Can baclofen help a sober alcoholic?

[gratitude]

Can baclofen help a sober alcoholic?

great question! i've been wondering this also. been sober coming up on 3 years just on AA and rehab. of course i cannot lie- i wonder if i could ever drink like a normal person? the obsession of every alcoholic i think. i have changed everything about my life. i have lost 35 lbs. and i do endurance cycling. changed all my friends,don't go to bars, get so much done its incredible,but... i am lacking in a social life now. i haven't gone on a date in 3 years. hard to imagine going on a date and not drinking red wine or a beer. my life is wonderful now and i don't want to go back to the hell. just can't seem to cross this next threshold and am getting worried that this is as good as it gets. could someone actually turn from a pickle back into a cucumber. even in AA's big book it says "science may one day accomplish this.." anyway, keep us posted. gratitude

[beatle]

Can baclofen help a sober alcoholic?

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and insights, OTW. And very well put.

I cannot imagine you would be banned for that post.

[beatle]

Can baclofen help a sober alcoholic?

I'll go even further. (And I'm pretty sure I won't get banned for this, because MWO is definitely not an RG (Recovery Group), and not judgmental).

For those of you who don't feel like clicking on the link posted (and who could blame you? All we need is to add to our MWO internet time, right?), here is the first part of the text in the link, edited by me for brevity and clarity. (No words have been changed -- just some sentences removed to make it shorter and easier to read.):

Recovery Group Disorders

Recovery Group Disorders Are Real
? Copright 2004, Jack Trimpey

The recovery group is an invention of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), a quasi-religious, identity-change organization which:

1. Conflicts sharply with all of the world's great religions.

2. Contradicts sound, traditional concepts of mental health.

3. Violates ethical standards of the trusted helping professions.

4. Contradicts moral intuition and original family values.

5. Denies the founding concept of human civilization, free will.

6. Creates dependence upon the fellowship that evolves among addicted people. 

7. Sets forth as truth the beliefs and perceptions common to addicted people. 

8. Claims universality and exclusive effectiveness.

It is important to understand that AA is not the problem, but only the name given in our society to the Fellowship of Addiction. Drunks, lushes, junkies, and other substance abusers naturally gravitate toward each other, for they share a common priority in life, and they have the same perceptions and experiences with which to form a common bond. (editor's note: this is what MWO is).

When I condemn AA or Al-Anon as harmful influences, I am truly condemning the broad social and political coalition that has formed to defend addicted people against the moral injunction to immediately and permanently cease and desist from the act of self-intoxication. That coalition would better be called the Fellowship of the Beast than Alcoholics Anonymous, or its numerous, anonymous clones, but for our purposes it is better to stick to the real world, where AA dominates our entire social service system with its disabling, addiction-preserving practices and doctrines.

For every person present at an AA meeting, there are a thousand absent who dropped out for various reasons. Did they all die of addictions? Are they miserable dry drunks? Hardly. Self-recovery is far more commonplace than recovery in RG's. About 80% of all who actually defeat their addictions do it without RG's or addiction treatment.

Recovery groups do not produce abstinence. Abstinence simply means not drinking alcohol or using drugs. When people stop intoxicating themselves, they stop causing the related problems, and their other problems become manageable.

“Sobriety,“ however, means between drinks, between fixes, between binges. Groupers rarely mention abstinence, preferring the forgiving terms, “sobriety,” "serenity," or "rationality." When people do abstain, it is tentative, and the recovery group takes credit. When people "relapse," the group accepts no responsibility.

[corkit]

Can baclofen help a sober alcoholic?

All I can say that MWO should extend the period of time to write a response without deleting and starting over.

Ok onthewagon, I'm happy for you that you now have freedom from AL. There are those that drink for escapism and others that drink to they die. At one time medical Pro's thought that giving someone some of the disease cure them was insane but where would we be without polio vacination? AL is a disease whether you agree or not and meds like vacines can do help. I am so happy for you that you are free but I do have HOPE that I didn't hear in your post that God did lead me here to find the escape.

Good luck and please stay and post
corkit

[beatle]

Can baclofen help a sober alcoholic?

Cork, I think you may have misunderstood on thewagon's post. She writes:

"I also know that I am the only one responsible for the decision to stay sober. Not some made up higher power, not my God, not "working a good program" not anyone but me."

I think she is just saying that we have the responsibility to get and stay abstinent, and a RG group is not going to do it for you. You have to do it yourself.

I think that's what MWO is all about. Finding our own way... whether it be holistic healing, support from each other, medication... whatever works, we find it ourselves.

I know that a number of people on these boards find solace in AA, and attend meetings regularly for the personal contact and support. But I believe most of them are not indoctrinated and do not follow the 12-step programme.

[beatle]

Can baclofen help a sober alcoholic?

Cork, if you click the "remember me" box next your user name, MWO won't ever log you out while you are on the site.

If you don't want the login to be permanent, just log out (all the way to the right on the top bar) after you are done. Then you will have to login every time you go to MWO, and put a check in the "remember me" box, and (if you want to) logout at the end of the session. If you don't log out at the end of the session, you don't have to log in again when you go back to MWO. It will always remember you when you go to the page, even if you have exited and turned off your computer.

[corkit]

Can baclofen help a sober alcoholic?

Sorry onthewagon, I didn't understand your post and no wonder you didn't understand mine.

Thanks beatle for the help I had to re-write my post 3 times and by the third time of frustration what I wrote really didn't make sense to me either!

[Cinders]

Can baclofen help a sober alcoholic?

I'm out of here.

[beatle]

Can baclofen help a sober alcoholic?

Cinders;838646 wrote: I'm out of here.

what does that mean? It sounds worrisome! Are you ok?

[eight days a week]

Can baclofen help a sober alcoholic?

beatle;838679 wrote: what does that mean? It sounds worrisome! Are you ok?

It sounds like Cinders is fed up with the anti AA posts on here.

Imho it's very much worth remembering that using Baclofen to stay AF and attending AA aren't mutually exclusive.

Didn't the founder of AA himself anticipate a medical solution to alcoholism one day?

And isn't the surest way to get treatments like Bac gaining wider acceptance (and thus perhaps eventually becoming the frontline treatment?) to make it inclusive rather than what might be seen as a confrontation to other methods?

I'm certain there's a place on the forum for a debate about AA and other similar recovery groups, I just don't personally think this thread is it...

Peace out

eight

[Cinders]

Can baclofen help a sober alcoholic?

Thank you eight days a week,

You pegged it.

Love,
Cindi

[beatle]

Can baclofen help a sober alcoholic?

beatle;838476 wrote: I know that a number of people on these boards find solace in AA, and attend meetings regularly for the personal contact and support. But I believe most of them are not indoctrinated and do not follow the 12-step programme.

This (above) is what I wrote.

I don't think I condemned people for going to AA meetings. I think I made it clear that I don't. I certainly never said medication and AA were mutually exclusive.

I only meant this, in fact, as an expression of that confidence in, and respect for, the people here who do go to those meetings and do find solace in them.

We go wherever we can to help us overcome what has crippled us all.

And I know AA has helped many people who also pursue their own way out.

[Cinders]

Can baclofen help a sober alcoholic?

Beatle,

I know your personal feelings about AA and your understanding of those that choose to use them as a resource.

It was the title "TYPICAL SIGNS OF RECOVERY GROUP DISORDER" and then the spewing of misinformation that followed that upset me greatly.

I have a disorder. It is called alcoholism.

I do not need to be labeled with any more. I abhor arrogance. "My way is the right way."

It is so funny. In my AA group, they often talk of friends that have found sobriety through other methods and state that AA is not the only way. A lot of understanding and acceptance abounds.

Here at MWO, I expect the same regard.

Apparently not from many here.

I will just tuck into the Monthly ABs threads from now on.

I simply cannot afford to get upset. I am doing well right now despite the fact that I cannot get enough Baclofen to switch off.

Oh, and my AA friends think it is great that there are meds to help. They have no issue with me using Baclofen.

Apparently some here have issue with those of us who use AA.

Sorry, still venting.

You know I respect and care about you Beatle. We are kindred drunks. We will beat this.

Love,
Cindi

[corkit]

Can baclofen help a sober alcoholic?

Cindi please don't leave, hey we're all in this nightmare and if AA is where you're finding help that is great!! I know a lot of people who have been sober for a long time and give all the credit for going to AA. This sickness is not a one size fits all some get free with the help of AA and others from Nal or BAC but you're smart to follow what fits you the best.

How high are you on BAC? What is happening with the SE?

[gratitude]

Can baclofen help a sober alcoholic?

actually, i will call you out. i think you are being a bit heavy handed and judgemental. perhaps you need to take a look at the glasses you wear instead of calling people out.just because you don't believe in something is no reason to believe it won't work for others. you don't know if i believe in a higher power,am an agnostic or an atheist. you don't know my level of involvement in AA. if i wasn't open minded i wouldn't be on a board called MY way out. i don't think you have a monopoly on a cure. if something works for you then i applaud it and you.i think you might be a bit blind yourself.but that is cool because we all have blind spots and we get to work on those. you know the saying "you spot it you got it". in your response to my post you said i was brainwashed, living in fear. etc. then you go on to say in a following post that that you don't judge individuals? really you don't know anything about me and my opinions on alcoholism and its causes or cures. perhaps if you researched my posts you would come to the conclusion that i am open minded to whatever works and this includes just not drinking, medication, exercise, aa, hangin' with other sober people on a board or in real life,doing whatever works, and a combination of all these. if you would like to know more about me please ask. but suspend the i know what works and its only this. perhaps its not your message of rational recovery that gets you banned but your approach. and i do not resent you in any way. p.s. this is an honest question not a put down. do you take bac or do tsm? does it work for you? if not and you just "don't put alcohol to your mouth why are you here? gratitude