Baclofen Dosage

[Virgil]

Hi Folks,

I'm still relatively new around here and have been slowly making my way through the consolidated baclofen threads. I am trying to establish what factors, if any, play a part in determining the dosage of baclofen required to hit that 'switch' to which people refer. For example, do the following factors have any bearing on the matter:

* Male/female
* Body mass (I have reason to believe this is a factor)
* Drinking history (i.e. daily consumption and over how many years)
* Dual-diagnosis (e.g. alcoholism with anxiety)

These are just four factors that immediately come to mind but there are probably others that MWO members may want to add to the list.

I look forward to any replies.

Thanks in advance.

V.:thanks:

[RedThread12]

Baclofen Dosage

Hi Virgil:

So good to see you here again. Re your ?'s, I have only myself, one friend, and reports from these amazing MWO pioneers to go from, but the only factor that I have seen specific information on, or heard much conversation about is body mass/dosage. Have you read Dr. Ameison's book? And "Zenstyle's Baclofen Log" is an awesome thread that has tons of info. I'll bump it for you in case you haven't seen it.

I recently was asked to intervene for the daughter of a friend who was in a critical state (all day vodka-drinking, abusing anti-anxiety meds, etc.). I was quite concerned about introducing bac into that scenario, and fortunately she agreed to a 5-day medical de-tox. After that she started the bac and has had fabulous results, including - she has voluntarily stopped using prescribed anti-anxiety meds! I don't know your drinking status, but if its something like hers, could you consider a supervised de-tox in order to give the bac some room to work? Just askin'.

My totally unscientific, subjective observation of all that I have read, seen and experienced is that baclofen cannot strong-arm us into sobriety, and it needs to be treated with respect. I have found that it is possible for my physical/mental/emotional habits to override the new possibilities that bac introduced into my nervous systems. Fortunately, I have many, many tools that I can use, now that the craving to drink is gone. If you look through all of the bac threads here, I think you'll see that others have also discovered that the bac gives us an opportunity to learn how to heal.

I am on-my-knees grateful for that. And I wish it with all my heart for you.

[Lo0p]

Baclofen Dosage

Virgil (the lucky bastard) is under the care and supervision of an addiction specialist who is very experienced in treating alcoholism with baclofen.

[RedThread12]

Baclofen Dosage

Does that mean sharing my experience isn't helpful to him?

[Lo0p]

Baclofen Dosage

RedThread12;781589 wrote: Does that mean sharing my experience isn't helpful to him?

Hey now...don't get your feathers all ruffled here. :l Everybody's experience is invaluable. I just happen to know V pretty well. He's going to do exactly as his doctor tells him, I think....

:sorry:

[tiptronic_ct]

Baclofen Dosage

RedThread12;781589 wrote: Does that mean sharing my experience isn't helpful to him?

Your experiences are definitely helpful.

Virgil is probably gathering information in order to know what to expect, whether under supervision or not.

I had the same worries, and still wonder what the hell I am up to sometimes, "playing" around with my doses and so on. The scary thing is that my psychiatrist is also encouraging me to "play" with other meds after seeing what I did with bac. But what the heck, I'll play along to find what works best.

Sorry... I started rambling off-topic for a bit...

[NC]

Baclofen Dosage

Virgil,
I am a 59 year old male, weigh 190 lbs. I have been drinking to passing out for over 20 years. I don't think I have an anxiety disorder or some other dual disorder.

I am at 120 mg per day and feel like I am close to my switch. I know others that weigh much less have required much more bac per day to get any effect. Dr. A required up to 270 mg before he hit his switch and I don't think he weighed as much as me. I think there is a wide range of effective doses and that body weight is not really a determining factor.

Good luck and keep asking questions and keep us informed of your progress.

NC

[Trixiebelle]

Baclofen Dosage

Hi Virgil,

I am a 44yo female (about 140lb or 63kg), been drinking daily and bingeing since I was about 17yo (so about 27 years) with highs and lows, depending on whats happening in my life, but never ever totally AL free. I also have underlying anxiety which fuels a lack of self confidence, hence the alcohol makes me bigger than Ben Hurr.

I have just started on 80mg of Bac and like NC feel like I am almost there.

I still have a couple of drinks per day, but if I was to go wild, I know I would suffer the next day, the Baclofen for me, exaggerates the alcohol, so a couple feels like quite a few - I get very light headed.

Everyones opinions are helpful RedThread, we are all different.

[Lo0p]

Baclofen Dosage

I remember tip saying something about a debate going on a while ago where people were talking about the speed of titration affecting the 'switch' dose...

I never found it.

Sorry again RedThread, I didn't mean for it to come out like that.

[Trixiebelle]

Baclofen Dosage

I have decided not to go to 80mg yet. I just feel so tired and light headed - a real weird feeling.

I was on 70mg, for 5 days. But am going to titrate down a bit to see how it goes.

I read on Wikipaedia that doses above 80mg are dicey due to extreme fatigue. I guess it is different in individuals. I suffered fatigue before I started, so maybe I am one who cannot go above 80mg a day without suffering. Dont know. All an experiment isnt it.

[Virgil]

Baclofen Dosage

Lo0p;781527 wrote: Virgil (the lucky bastard) is under the care and supervision of an addiction specialist who is very experienced in treating alcoholism with baclofen.

I am indeed seeing an alcohol addiction specialist. However, my current baclofen dosage is 70mg per day and, having read the consolidated baclofen threads, I am a little concerned that this dosage is lower than that at which people have experienced the 'switch'. I have been taking baclofen for three weeks during which I have slowly ramped up the dose. At present, I am not aware of any benefits from having been taking baclofen.

So, I greatly value the comments and feedback from those on the MWO forum that have been taking baclofen for a lot longer than me.

V.

[Virgil]

Baclofen Dosage

RedThread12;781512 wrote: Hi Virgil:

So good to see you here again. Re your ?'s, I have only myself, one friend, and reports from these amazing MWO pioneers to go from, but the only factor that I have seen specific information on, or heard much conversation about is body mass/dosage. Have you read Dr. Ameison's book? And "Zenstyle's Baclofen Log" is an awesome thread that has tons of info. I'll bump it for you in case you haven't seen it.

I recently was asked to intervene for the daughter of a friend who was in a critical state (all day vodka-drinking, abusing anti-anxiety meds, etc.). I was quite concerned about introducing bac into that scenario, and fortunately she agreed to a 5-day medical de-tox. After that she started the bac and has had fabulous results, including - she has voluntarily stopped using prescribed anti-anxiety meds! I don't know your drinking status, but if its something like hers, could you consider a supervised de-tox in order to give the bac some room to work? Just askin'.

My totally unscientific, subjective observation of all that I have read, seen and experienced is that baclofen cannot strong-arm us into sobriety, and it needs to be treated with respect. I have found that it is possible for my physical/mental/emotional habits to override the new possibilities that bac introduced into my nervous systems. Fortunately, I have many, many tools that I can use, now that the craving to drink is gone. If you look through all of the bac threads here, I think you'll see that others have also discovered that the bac gives us an opportunity to learn how to heal.

I am on-my-knees grateful for that. And I wish it with all my heart for you.

Hi RedThread,

Thanks for the feedback.

Yes, I have read Dr Ameisen's book but I ought to read it again.

With reference to your question "could you consider a supervised de-tox in order to give the bac some room to work?", I think that would be very difficult for me to do. I have severe anxiety (actually anxiety disorders) and the alcohol is a form of self-medication. Note that the anxiety preceded the dependence on alcohol. In fact, it was a case of cause and effect, respectively.

Regarding your comment that "Fortunately, I have many, many tools that I can use, now that the craving to drink is gone", would you care to expand on the many, many tools and what has killed off your alcohol craving?

V.

[Virgil]

Baclofen Dosage

tiptronic_ct;781650 wrote: Virgil is probably gathering information in order to know what to expect, whether under supervision or not.

Spot on, tiptronic!

V.

[Virgil]

Baclofen Dosage

NC;781754 wrote: Virgil,
I am a 59 year old male, weigh 190 lbs. I have been drinking to passing out for over 20 years. I don't think I have an anxiety disorder or some other dual disorder.

I am at 120 mg per day and feel like I am close to my switch. I know others that weigh much less have required much more bac per day to get any effect. Dr. A required up to 270 mg before he hit his switch and I don't think he weighed as much as me. I think there is a wide range of effective doses and that body weight is not really a determining factor.

Good luck and keep asking questions and keep us informed of your progress.

NC

Hi NC,

Thanks for your comments.

We have a lot in common! I am a 56 year old male and weigh 90 kg (198 lb). I do have anxiety disorders, though. Your comment about being on "120 mg per day and feel like I am close to my switch" echoes what I said above.

V.

[Virgil]

Baclofen Dosage

Trixiebelle;781773 wrote: Hi Virgil,

I am a 44yo female (about 140lb or 63kg), been drinking daily and bingeing since I was about 17yo (so about 27 years) with highs and lows, depending on whats happening in my life, but never ever totally AL free. I also have underlying anxiety which fuels a lack of self confidence, hence the alcohol makes me bigger than Ben Hurr.

I have just started on 80mg of Bac and like NC feel like I am almost there.

I still have a couple of drinks per day, but if I was to go wild, I know I would suffer the next day, the Baclofen for me, exaggerates the alcohol, so a couple feels like quite a few - I get very light headed.

Everyones opinions are helpful RedThread, we are all different.

Hi Trixiebelle,

Thanks for the feedback.

Your comment that "I also have underlying anxiety which fuels a lack of self confidence, hence the alcohol makes me bigger than Ben Hurr. I have just started on 80mg of Bac and like NC feel like I am almost there" is of particular interest to me.

V.