Baclofen and Naltrexone combined !

[Noelle]

Baclofen and Naltrexone combined !

Lo0p;733989 wrote: Combination of Naltrexone and Baclofen for Alcohol Dependence:A Pilot Study. - Full Text View - ClinicalTrials.gov
Re: The above study, where it says: However, naltrexone does not have any effect on other symptoms that may contribute to relapse such as anxiety, sleep problems and irritability. Baclofen, an FDA approved medication for muscle spasms, may improve some of these symptoms.

For ME, this is totally, absolutely not true. I have no anxiety or sleep problems. I am, in general, not a person easily irritated. I *am* irritated reading all this though. Maybe I'm just a very lucky person whose use of Naltrexone has completely taken away my desire for drinking. I have energy I've never had before. I'm thinking clearly. I don't want to drink anymore. Not even the casual drink. That's how I felt going in when I started taking the Naltrexone.

And I also think TSM is New Age BS. He says "train the brain?" His method appears to be for people who still want to drink. I'll be 60 this year and know when I see BS. I *will* say however, if it works for you, that's great!

If you want to keep drinking, why are you messing with all these meds? I don't understand. Please enlighten me.

[bleep]

Baclofen and Naltrexone combined !

Noelle;1094959 wrote: ...

If you want to keep drinking, why are you messing with all these meds? I don't understand. Please enlighten me.

Noelle, for me - I just want to be normal. Normal people have a drink when and if they want one. Sometimes, they get drunk. I will say that the thought of getting drunk now holds absolutely no appeal for me, probably even less than a normal drinker.

I now consider myself normal thanks to meds.

[Terry Oh]

Baclofen and Naltrexone combined !

I have been drinking steadily (all day, not binging) for years. Nothing I tried helped.

Went on 60 mg bac per day and was able to take a few days off for the first time in years. But kept relapsing. Titrated up to 100 mg/day. Better, but side effects (somnolence, insomnia, lack of concentration) were severe. Tried several times to titrate up to 150 mg/day, where decrease in cravings were noticeable, but side effects were intolerable.

Went back down to 100 mg/day of bac. Added 25 mg nal before drinking. Immediately went from 12+ drinks per day down to 3-6. Stayed there for a week or so. Amazing!

I am at the same dosage, and drinking is creeping back up to 6-8 drinks per day. Still better, but I want to get back down to 4 or less. Not sure whether to increase the bac, increase the nal, or decrease the back while increasing the nal. We a human Guinea pigs.

I will have to stick it out a few more weeks to see if this was the "honeymoon period" or just the result of an awesome combination of meds.

[Cinders]

Baclofen and Naltrexone combined !

Terry,

I think it may be the "honeymoon" period. I have read a lot about that over at the sinclair forum. It seems once you get past that, then over time your drinking will decrease.

I can't speak to if taking a higher dose of Nal will help or not but I do think you might want to slowly try going up on the Bac and see if that helps.

I think we all respond to these drugs differently.

However, I am considering very strongly going on Nal. I want to wait until I get past 100 mgs/day of Baclofen and see how I feel. If I am still drinking, I will definitely go to the doctor and add the Naltrexone.

Good luck!! I hope this all works out for you.

Cindi

[bleep]

Baclofen and Naltrexone combined !

Hi Terry, and welcome.

Like Cinders, I can't really speak as to the effects of Naltrexone. For me the answer was baclofen. How are you taking your 150mg's? You may find the side effects are reduced if you can split the dose up as much as possible through the day. Also, increase your dose in small increments - go from 100 to 120, remain there for a few days, then to 140mg's, etc...

Notice though that you can reduce them this way, not eliminate them. If you are able to cope, you should reach indifference to alcohol, which is a wonderful state of affairs.

Good luck.

[Winks]

Baclofen and Naltrexone combined !

Terry, the usual dose of Nal is 50 mg. If you are taking 25, you are only at half dose. It is good to know that it kicks in right away though.

[Charlieboy]

Baclofen and Naltrexone combined !

hi -

i originally started on nal and then switched to bac. I have continued to struggle with binges thorughout both, despite getting to 200 mg on bac. The SE"s were pretty bad at this dose. I have just come off the phone to Dr Chick who is an addiction specialist in Edinburgh, using bothe Bac and Nal. His advice to me was to bring the BAc level down to about 80-90 mg/day - a healthy dose for warding off anxiety and keeping you grounded but with minimal SE's and to couple this with Naltrexone before drinking. He advised that taking as much as 100mg before a drinking session was fine, but to start at 50 as it can make you nauseous. this will be my next approach at getting this problem under control. Thanks

[Winks]

Baclofen and Naltrexone combined !

Good luck, Charlie. I was just reading an article on Naltrexone and Dr. Chick was quoted in it. I am going to add the Nal too. It sounds like it only works for some people, but for those people, it really does work. I am going to add it too. The stuff is not cheap though.

[coalfire]

Baclofen and Naltrexone combined !

To those who are interested in Naltrexone-this might interest you.https://www.mywayout.org/community/f2...one-49050.html

[Noelle]

Baclofen and Naltrexone combined !

I pay about $90/month for Naltrexone....my insurance pays nothing. It's worth every cent.

I'm an alcoholic. I'm not *normal.* I can't drink one drink or two. If you're an alcoholic, I don't think you can/should look for methods, meds or whatever to take so you can keep drinking. I don't understand why everyone wants to take Balcofen and/or Naltrexone and drink. Isn't the point to stop?

I'm lucky. Naltrexone worked immediately for me with no side effects. I thank God for this med every single day.

I see my psychiatrist next Monday and am going to ask her about Balcofen. She is a highly regarded addition doctor and knows her stuff. I can't wait to see what she says.

IMHO, I just see that most of y'all want to keep drinking. If your an alcoholic, a true alcoholic, you can't drink. You have to stop. Not take meds and drink. That's just plain stupid. In my opinion.

[Charlieboy]

Baclofen and Naltrexone combined !

hi -

I actually think this is a very valid point. Obviously, for many alcoholics, it's their dream to be able to drink normally. Why? To avoid social stigmas, to be able to enjoy a good glass of wine, to hang with friends in a pub over a couple of pints, to take a girl on a date without the awkward 'you dont drink moment, to be able to raise a glass in celebration etc etc the list is endless. Quite simply, to enjoy something that is pleasurable without all the horrendous consequences that tend to follow. These are some of my reasons anyway. A'cure' for me constitutes being able to drink normally! I know that may sound whack but that has been my goal for years. I have to admit, I am yet to have achieved it, it may well be a pipe dream......and I am getting very close to waving the white flag once and for all. HOWEVER! Lets not forget the success stories on here - people who have started on Bac and continued drinking to very sensible levels, others have stopped completely. Naltrexone, done in conjunction with TSM, actually is encouraged to be taken with alcohol - over time, levels are greatly reduced. There are countless stories of hardcore alcoholics dropping thier intake massively. I see no problem in alcoholics trying to achieve this aim, I think if we were all honest, we would all love to have forsaked our alcoholic hells and been able to drink normally from the start. Why not have a go now? It seems the medication is out there to help with this. YEt, it doesn't work for everyone. I am about to add Nal on nights where I am drinkinh to the Bac i am already taking. If this combination proves fruitless in stopping my binges then I will likely retain a level of BAc but concentrate on AF.
Thanks

[Noelle]

Baclofen and Naltrexone combined !

Charlieboy;1096746 wrote: I actually think this is a very valid point. Obviously, for many alcoholics, it's their dream to be able to drink normally. Why? To avoid social stigmas, to be able to enjoy a good glass of wine, to hang with friends in a pub over a couple of pints, to take a girl on a date without the awkward 'you dont drink moment, to be able to raise a glass in celebration etc etc the list is endless. Quite simply, to enjoy something that is pleasurable without all the horrendous consequences that tend to follow. These are some of my reasons anyway. A'cure' for me constitutes being able to drink normally! I know that may sound whack but that has been my goal for years. I have to admit, I am yet to have achieved it, it may well be a pipe dream......and I am getting very close to waving the white flag once and for all. HOWEVER! Lets not forget the success stories on here - people who have started on Bac and continued drinking to very sensible levels, others have stopped completely. Naltrexone, done in conjunction with TSM, actually is encouraged to be taken with alcohol - over time, levels are greatly reduced. There are countless stories of hardcore alcoholics dropping thier intake massively. I see no problem in alcoholics trying to achieve this aim, I think if we were all honest, we would all love to have forsaked our alcoholic hells and been able to drink normally from the start. Why not have a go now? It seems the medication is out there to help with this. YEt, it doesn't work for everyone. I am about to add Nal on nights where I am drinkinh to the Bac i am already taking. If this combination proves fruitless in stopping my binges then I will likely retain a level of BAc but concentrate on AF.
Thanks

I guess I have to agree with this. Because I drank for so very long, I tell people I don't drink because I've drank my share, or some other sort of joke. It's amazing how some (most) people are threatened when you are at a bar and not drinking, and how they act, like, "what's wrong with YOU?" I know how they feel. Been there. One of several things about being older (again, will be 60 this year) is that you kinda don't give a rat's ass one way or the other. It's not a problem.

I've been feeling like someone who used to smoke and they get all, "you shouldn't smoke" on you. I hate that. I feel like I've been so serious on here about Naltrexone and sort of unbending. I'm really a pretty easy-going person and pretty funny. Some people on here who remember me (although they post elsewhere) will tell you that's how I am.........I hope. :H

I've just been SO blown away with how the Naltrexone works for me. I want everyone to feel like I do. Know what I mean? I'll back off now and say, whatever works for you, work it.

I'll still be around lurking though.....muahahhahahaha. And I still think Dr. Sinclair, in watching his video, is a dork. Sorry.

[Noelle]

Baclofen and Naltrexone combined !

Went to my Dr. on Monday and not only did she say Balcofen is not a good drug to take, she also said Dr. Sinclair has it all wrong. Of course I agree with her, but again, that's just my opinion.

I didn't get a whole lot of info from her because I wanted to talk to her about other things a little more important to me such as my daughter moving back home after getting kicked out of the house, and us having to put our dog down last week.

[LittleLessBoozin']

Baclofen and Naltrexone combined !

Noelle;1102396 wrote: Went to my Dr. on Monday and not only did she say Balcofen is not a good drug to take, she also said Dr. Sinclair has it all wrong. Of course I agree with her, but again, that's just my opinion.

Hi Noelle,

I tend to feel that saying that Baclofen is 'not a good drug to take' is a little premature, an dismisses the point that everyone is different.

From what I can tell, you take regular naltrexone and have managed to avoid alcohol ever since. Good for you, but many have abjectly failed where you have succeeded.

Likewise, others have used AA to successfully remain AF- good for them but not possible for everyone.

Some on here have taken Bac and hit a 'switch'. This is also wonderful, but of course the two elephants in the room are:

- Will this 'switch' hold long term?
- Are there long term side effects of long term Bac usage?

This is a complicated area, complicated more by the personal understanding of what it is to be an alcoholic.

Those of us unfortunate to consume a great deal more than that on a daily basis are probably a little more advanced in the alcoholic progression curve, and so may find harsher drugs such as baclofen to be beneficial.

I'm not a doctor, but I think that dismissing any drug which has shown such initial promise in some 'hopeless' alcoholics is a little naive/blinkered.

Just my $0.02,

Paul.

[redcat]

Baclofen and Naltrexone combined !

Viper 66,
Could you clarify if you take Nal every day, even on days when you don't use alcohol. and How do you take it - 50mg in the morning? and which Pharma Gaba you would recommend to buy? Thank you