Failures of Baclofen

[My hair hurts]

Failures of Baclofen

The poster responds..... Baclofen does work - for me at least. The problem I feel though is an underlying depressive state that has existed from childhood... I am absolutely convinced - through bitter experience of mine and others, that the addictive process is escapism, relating back to past trauma or shock.
But it is important to remember that a relapse is 1:expected and 2:nothing to feel guilty about. - you just gotta get back on that horse and ride it

[AMELIA]

Failures of Baclofen

I would like to put my 2 cents in here.
I tirated up to 120mg. As I did this, my thoughts about drinking were 'I can drink if I want to, because on Bac I won't be able to drink as much as I did before,...so that's ok'

On 120 mg I felt less inclination to drink and the only side effect was excessive sleepiness. I did get to a stage where I was running low on Bac and started to tirate back down. My drinking then escalated. I felt like I had failed.

I am now on another lot of Bac, but have a completely different mind set. This time I have decided 'Drinking isn't an option' and that if I am taking a medication to help me remain sober, then my commitment to that must be 100%. Plus, I have finally really and truely accepted that I am an addict. An alcohol addict. Therefore this time taking Bac has been completely different. I am only on 80mg. Have almost no side effects (the odd fleeting feeling of tiredness) and am now in my 3rd week of sobriety. I feel fantastic. Relaxed and ready to deal with the world.

Interestingly enough, I am an artist working towards having my first major solo exhibition. It begins on the 3rd Sept. This is a big thing for me and in the past would have been something that filled me with so much anxiety and insecurity, that I would probably have been drinking most of the time and not painting at all!
As it is on Bac (and I truely believe it is Bac), I am ahead of schedule, being very proactive with advertising and marketing and am actually really looking forward to the show.
I am exercising, my relationship with my partner has improved 200% (because when there is no booze, there's no secrets and lies) and I feel hope like I haven't felt for years and years.

So, I know this is about 'failures', but I wanted to point out how and why I felt like I failed on my first round of Bac.

Amelia

[tiptronic_ct]

Failures of Baclofen

Hi, Amelia

For me, it isn't that the bac failed, but that I wasn't prepared well enough. I should have better foreseen that I might have to titrate up more quickly and to higher levels than others. I now have 4 orders of bac on its way, so that I won't have to titrate down while I'm waiting.

My bedside drawer is going to be overflowing with more than 800 tablets, but I'll do what it takes - I want AL out of my life, and the sooner, the better!

[AMELIA]

Failures of Baclofen

Hi Tip,

Yes, I agree that for me it wasn't the bac that failed, it was my mental approach the first time that lead to me feeling like I had failed.
It was my 'thinking about drinking'.
This time my thinking is different and I am experiencing much better results at a lower dose - all good.
Glad to hear you are getting your next lot of Bac soon....
Hope it goes well.

[Shantao]

Failures of Baclofen

Excellent thread Zman!

I would have to agree with Billyb that to call it a failure one would have to go up to 300mg and nothing...

As you know i am following the french thread on Baclofen and if i encounter any failure there, i'll be posting it here for the record.so far so good !

Later !

[Zman]

Failures of Baclofen

Amelia,

I'm not sure I follow you. From what I gathered, Bac is supposed to make you stop thinking about drinking. On your second try, how did you just decide to stop thinking about drinking?

Shantao, thanks for reporting on the french thread. It is very informative.

[Cinders]

Failures of Baclofen

Zman,

I will chime in on that one.

Drinking is a habit, too. We drink at certain events. I drank when I was anxious, nervous, upset, happy, out to dinner, etc.

On the Baclofen, I still occasionally have the thoughts of "A nice glass of wine would be so great right now.." but because of the Baclofen, I just laugh and the thought is gone. Poof.

In the past, that thought would have turned into an entire focus of my existence until I could "satisfy" that desire. I would categorize my attitude about alcohol is a strong compulsion in those days.

Today it is simply a thought and I can easily brush it aside, no worries.

Does that make sense?

Cindi

[AMELIA]

Failures of Baclofen

Hi Zman,

Ok, the first time that I took bac, my cravings did lessen and I thought about drinking less - definately.
But, and this my personal big BUT, the first time I took bac I was happy to continue with my old habits, beer at 6pm and wine or more to follow. Sure I didn't drink as much as before, but I wasn't even entering into an internal 'shall I or shan't I' dialogue. I was waiting for the 'switch'. So, when I tapered down off the bac waiting for my next prescription my drinking went sky high again.
So now, I am on my new prescription I have a different mind set. Take the bac and do everything else possible to remain sober. Drinking is no longer an option. So at a lower dose, I am having more success, because as well as taking the bac, I have a different mental attitude.

[beatle]

Failures of Baclofen

Amelia! I had no idea you were on the Bac wagon! I'm so happy to hear about your success. And thank you for sharing your experience -- I'm sure it will be helpful to a lot of people.

I'm at 30mg/day, on my 4th week, but titrating up very slowly. I feel some effect, which seems to vary a bit from day to day, but I have been in the mindset sort of like you were that the Bac will do its job even if I don't try, but I've also been applying a good bit of "co-operation" --i.e. consciously trying to remind myself that I don't need that first or last drink, or even the in-between ones. This little bit of effort, together with the boost the Bac gives, has resulted in about 25% reduction in my AL intake over the past 3 weeks.

I am ready to start titrating up a bit faster, and I will make more of an effort to push my mindset in the right direction. I don't want to be the first failure here!

[Cinders]

Failures of Baclofen

Beatle,

I just don't think you are going to be a failure. I really don't.

I do think titrating up on the Baclofen and titrating down on the drinking is a really good plan.

How many days are you staying at a level before going up and how much are you going up at a time?

I know you. You can make a good plan on titrating down on the drinking at the same time. You are a very disciplined woman.

If you do this right, you won't even have any discomfort as you wean off the alcohol.

Cindi

[beatle]

Failures of Baclofen

Thank you Cindi.

The main reason I have been titrating so extremely slowly is the fear of running out of the stuff-- I began on a small supply from an MWO member that was meant to tide me over until I got my own supply from the Indian dealer.

After I finally got the stuff from India, I realized that it would perhaps be too little to tide me over until the next supply.

I am also careful because I am a little person (only physically!), and I am normally very sensitive to drugs/medications.

Cindi, if you don't think I will be a failure, I am pretty sure this will work.

If I am not a failure at this, I will be a success for the rest of my life.

[AMELIA]

Failures of Baclofen

Hey Beatle and Cindi,
I agree that whichever way you approach Baclofen, you are probably in a win-win situation.
I had to make a mental shift for me because, I know just how many justifications I used to make when drinking and if I were to run low on Bac again, I really didn't want to feel like I was slipping back into my old AL ways. I was worried I may run out of Bac and really slide so much that I didn't bother re-ordering.....it took me a while to get back on the wagon this time!

Beatle, I have been getting my Baclofen from a private doctor here in the UK. It is not the Bac that costs in this situation, it is the appointment with the doctor. My first appointment was ?80 plus ?12 for the prescription and ?9 for 560 x 10mg tablets of Bac. I did prompt the doctor first by emailing him the following link: Defeating Brits' alcoholism | Metro.co.uk
and I also took the book, marking the pages that talked about high doses and long usage times.
The last time I went to him he prescribed me enough to go to 170mg a day. I haven't reached that level, am currently on 90mg so my prescription is lasting quite a long time.
I worked out that if I ordered from any of the companies commonly talked about on this forum, I would be paying quite a bit more than what I have been.
The other plus about going private, is that you receive a very different level of care and that you can ask that your treatment is kept confidential and not put on your NHS records.
The other thing that I found positive about doing it this way was that it eliminated any worries that I had about whether the quality of drug would be ok if I ordered over the internet.

By the way, I went out last night with a group of people to a bar for dinner etc. I wasn't the only person not drinking, I had the company of a young newly pregnant woman, but I didn't miss the booze at all. Found it very easy sitting at a table with cocktails, bottles of wine etc!

So yes Beatle, do this in the way that you see best for you. If that is tirating up the Bac and gradually lessening the al, then that is bound to work. Each of us have to live in our own heads during this and only we can decide which approach will work best for us.

Looking forward to hearing more of your news!

[My hair hurts]

Failures of Baclofen

amelia - you just nailed it - 'mental approach' if taking baclofen as a solution - support support support! you need people around you who understand - but are willing to sit by and support the process.

[louise]

Failures of Baclofen

Amelia, thanks so much for sharing your story. I was re-reading the interview with Dr. A and he did say that commitment is required and that he uses AA and cognitive behavioral principals as well. He said he had encountered those who weren't really interested in baclofen because they didn't really want to quit. My hair hurts - is this what happened? That you temporarily forgot you wanted to quit and now it is working again without increasing the dose?

Beatle, I'm glad to here you are doing well as it seems you have the mind set that Amelia and and Cindi describe - the baclofen gives him the ability to think it through

[AMELIA]

Failures of Baclofen

Hi Louise,
Yes even the Private Dr. that I get the Baclofen from is adament that I have to do other things to support my sobriety (as well as taking Bac). Before I go back to him next time, he has asked me to spend a week or two writing a letter to Alcohol. He said it will probably run into pages and pages,...listing as many good and bad times as I can remember. He likened it to a final goodbye to a relationship that had it's good and bad points, but inevitably was destructive. He believes it is a very powerful way in which to move on.