41 year old Female Reaches Baclofen Switch at 270mg

[birdy02]

Hi All. I have been lurking on here every now and then for quite some time. I reached my Baclofen switch on April 11, 2010 (after 5 months of Baclofen) and have made a few posts since then. My Baclofen journey was not easy. I did not have a doctor's advice but the end result has made the journey entirely worth it.

There were times when I started to lose hope or just got frustrated and I would get back on this forum and read about others successes and I would find myself inspired to try anew. I want to return the favor by posting my experience with Baclofen. I want to be able to let others not make the same mistakes I made and I want to provide encouragement that the switch is real and worth the troublesome side effects (assuming your particular side effects are not extreme or hazardous - like driving for a living while being terrible sleepy).

Anyway, I wrote a long page about it so I put it on a webpage. It is too fluffy and needs some further refining but I will edit it more when I get time. I just want to put it out here in case there is any interest.

I'd be more than happy to answer any questions and help in any way I can.

How High Dose Baclofen Cured My Alcoholism

Kelly

PS I'm not a professional web designer so please let me know if there are problems getting to or viewing the page!

[Doggygirl]

41 year old Female Reaches Baclofen Switch at 270mg

Thank you for sharing your detailed story. The prescription drug options scare the daylights out of me (it's a personal phobia I have about drugs - nothing anyone else should share!). BUT...I am all for any solution to alcoholism that works for even one person. The early success with Baclofen is so encouraging and people like you are brave and charting new waters!

I read all this with interest and I'm quite sure your sharing will help people. I hope you will keep us posted about your continues progress with sobriety. I hope this works for you in the long haul!

DG

[christyacc]

41 year old Female Reaches Baclofen Switch at 270mg

Dear Kelly....

Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking the time and sharing your Bac 'adventure' with us. I read and really identified with the vertigo and restless leg syndrome. I really didn't put any thought into it, but the RLS has been so much worse having reached higher doses of bac.

I have really had some second thoughts about whether or not to keep plugging away with Bac, but after reading your story....I will persevere. I will titrate a little slower, but I can notice a huge difference in desire. I was going to stop and get my husband beer a couple days ago, and well I didn't. Normally I would have spun tires getting to the beer store, lol.

Thank you for sharing and thank you for keeping me going.

[gratitude]

41 year old Female Reaches Baclofen Switch at 270mg

bravo kelly! i am so happy for you. thank you for sharing your story. gratitude.

[FallonsMom]

41 year old Female Reaches Baclofen Switch at 270mg

this gives me hope

[tiptronic_ct]

41 year old Female Reaches Baclofen Switch at 270mg

Thanks for sharing your story, Kelly.

You've just given me an idea. I'd like to hear what the others think as well.

The posts on MWO tend to get lost because it is in the form of a discussion forum, so individual stories tend to get lost. I don't think most of the people posting on the meds threads would even remember my own experience, about which I posted extensively at the time.

What I like about your story is that it is a very personal account, without adornment. The plain text format is also good, IMHO.

Just a suggestion, if you are the owner of that domain name: you could consider starting an index page (NOT a home page in the traditional sense), with links to the stories of others who have made it with the help of baclofen. I am 8 months sober today, and I still cannot get over the sense of disbelief that this is ME, I DID it. If my story can bring some inspiration to others, I would gladly share it.

BUT: I will NOT be associated with a site where individuals try to hog the limelight for themselves or start having things like banner ads for online pharmacies on their sites.

I'm envisaging something simple: just a repository of experiences where we can from time to time add an update on our progress. It is one thing to stop drinking, it is quite another to track ongoing progress.

I would be more than happy to assist, of course. Part of my professional life involves the internet and web publishing. I just don't have the capacity to do something like this all by myself.

Comments?

[PhoenixRising]

41 year old Female Reaches Baclofen Switch at 270mg

Wow, Kelly!

I can't thank you enough for this. I got up to 180mg and decided to get off Bac because I had the shallow breathing scare that you describe. I recently decided to give it another go and I am so encouraged by what you describe. I am taking Pacifen from inhousepharmacy.com and I do believe some have said it is not as strong as the Lioresal.

God bless you Kelly, you give me hope.

-P.

[Cinders]

41 year old Female Reaches Baclofen Switch at 270mg

Many, many heartfelt thank yous!!

Cindi

[Henrietta]

41 year old Female Reaches Baclofen Switch at 270mg

Go Birdy!

Well done Birdy and welcome to the other side! I hit my switch on February 11th and I can honestly say that date will forever be significant, kind of like a new birthday.

Having said that, it's not all marshmallows and marzipan (as my old literature prof used to say). For my part, I discovered that I still have to deal with personal issues, not to mention the serious results that x number of years of drinking had left in my life. When I tirated down to 50 mg, my cravings came back and I had to quickly re-examine my expectations and my game plan. I was able to tirate back up, right my course and stay sober. As you know, there is a wealth of information here and very smart, experienced people. Checking in with folks helped me immeasurably. We're here for you!!

Tiptronic...The idea of having a success stories/progress page is excellent. That's my comment, but anything we can do to help, pls advise.

Henrietta

[Doggygirl]

41 year old Female Reaches Baclofen Switch at 270mg

Tiptronic, I hope you don't mind me venturing into this area of the forum again to wish you a hearty congratulations on 8 months sober. Every day of freedom from AL experienced by people like all of us is a day to behold.

DG

[tryagain]

41 year old Female Reaches Baclofen Switch at 270mg

Thanks very much for publishing your story Kelly.

I am on my second attempt at bac and wondering on a daily basis if I am on the right track. Your post has given my hope to continue.

I hope to be able to write a similar success story in a short time.

[gratitude]

41 year old Female Reaches Baclofen Switch at 270mg

tip, congrats on 8 months. great idea for a website. i was thinking of the same thing when i saw dr. a's website and he didn't have any cured patients on video. maybe a before and after deal. i just thought that would be powerful. i think i poached that idea from bill p. whatever happened to him. he was going to start a website..

[4MyHealth]

41 year old Female Reaches Baclofen Switch at 270mg

Regarding the Balcofen "switch": is there a "Topomax "switch"? I'm at 50 mg and really afraid to go up to 75. plus I ordered online and it took forever (it seemed to arrive and now I don't have too much left, don't want to up my dosage and then run out). Advice?

[birdy02]

41 year old Female Reaches Baclofen Switch at 270mg

Thanks so much to everybody for your kind comments!

Tiptronic, your idea about a website of success stories is a great one. I think that would be incredibly helpful to anyone considering or taking baclofen.

I own the domain and have it hosted on my Hostgator account as an add-on domain. I am relatively new to web-hosting and websites. I only have two active websites and they are pretty simple in the sense that they have no viewer interaction. I have no formal training in this area. I know how to set up an index page which could have a list of everybody's "name" and links to their own personal page but I don't know how to set up something where they could go and update their own page. I could add pages and updates if they are sent to me. I don't know - let me know what you have in mind.

I agree, no commercialism. This is strictly to help others get well. I certainly don't mind putting time into this. I also don't mind giving the domain and my story to anyone else who has a clear vision of what they want a website to look like and how they want it to function. Nor do I mind handing a password over to one or two people who want to work on it (I'm assuming there is a way to do that without giving access to my entire account??).

Anyway, gotta get to sleep! Thanks Everyone!

[tom4now]

41 year old Female Reaches Baclofen Switch at 270mg

Really inspiring!!

I really liked your thorough experience of taking Baclofen...it is really well done and what I felt was really great about yours is that you really shared many details which made it so much more real...I think these kinds of shared stories of personal experiences really help us all out so much....particularly since we are all ground breakers in what we are treating this for and for the high dosages we Baclofen we are having to take. .I?m having so much trouble with side effects...that I am almost giving up...its a terrible feeling to think my body can not handle this medication...I am so tired of my alcoholism and the life you lose in it all...still trying...when I was still drinking I could handle the side effects...but as soon as I stopped they got so intolerable...it makes me feel for me and maybe others it may be something about still moderate drinking is ok to lessen the side effects till one hits the switch?I found right away as soon as went on Baclofen my drinking was cut back right away...I?m not suggesting this for anyone but I did notice from my own self and reading Dr. Ameisons book he too drank as he titrated up...and you said you too drank some as well on your journey...anyway it was really helpful to read your web page!!!

Totally happy for you!
Awesome!