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**manlooking4nothing** · April 15, 2010, 06:43 AM

Have you tried baclofen and did it work for you?

Iam on 300 mg per day ,i still have craving and terribly sleepy ,iam not working right now so looks like i want to go more and more until i get the switch.

.looks like i dont have any other side effects .i have solved my sleep disorder recently and Iam happy about it .

let me know if anyone going past 300 MG,i have started a new thread for people who is doing more than 300 mg / day

https://www.mywayout.org/community/f2...tml#post835011

let me know if anyone who has gone past 300 per day .

best

**birdy02** · April 15, 2010, 07:20 AM

Have you tried baclofen and did it work for you?

Yes, it worked for me. I am 4 days past my "switch" now. The "switch" is totally real. I am in the process of writing my entire experience down. I hope to post it on a webpage tomorrow or at least before this weekend is over. I will provide a link to it for anyone who wants to read the whole thing. I will post it in forums, send some of my friends and family there and I plan to copy it and send it with a few copies of Dr. Ameisen's book to some of the doctors I have come across. The "switch" is that good. It is truly an indifference to alcohol and is nothing short of miraculous.

However, my road to reach it was without doctors and was long and rocky. I experienced some bad SE's and two overdoses and I honestly can't wait to start backing down in a few more days. It is enormously frustrating to me that there are doctors out there that know how to safely bring people to high levels of baclofen (like the neurology patients on high levels, etc) but they just haven't gotten on board with the concept that a pill can heal alcoholism. It CAN!

This is REVOLUTIONARY to the future of alcoholism. I have read various books but have never been to an AA meeting or rehab but I am TOTALLY not interested in drinking alcohol. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with AA or rehab as they would have been where I would have gone next if Bac hadn't worked.

This little out-of-patent pill changes everything. Once the medical industry gets on board with this, alcoholism will become like any other treatable disease. Once you realize you have a problem you go to a doctor, get treated, and go on with your life. As for taking medicine for the rest of your life, the other alternative is to have cravings to drink poison the rest of your life. It's like a diabetic taking insulin the rest of your life - you are only supplying a chemical that your body needs to maintain a "normal" chemical balance.

Oh-well, I'm getting on my soap-box and I really need to be writing up my experiences!

I plan to do what I can to "shout it from the rooftops" to get the medical industry to take note and start helping people get cured.

Again, I am so grateful to the people here that have posted their trials and success - it is because of you all that I have had the hope and encouragement to endure the road to freedom.

Kelly

**tm1210** · April 15, 2010, 07:29 AM

Have you tried baclofen and did it work for you?

2 things I think need to be added to this thread or the other one...

1.Maintainence does and how long they've been on it.
2.Alcohol abuse level when the Bac was started.

IMO I don't think its much use one person saying I hit the switch at 80mg and another sayat 230mg if you don't know what theyre alcohol intake was at the time.

**tm1210** · April 15, 2010, 07:34 AM

Have you tried baclofen and did it work for you?

birdy02;837709 wrote:

This little out-of-patent pill changes everything. Once the medical industry gets on board with this, alcoholism will become like any other treatable disease. Once you realize you have a problem you go to a doctor, get treated, and go on with your life. As for taking medicine for the rest of your life, the other alternative is to have cravings to drink poison the rest of your life. It's like a diabetic taking insulin the rest of your life - you are only supplying a chemical that your body needs to maintain a "normal" chemical balance.

Kelly

Great post. I'm a bit sceptical about taking meds for the rest of my life but like you say alot of poeple are doing it and some are on alot worse. Some doctors hand out Benzos like theyre sweets.

**Jenn** · April 15, 2010, 07:47 AM

Have you tried baclofen and did it work for you?

Thanks, Virgil, for your persistence in trying to get a comprhensive picture of how bac is working for us. Thanks, Kelly, for providing HOPE again...

copy from my post on the bac SE thread: Is anyone else having serious vertigo? I am weaving when I walk, and worried about falling. I live alone, & try to always keep my phone on me, but if I break a hip or something...
My first try with bac I slowly got to 90mg, then started having vertigo, went on up to 120mg (over a couple of weeks) and stayed there for 2 weeks with no reduction of the vertigo. Then I realized I was going to run out (big miscalculation!).
This time I titrated up faster, was at 150mg on day 16. After speaking with Dr LeVin, I backed down to first 130mg, and now 100mg. All taken in 3 doses/day. The damned vertigo is still so bad...

Be Well All,
Jenn

**christyacc** · April 15, 2010, 07:58 AM

Have you tried baclofen and did it work for you?

Jenn,

I have vertigo. It is very uncomfortable. I feel like I AM drunk. I am not working right now and just titrating up and persevering. It is tough because last night my husband asked if I was drinking....I was not pleased but thrilled to reply I wasn't!!!

**Virgil** · April 15, 2010, 10:32 AM

Have you tried baclofen and did it work for you?

tm1210;837712 wrote: 2 things I think need to be added to this thread or the other one...

1.Maintainence does and how long they've been on it.
2.Alcohol abuse level when the Bac was started.

IMO I don't think its much use one person saying I hit the switch at 80mg and another sayat 230mg if you don't know what theyre alcohol intake was at the time.

Hi tm1210,

Thanks for the suggestions.

I think both of the above would be more appropriate on the https://www.mywayout.org/community/f2...oll-39548.html thread. I say this because the Baclofen Dosage 'Poll' thread is geared towards those that have hit the 'switch' and your suggestions are relevant to those people. What say you?

V.

**Virgil** · April 15, 2010, 10:37 AM

Have you tried baclofen and did it work for you?

manlooking4nothing;837684 wrote: Iam on 300 mg per day ,i still have craving and terribly sleepy ,iam not working right now so looks like i want to go more and more until i get the switch.

.looks like i dont have any other side effects .i have solved my sleep disorder recently and Iam happy about it .

let me know if anyone going past 300 MG,i have started a new thread for people who is doing more than 300 mg / day

https://www.mywayout.org/community/f2...tml#post835011

let me know if anyone who has gone past 300 per day .

best

Hi ml4n,

Thanks for the feedback.

I hope you get the response you're looking for.

V.

**Virgil** · April 15, 2010, 10:56 AM

Have you tried baclofen and did it work for you?

birdy02;837709 wrote: Yes, it worked for me. I am 4 days past my "switch" now. The "switch" is totally real. Kelly

Hi Kelly,

Good news!

Would you also be kind enough to respond to the https://www.mywayout.org/community/f2...oll-39548.html thread? In response to tm1210's suggestions, any chance that you could also provide on the Baclofen Dosage 'Poll' thread:

[1] Maintenance dose and how long you've been on it. Perhaps it's too early for you to say but, if you don't mind, perhaps you could edit your post once you're at this stage.
[2] Your alcohol abuse level, e.g. how many units per day and for how long (months/years) had you been consuming this many units? Please let us know if these are UK or USA or some other units.

Congratulations!

V.

**Virgil** · April 15, 2010, 11:09 AM

Have you tried baclofen and did it work for you?

Jenn;837720 wrote: Thanks, Virgil, for your persistence in trying to get a comprhensive picture of how bac is working for us.

Hi Jenn,

Thanks for your kind words.

I do like to get at the facts. That way, we can all make an informed decision about the choices we make in life.

V.

**tm1210** · April 15, 2010, 11:18 AM

Have you tried baclofen and did it work for you?

Virgil;837806 wrote: Hi tm1210,

Thanks for the suggestions.

I think both of the above would be more appropriate on the https://www.mywayout.org/community/f2...oll-39548.html thread. I say this because the Baclofen Dosage 'Poll' thread is geared towards those that have hit the 'switch' and your suggestions are relevant to those people. What say you?

V.

Sounds good to me mate. Its just that some members might be drinking a litre of vodka a day others 5 beers and others binging ever few days.

**eight days a week** · April 19, 2010, 08:00 AM

Have you tried baclofen and did it work for you?

A great thread! And also many thanks from me for your persistence in trying to get an overall idea of the success rate with Baclofen Virgil

I'd also find it useful if people could indicate roughly how much and how long they drank for, as well as bodyweight. I appreciate that that's already covered in the Baclofen Dosage Poll (and it'd be really helpful if people would post there too) but I find it's good to have as much info in one place as possible.

I'll watch this and the other thread with great interest! I'm currently on 95mg daily, having to titrate very slowly indeed, and haven't hit the switch yet. 65kg.

Ah I think I've missed the point! This thread's meant to totally run in tandem with/compliment the Baclofen Dosage Poll. Please then ignore my points on that

**Brave Hearted** · April 19, 2010, 09:25 AM

Have you tried baclofen and did it work for you?

Hi all I am happy to join in this one. I have been on bac since last Aug I tirated uo to 120 to 140 mg and then tirated down to 50 mg as i remember my trigger happened at about 100mg but I continued up but could not go any hihger than I did.

My drinking was more on the binge side, drinking untill I blacked out, which varied from the odd drink to 2/3 bottles of wine 3/4 times a week and wrecked my life as I am a nasty drunk ( not proud of it). I drank for over 30 years.

I now mod and have the odd couple of drinks now and again but al no longer dominates my thought and I can walk away and not wreck my life. I now control al it does not control me and even when I am upset I dont reach for a drink which was my pattern before. I was thinking about it today I am just not that bothered bout al any more I have a few social drinks and have on a couple of occassions had one to many but I no longer blackout or get that buzz that made me want to drink till I dropped. All in all a fantastic result for me from in my opinion a fantastic drug !

Know this not a very comprehensive answer but in a rush feel free to ask any questions.

Life is great BH x

**billyb** · April 19, 2010, 11:34 AM

Have you tried baclofen and did it work for you?

I started bac sporadically in December of 2008, started it for real in Jan '09, and hit the switch by about late February '09 at 150mg.

I stayed there for a few months, and then slowly started reducing the dose over the past 12 months.

I'm now at 60mg a day.

I was not a blackout binge drinker, but I was a heavy everyday drinker, minimum 5 drinks, up to about 10. Rarely more than that. Going a night without a drink was torture - debilitating anxiety, short temper, sleepless nights.

I'm not AF now, but I drink a single beer or glass of wine everyday with dinner. I never feel the urge to drink a second glass.

Side effects on the way up often made me sleepy or disoriented, sometimes to the point of not being comfortable driving. Once I started reducing my dose after hitting the switch, side effects completely disappeared.

In short, baclofen has been a complete success for me, and having gone more than a year now without craving alcohol, the old me seems like a completely different person. It's been a life-saver.

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