which drug to take????

[OverIt2007]

Im sure some of you know me, I have been on this site for over two years and still struggling big time.

I have never taken any types of medications in my life. I rarely even take an aspirin. I have never been prescribed anything, so I am a medication virgin (lol)

Now I am considering taking some medications to help with my alcohol abuse. Im a binge drinker, but can easily go two or three days without drinking. I have never had withdrawls, but have suffered some horrible hangovers.


So, I am asking, which drug should I consider? Topamax, Nax, Bar? Any advice?? Who has had success and with what drug?

I am making a doctors appointment but after my last doctors visit, I dont have much confidence in them anymore.

Thanks for any input!

Overit

[cacky]

which drug to take????

Over, I have tried Campral, topa and bac. I havent had much luck with any. Campral has healing properities. Alot of people had success with Bac. Hopefully you get some good advice

[OverIt2007]

which drug to take????

That is discouraging Cacky. I thought Topamax would be a good one for me to try. I also have a eating disorder, and have heard Topa is prescribed for that as well.


Im going to try to find yet another doctor who listens to me (remember the crazy last one I went to?)

I guess in the long run this could be a trial and error experiment to see what works. Im not solving my issues on my own. Even with MWO, L-glutamine, Im still staying in a same pattern.

[bernard]

which drug to take????

cacky;675935 wrote: Over, I have tried Campral, topa and bac. I havent had much luck with any. Campral has healing properities. Alot of people had success with Bac. Hopefully you get some good advice

Hey Cacky,
Fill us in some more about your experience with bac. I saw that on June 30 you were at 60 mg/day. Did you continue with it? Did you start going higher in dose? How did you decide it was not working for you? What other meds were you taking concurrently? Baclofen's failures are rare, so we're all very interested in knowing more. Thanks.

[scrubbly]

which drug to take????

Hey Overit....I remember your Holy Basil and Bee Pollen escapade, was wondering if you would round out and be back for more medical advice....sorry you are having a bad time of things with doctors. :l

I don't know about you, but my experiences with doctors and my eating problems (yes like you I have that too) is that they are not really good with most of that stuff....anything that crosses the physical AND psychological borders like eating and drinking seems to puzzle the crap out of most MD's.

So I can only share MY experience, but I am doing Topamax, and I'm NOT going through an MD because although I like my doctor, I don't think she would "get it" even if I went armed to the teeth with the documentation about "off-label" use of the drug for both alcoholism and binge-eating disorder, which is my other gig.

So I order from a foreign pharmacy, watch my dosages and my side effects carefully, and

1. Have been AF for just over 2 months and

2. Am still struggling SOME with my eating issues but am not totally out of control with them, which I feared would happen when I gave up my OTHER crutch of alcohol - and my food issues WERE out of control years before, and when I got the food issues in line BEFORE, that is when the ALCOHOL PROBLEMS rose up and took over, you see the problem here??????

So there you have it, my totally anecdotal, take-it-for-what-it's-worth-cuz-I'm-not-a-doctor "advice" and all the best to you dearie!!!! :l

[beatle]

which drug to take????

As you probably have noticed, there is a lot of action on the Baclofen threads. Seems it is working well for almost all.

[DeeBee]

which drug to take????

Overit -- good for you for giving the Doc another bash!!

I personally took Topa but only for 6 weeks so really I don't feel qualified to say yay or nay -- I too have been reading all the action on the Bac threads with interest.

[veritas]

which drug to take????

I am on Bac. I cannot believe what is happening to me. I think that we are looking at a revolution. I still have cravings, but I can now make decisions. I have been af now for 12 days. Now that the side effects are over I am much more relaxed, my head is clear. I now know what a non alcoholic feels like.

Topamax worried me. I have seen the side effects in others. It is as though they start living life through a glove. The emotions are so suffocated. I am feeling as much as ever, but without the paralising obessive anxiety.

[brightlite]

which drug to take????

Cacky,

Yes, please fill us in on your Bac experience. You are one of the first that has mentioned that it has not worked.

[billyb]

which drug to take????

Overit, I wholeheartedly recommend baclofen. It has given me a new chance at life.

Until Cacky's mention of it, I had not heard of a single case where baclofen did not completely solve someone's drinking problem once they had gone through the titration process.

At the risk of sounding sensationalist, I have to say that baclofen is truly miraculous.

It is doing for alcoholism what penicillin did for infection. Yes, there may still be an isolated case or two where it doesn't work due to complicating circumstances, but in all other cases it seems to completely cure alcoholism.

The side-effects for most people are well tolerated. And, it has been around for years as a chronic treatment for MS patients, so its long-term safety is well documented.

So, I see absolutely no reason not to try baclofen first. Just make sure you read all these threads carefully, and that you read Ameisen's book, so that you know how to go about the dosing properly.

[Bill.P.]

which drug to take????

Baclofen is relatively cheap. It does not require you to keep drinking over months to extiguish the desire to drink (liver hapy about that), it doesnt make you spaced out with bad side effects like dopamax.

The results are overwhelmingly documented as close to a cure as their is with more research continuing to prove this new drug treatment.
The reason why baclofen is so hot lately is b/c we said hey try this, it works. And it worked for those members, then it worked for the members that read their stories.
If we suggested a sugar pill and said it would cure alcoholism like we do, then people took it and it didnt get any success. There would not be this huge excitement and the multiple threads by the people who got the same results of beign alcohol free.
Many of us hopelessly addicted to alcohol. If we managed to go a period of time without alcohol. The anxiety would be there and without a doubt a relapse would occur.

Baclofen and speaking for myself. Has completely broken that craving cycle. Its safe, with initial sleepiness being the overwhelming side effect.
In fact, according to the science. ITs actually much safer than the picture you might get from reading the user reports here. If there was a control group of people taking a placebo and compared complaints you could filter out some of the noise which is most likely independent of baclofen use entirely but being attributed to baclofen use. That research has been done on baclofen in terms of side effects

Its a very very safe drug and it is a miracle pill for so many of us now. A simple 3 month trial of titrating up may change your life. You can always try it and then try something else. But for people that fail at the other drugs, baclofen works when others did not.
Plus now that it is blown up. There is now a large and growing and very supportive group of baclofen users here to talk to and answer your questions

[veritas]

which drug to take????

I noted in my reading last night that Dr A was very thorough in validifying bac's safety. He quoted an example of a woman who attempted suicide on 2gms of bac. Her suicide attempt failed. That is 50 times the dose I am curretly taking.

Bill, thank you so much again for all your input.

[OverIt2007]

which drug to take????

Thank you all so much for your responses. I am grateful for this website and the people on it to come to when I have questions such as this.


My interest in baclofen and topamax has peeked. I am very curious about the side effects but will do my own reading on here about that. I am so glad that these are working so well for some people, I really desire my life to change in the same ways.

I realize that I had posted its easy for me to go three days without drinking, Im realizing that now its becoming a miracle if I make it one or two days. It seems no matter how hard I try, and no matter how much I hate alcohol and what it does to my body, I continue to dance the romance with the poison.

I have a doctors appointment on Monday, and I am going to discuss these medications. Its taken me years, but I am at a point where I am much more assertive and educated about this disease, and how it effects my life. I want out and I will do whatever it takes to get me to my point of happiness.

Thank you all, I will keep you posted.

Overit

[oliveoyl]

which drug to take????

Overit I would recommend the Baclofen. I have given the Toppa a good go and it didnt work for me !!! However it does work for some but they all seem to go through difficult side affects . With Baclofen apart from sleepiness no side affects and immediate sense of well being and relaxtion not a valium type dope affect but a subtle in the back ground change in feelings. Im am a chronic alky and have been for 20+ years this approach ( i dont like calling it a drug ) works its bloody amazing!!!!! . So to answer your question Baclofen. It just slowly and gentley shuts down the desire to drink once you reach that magic switch off which for some has been comming in at very lo doses!!!! There is a thread about online pharmacies to purchase from if your doctor is not up to treating you and being open to addiction issues. Doctor supervision is the way to go but many of us cant find one prepared to read the evidence and listen hence this group of increasingly convinced guinnea pigs!!!
Regards

[Lenore]

which drug to take????

I tried Topamax briefly, but stopped because of the side effects. Baclofen really does work. But I think that I've benefited from naltrexone too. I think you'll have to educate your doctor about those medications. I know of a neuropsychiatrist who was unaware of the benefits of baclofen and naltrexone.
Thank goodness for this forum and the people here. :thanks: