Consolidated Baclofen Information Thread

[bleep]

Consolidated Baclofen Information Thread

terryk;1115380 wrote: ...

Could it be that years of physical dependency on alcohol and the subsequent changes it brings to our brains (and GABA receptors) makes some/most/all of us especially susceptible to side effects from the drug that remediates that damage?

-tk

Still doesn't explain OA.

Can't say how much I appreciate you making all this research of yours public knowledge Terry.

Or wait. I can. I appreciate it hugely.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Consolidated Baclofen Information Thread

Alright, tk. I don't know if what you were saying is that perhaps I should read the research in question before I think out loud, but that point was made.

I look forward to it, and to continuing this discussion. I am hugely relieved that you are expressing some of my own concerns and that we can have a discussion about it here on hallowed ground, Consolidated Bac Thread.

I'll catch up and get back here soon. Thank you again for your clarity and focus and willingness to share.
K

[Cinders]

Consolidated Baclofen Information Thread

Terry,

Really good stuff!!

Glad you posted it. I thought the part about the SEs abating without a change in dose was very interesting.

Keep up the good work, people!!

Lives can be saved.

Love,
Cindi

[Lo0p]

Consolidated Baclofen Information Thread

Computer is broken so I can't post much.

One of the biggest problems they had with high dose therapy was hypotension (not the opposite??).

This might be important to Bruun.

[redhead77]

Consolidated Baclofen Information Thread

tk,

Thank you so much for all the work you've done here. It's incredible. I'm glad I didn't know about that pee thing when I was worried about conserving my bac. Ewwww! Desperate times call for desperate measures.

I just don't buy the lack of SEs thing. I can't imagine, that most people don't have SEs. I'm not sure that it has anything to do with us alkies, in particular. We have a huge variation in sides among us too (which has already been mentioned). I mean, do you think this is because we've all abused alcohol for different lengths of time? We may have different levels of brain damage?

[moglor]

Consolidated Baclofen Information Thread

bump for 6to10

[beatle]

Consolidated Baclofen Information Thread

Information, request

When I talked to Dr. L in Chicago (that fluke time I ended up there because of death -- or near death-- in the family), and he started to go into his BDNF and the addiction connection idea, well, in typical beatle fashion, I pressed him to explain...

He said I should read the article in Science (magazine or journal) from June 2009. (He called 'Science' "the most important scientific journal on the planet."

Can anyone explain it to me, though? (if there is anyone around here, that is.)

Science Magazine: Sign In

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Consolidated Baclofen Information Thread

brand new article, sent courtesy of Dr. OA. (Thank you!)

I will post the link when I figure out how to do it!

From Science Magazine:


NEWS&ANALYSIS
ADDICTION RESEARCH
Anonymous Alcoholic Bankrolls Trial of Controversial Therapy
Ameisen says dosing is crucial. Another study by Addolorato’s group published in April showed that alcoholics who take 60 milligrams of baclofen do better, sug- gesting that 30 milligrams is below the optimal dose. Ameisen says both 30 and 60 milligrams are “ridiculously low:” Neu- rologists who use the muscle relaxant to treat spasms have long treated patients with up to 300 milligrams daily without serious side effects except sleepiness, he says.
But other scientists say it’s prudent to be careful with a drug whose side effects have not been studied systematically. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s limit for treating spasticity is 80 milligrams. The Amsterdam study now on the drawing board will escalate the dose while carefully mon- itoring patients, Wiers says; the research- ers might put the study’s ceiling at 150 or
200 milligrams. Others say that’s quite high. Garbutt has proposed a new trial that would go up to 90 milligrams a day, which is “already pretty aggressive,” he says. Addo- lorato says he would not go beyond 100 milligrams.
Ameisen is frustrated with the slow pace of research, but his zeal to convince the world is rubbing some the wrong way. “When people know all the answers before having the data, it’s usually not worth listening to,” Heilig says. Nor has Ameisen’s treat- ment of skeptics—in interviews with Science, he described several scien- tists as “stupid”—made the cardiol- ogist any friends. An adviser to the Amsterdam study, Ameisen says he’s already disappointed in the commu- nication with Wiers’s team. That may be because he often fires off multiple
AMSTERDAM—For 6 years, French cardiolo- gist Olivier Ameisen has tried to persuade addiction researchers to set up a large clinical trial of what he claims is a safe and highly effective cure for alcoholism: high doses of a decades-old muscle relaxant called baclofen.
Ameisen’s main argument: his own case. There was a time when he could down a bottle of Scotch a day and, in his bestsell- ing 2008 book The End of My Addiction, the cardiologist describes how baclofen broke that habit and saved his life.
Now, Ameisen may finally get the study he wants. As a gesture of thanks to Ameisen, a Dutch donor has given the University of Amsterdam half-a- million euros to conduct a rigorous placebo-controlled study of the drug,
to be led by psychopathologist and addiction researcher Reinout Wiers. The philanthropist’s name is being kept secret, but Ameisen, who met him at a lecture, says the man was a “hopeless alcoholic” until he gave his physician a copy of Ameisen’s book and received baclofen.
The study could help settle what Markus Heilig, clinical director of the National Institute on Alco- hol Abuse and Alcoholism, calls a “controversy in a low-key way.” Ameisen’s advocacy for baclofen— which mimics the action of a neurotransmitter called gamma- aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the brain—has generated a lot of publicity, and increasing numbers of alcoholics demand a prescription from their doctors. But hard evidence for its efficacy has been lacking. A handful of trials have generated conflicting evidence; all were small and used much lower doses of baclofen than Ameisen recommends. The anonymous gift is a “fantastic opportu- nity,” says alcoholism researcher Giovanni Addolorato of Catholic University of Rome.
A successful cardiologist working in Manhattan, Ameisen saw his life and career coming apart in the 1990s, when his binges frequently landed him in the emergency room. Highly motivated to kick his habit, he tried all sorts of treatments, attended thousands of Alcoholics Anonymous meet- ings, and checked into rehab centers. Yet he always relapsed. Then he read a story about
baclofen, a drug that in animal models of alcoholism appeared to suppress craving. He devised a study protocol in which he took escalating doses of baclofen. At 270 milligrams a day, he wrote in a rare first- person case study published in a 2005 issue of Alcohol and Alcoholism, “I experienced no craving or desire for alcohol for the first time in my alcoholic life.” He still takes lower doses of baclofen daily to keep his anxiety in check and hasn’t taken a drink since 2003.
Scientists believe that GABA may play a role in addiction, and another drug can-
Craving evidence.
In a book about his recovery (inset), Olivier Ameisen urged scientists to do clinical trials
of baclofen.
didate for alcoholism, topiramate, also tar- gets the GABA receptor (Science, 11 April 2008, p. 168). The anecdotal stories about miraculous recoveries with baclofen extend beyond addiction to alcohol to people with cocaine and other drug problems. The few randomized controlled trials—the gold standard in medicine—have shown mixed results, however.
In a study among 84 heavy drinkers with liver damage, published in The Lancet in 2007, Addolorato showed that 30 milli- grams of baclofen a day helped 71% abstain from drinking, versus 29% of those on pla- cebo. But in a 2010 study of the same dose among 80 diagnosed alcoholics by James Garbutt of the University of North Caro- lina, Chapel Hill, baclofen did not outper- form placebos.
long e-mails per day, Wiers counters. Yet even those who are skeptical about baclofen, such as Heilig, applaud the new study because it may help bring doctors and patients some answers. The study will aim to enroll at least 200 diagnosed alcoholics, Wiers says, and will also aim to find out whether the drug is most effective in peo- ple also suffering from anxiety disorders, as some studies suggest. Functional mag- netic resonance imaging will help estab- lish whether the drug affects brain circuits
involved in anxiety. Wiers is “a highly respected investiga-
tor in the field of alcohol dependence,” says Lorenzo Leggio of Brown University’s Cen- ter for Alcohol and Addiction Studies. “I am sure it will be a very good study.”
–MARTIN ENSERINK
Science SCIENCE VOL 332 6 MAY 2011 Published by AAAS
653
CREDITS (LEFT TO RIGHT): ?FRANCK FERVILLE; COURTESY FARRAR, STRAUS AND GIROUX
Downloaded from Science on May 6, 2011

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Consolidated Baclofen Information Thread

hmmmm.

[bleep]

Consolidated Baclofen Information Thread

Good heavens, I'm trying to upload the pdf of the file Ne is talking about, but the forum has a limit on size of 19.5kb's? Is that right? That is ludicrously small.

[tiptronic_ct]

Consolidated Baclofen Information Thread

bleep;1119114 wrote: Good heavens, I'm trying to upload the pdf of the file Ne is talking about, but the forum has a limit on size of 19.5kb's? Is that right? That is ludicrously small.

That's why most of us use Photobucket for pictures and a facility like Google Docs for things like PDFs. If you want, you can email it to me and I'll upload it for you.

[tiptronic_ct]

Consolidated Baclofen Information Thread

bleep;1119114 wrote: Good heavens,

Good heavens??? :H:H:H

I say, old chap, is that a touch of colonial English coming through?

[bleep]

Consolidated Baclofen Information Thread

I was so stunned by the size limit, I couldn't think of anything to say!

[tiptronic_ct]

Consolidated Baclofen Information Thread

bleep;1119161 wrote: I was so stunned by the size limit, I couldn't think of anything to say!

That's a first - a high-dose bachead rendered almost speechless??? :H

[tiptronic_ct]

Consolidated Baclofen Information Thread

Thanks, Bleep. Got the article. Here is a link to it:

Article from Science Magazine