my size.i am now at 50 mg 15-15-20. So far i feel very lethargic du to the mental breakdown (i took antideppressant for years i am currently on Wellbutrin)I'm 17 days AF(i don't have choice)the baclofen definitively help but at this point i still have craving and do white knuckle sometimes but i am hopeful since i DEFINITIVELY see a reduction in craving...i 'll keep you posted !

Oh! and i am bilingual French/English(french being my primary language) so if someone would give me the link for the french Baclofen thread i could keep you posted on interresting fact since(if i understood well) this thread have a longer life than this one...

[bernard]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

Shantao,
A friend of mine has a very similar fact pattern as yours. NMA, but I would:
1. Order two copies of Ameisen, one to give your physician when you ask for a higher dose prescription.
2. Up your dose gradually but as fast as the somnolence allows, until you get your alcohol desire dialed to the right level and have no craving.
3. Just take it easy and rest for a couple of weeks while you're getting used to the increasing dose. And live healthy, fah cry sakes.
4. Dump the dopamax.

I'm thrilled that you've volunteered to translate the French baclofen thread. It's at Alcool : forum E-sant?
It's now at 585 pages. How soon can you have it done?

[me1455]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

hehe ya zman prob because we're around the same age wanting to attemp to be a normal drinker if its possible

[brightlite]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

As always, I'm very interested in this thread and have ordered my Bac. Shantao, 17 days is 17 days...good for you. Maybe it is the Bac maybe not, but you are doing it.
We would all appreciate it if you followed the French threads on this and reported back.

Bernard....hilarious "Fah cry sakes"......Shut the Front Door!! Just lightening the mood...:-)

[beatle]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

brightlite;680690 wrote:
Bernard....hilarious "Fah cry sakes"......Shut the Front Door!! Just lightening the mood...:-)

Shut the Front Door?

[veritas]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

I just want to encourage you all on your journey. I had thoughts of "modding". I honestly don't want to go that route anymore.

I am still getting thoughts of alcohol, but they are easy to push away. If I smell wine, I actually feel aversion.

[Cinders]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

I am AF and loving it. Life is so much easier to deal with sober.

I titrated up to 130 mg day. 40, 40,50. I want to see if I get to a complete indifference and if those thoughts go away completely. I am very pleased with my results but figure I should follow the plan and get to where when I am around alcohol I don't even consider wanting any.

I'll keep everyone posted.

I do get sleepier on just that extra 10 mgs.

Cindi

[Shantao]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

update

Hi Baclofriends,

Thanks everyone and specially Bernard for giving me the french thread link.

OMG! Bernard i thought it was 585 posts but it's actually 585 pages !!!!!
It gone take me awhile to go throught it but i will sacrified myself for the science!:H

So far i'm on pages 7 and this is what i have to report.(the thread started on Oct 2008):

- some people are debating that taking Baclofen is replacing one addiction for another.

-the french think that the government is keeping Baclofen a secret because of the money made from the sale of alcohol(taxes).

_they have reported problem with the ignorance of the medical proffession on prescribing Baclofen for stopping alcohol consomption.

-one poster husband is actually threated in a psychiatric ward with Baclofen(so there is a increase awareness there)

-one lady reported that she was able to stop using Xanax (after years of usage)
talk about killing 2 birds with one stone !!

-the dosage they recommend is starting at 15mg/day and increase by 15 mg every 3 days.

So that it for now...

As for me : I can't wait to gain some energy...sooooooooo tired mentally and physically...

[bernard]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

Zman;680410 wrote: Bender- bad one
Afer going AF for 5 days I lost my shit. Drank 7 bottles of wine (give or take a bottle) this weekend (which is fri-sat over here). Feel like shit. Have gone up to 90mg yesterday, and not feeling major side-effects other than the somnolence, but defintely not feeling a reduction in cravings. I guess my off switch is a ways off, but starting to feel a little despondent.

Zman,
NMA: If you can take a 7-bottle bender and you're still coherent, I think you can take a faster rate of increase. Which is worse, a bender or being sleepier than you'd like? Step on the gas, Zman. Increase at 20 mg/day/day. Hold steady but resist decrease if you run into side effects. You need to get up to some numbers that do the job. Remember, 300 is a safe maximum; 90 isn't going to work for you. Be brave and resolute in your assault. You can do it, you know how.

[harry]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

Shantao,

I read the first 505 pages. You will get to know the posters to listen to....... Na, Pierre Olivier ( comes in about page 200 ) and about 10 others. Some real time wasters trying to derail the threads as well. But some real raw insight into baclo. I got alot out of it even with a translated version.

Being a French speaker you will probably read 30 - 40 pages per hour. Looking forward to your report.

[juliej15]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

For the ladies only...or those brave enough;o)

So I have been having an interesting day on the Bac. First my stats: Today is day 11 on the Bac, I have yet to have an AF day but have had the usual side effects of others...somnolence, a little dizziness, sleeping like a log etc. I am currently up to 80 mg/day and plan on going to 100 mg/day tomorrow.

So here is my "situation"....my monthly monster is getting all geared up to start, and despite the Bac, I have not been able to control my cravings today. Let me say that on this particular day of the month without Bac, my craving were almost always unbearable.

Have any of you other ladies had similar "hormonal" experiences? Like I said, this is not particularly out of the normal for me but I am little disappointed the cravings are as strong as they are on the Bac.

Gentlemen....my apologies if you were brave enough to read this

[juliej15]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

Zen -

It has been 11 days and I am going up about 20 mg every 3 days.

Unfortunately, my curse is truly a curse!! I am having uterine ablation done later this month so hopefully that will help with more than just my cravings!!

I guess if it is a day or two a month I shouldn't really complain

[Going Strong]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

Hi Everybody,

Julie I had a ablation done 20 years ago it is fantastic.

You wont regret it!

Have been in a funk after all the stress I have been under so haven't posted much. (Maybe it's burnout?)

Will get back into it soon.

I just wanted to share something.

We got a DVD out this weekend called Vicky Christina Barcelona and we started watching it early afternoon.

Normally I don't crave anything to drink at this time in the day but in this movie they drink wine.

Maybe it was just the situation or the fact that they were in nice restaurants and enjoying the food and seemingly good wine had me craving a glass of wine bigtime!!!

When my husband went to return the DVD I asked him to bring a bottle of wine home.

He raised his eyebrows but didn't comment.

While he was gone I took 30mg of bac (the craving was really bad) and kept busy, by the time Hubby got back I didn't feel like any wine so husband had it all to himself.

I have never had a craving before watching someone else drink.

Maybe it was the whole thing with the food wine and gorgeous suroundings, exotic locations etc?

I don't know. Anyway it was something I wanted to share!

[bernard]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

harry;681454 wrote: Shantao,

I read the first 505 pages. You will get to know the posters to listen to....... Na, Pierre Olivier ( comes in about page 200 ) and about 10 others. Some real time wasters trying to derail the threads as well. But some real raw insight into baclo. I got alot out of it even with a translated version.

Being a French speaker you will probably read 30 - 40 pages per hour. Looking forward to your report.

Harry,
Do you have a more automated method of translation than to just copy and paste each page's URL into Google Translate? It would be nice to have it all in a single document.

[harry]

Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread

Bernard,

I just hit the translate button and each page is automatically tranlated. Its straight forward and the translation is good.