Failures of Baclofen

[Zman]

Ok so, so far, after having been on this forum for 6 weeks, and having read many success stories, I am yet to come across a detailed failure on Baclofen.

Let me define "failure": My definition is someone who titrated up to at least 150mg and felt nothing, or very little. Tiptronic has reported that he has gone up to 120 and has felt nothing, but that doesnt fall into my definition of "failure". At least not yet.

So my question is...is there anyone out there that has experienced a "failure"?

[Changed1]

Failures of Baclofen

Yes, I'd be interested in this as well. I'd like to try Baclofen, but this means I have to go through the hassle of finding a whole new Dr to do so with no promise I will get the prescription. So...while I hope everyone is benefiting, if someone isn't that would be great to learn of as well.

[Zman]

Failures of Baclofen

Changed,

Ive started Bac and am at 75mg, and have definitely felt a reduction in cravings. But, as is my nature, im not convinced that i will reach the promised land like others have. Thus, I want to hear if anyone has actually failed.

[billyb]

Failures of Baclofen

This sounds like an good thread - I'd also really like to hear if anyone failed to see results from baclofen.

However, I think 300mg might be a more realistic threshold, since that's the maximum safe dose recommended by Dr. A. In fact, Dr. A didn't get the therapeutic effects until he took 270mg.

I didn't reach my magic dose until 150mg, but I wouldn't say that I only barely managed to succeed - If I needed to go to 160mg it would still be an overwhelming success!

[Changed1]

Failures of Baclofen

Well, is sure sounds like this Bac is magic. I had that happen to me when on the max dosage for Lamictal. I'm working my way back up to 400 mgs, but there is no guarantee the same thing will happen again. If not, then I will go see a new Dr. and ask for the Bac. I just cannot take it on my own as I'm on so many other drugs that I fear a drug reaction. BTW, if anyone know if Bac cannot be taken with certain other psychotropic drugs, that would sure be helpful to know as well. Oh, and I am curious and wondering how many of you all are self-prescribing?

[billyb]

Failures of Baclofen

Changed1, many here are self-prescribing, since doctors who are familiar with bac can be difficult to find.

It's not difficult to do it on your own, but you should definitely read Dr. A's book, and be aware of the potential complications (many of which have been discussed on these threads). In all, though, it is generally a very safe drug for long-term use.

Since you are on so many drugs, however, it would definitely be best to have some oversight. I would be persistent with doctors. Dr. A's book has a great appendix with a number of peer-reviewed articles on bac's potential for treating addiction. I would show these articles to your doctor to help convince him/her. If need be, you can keep looking for doctors until you find one who's sympathetic.

[Cinders]

Failures of Baclofen

Here is a post by someone called My Hair Hurts:

https://www.mywayout.org/community/f1...ing-34301.html

Not sure if this is defined as a failure or not, though.

Cindi

ps I agree, a good thread. If anyone has failed on Baclofen, we want to know about it!!

[billyb]

Failures of Baclofen

That's an interesting thread you linked to, Cinders.

Unfortunately there seems to be some misinformation about baclofen in that thread, though. One poster says it's basically a benzo, and another says it's nothing more than a muscle relaxer. While it is a muscle relaxer, it is very unique in the way it works - quite different from benzos or any other kind of muscle relaxer.

Also, this quote made me wonder whether the OP was really following the baclofen therapy protocol:
"If a sufferer, feels a craving, then a quick intake of baclofen puts them in the frame of mind... ' ah what the heck, I can't be bothered..'"

That's really not the way baclofen therapy is supposed to work. You are supposed slowly build up a tolerance to the side effects so that it doesn't have the sort of "I can't be bothered" dulling effect. Instead, it removes the underlying craving through consistent and sustained use of the medicine. Yes, the sort of supplementary "as needed" dose might provide the sort of quick suppression of craving described here (along with the "I can't be bothered" mental side-effects), but the more sustained, daily high-dose therapy is what cures the alcoholism.

If I'm wrong, though (and there's a good chance that I've misinterpreted the situation), and this poster has gone through the long titration process to get to a daily 200mg, then he/she indeed seems to require more baclofen than most people. Fortunately there's still 100mg headroom before safety begins to become a concern.

[billyb]

Failures of Baclofen

One more thing - although this thread could be very useful, it's obviously very important to keep in mind how many people here have had terrific success on baclofen.

(We might also take into account all those who've been treated by Dr. Bucknam and Dr. Levin, and the "300 cases documented by specialists" that Dr. Ameisen cites. Dr. Levin cites a 100% success rate with his patients, and Ameisen makes similar claims. I haven't heard Bucknam cite his success rate, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was also 100%. I'm a bit of a skeptic by nature, so I take Dr. A's own claims with a grain of salt. But Bucknam and Levin's independent corroborations of his findings hold a lot of sway with me.)

While I'm very interested in failures, the available anecdotal evidence suggests they'd be pretty rare, and would happen because of specific complicating circumstances.

It's the details of those complicating circumstances that most interest me. (why didn't it work? - bad reaction to the medicine? 300mg just wasn't enough? adverse drug interactions?)

[Greg]

Failures of Baclofen

I can't really give an opinion about baclofen, apart from saying that low doses seem to do nothing at all to help me. I have almost immunised myself to alcohol by drinking so much every night, and 21 standard drinks every night now just produce mild sedation. I am no longer able to get drunk. Maybe low doses could help people who have already been through traditional detox (eg. a week or so of diazepam). I have tried baclofen within the recommended and prescribable daily dose level in Australia, which is 75 mg. per day. I found a sympathetic doctor willing to prescribe baclofen at that level on a daily basis, but it seems that the effective dose at the start is way above that for many people. Daily doses of baclofen in the hundreds of milligrams are unobtainable here except by online ordering, which is a shame because these dose levels are probably needed by people who are severely alcohol-dependent. Dr. Ameisen would not have gone up to 270 mg./day if he didn't need that dose to begin with.

[Lusus Naturae]

Failures of Baclofen

Hair to here...

I've invited Hair via PM to contribute to this thread...

[nancy]

Failures of Baclofen

So you feel nothing at all or you feel no improvement in drinking?
Do you get side effects? You should be getting some reaction. I wonder about the quality of your drugs if you feel no effect on anything. Some of the online stuff is not reliable.

[beatle]

Failures of Baclofen

Thanks for this thread. These are also looming and crucial questions for me. I just hope the "failures" will see it and contribute.

[Zman]

Failures of Baclofen

Zen and Beatle,

Yeah thats why i thought of starting this thread. In a way, they are selfish motivations, because I want to know whether anyone else has failed, because im worried about my own potential failure.

Im dying for this to work, and am up to 90 now, and yes there is a bit a of dampening in cravings, but the off switch still seems far away.

[Zman]

Failures of Baclofen

bump