My Baclofen Experience

[Sunnyvalenting]

My Baclofen Experience

moglor,
Because of its mode of action a hangover would be expected to be worse on baclofen.
Good luck.
Sunny

[Phoenix1]

My Baclofen Experience

Moglar,you are super intelligent and have an incredible gift of expressiveness.
Please write a book.

Cheers Phoenix.

[Phoenix1]

My Baclofen Experience

I just hope you are legit,it did crossy mind.

[moglor]

My Baclofen Experience

Hi Phoenix1,

Thanks for the compliment! I enjoy writing, and I've often thought about writing fiction, but I'm not sure that I'm ready to write about my experiences with alcohol beyond what I've written in posts here. I guess I'm not really sure what I'd say.

I'm not sure what you mean by "legit." I am just a normal guy with a serious drinking problem. Does that count?

-Moglor

[moglor]

My Baclofen Experience

Hi All,

It's been awhile, although my last post says Sept 4th, it seems like forever. I must confess that I've fallen off the wagon, went off the rails on the crazy train, crashed the melon cart.

I started out on Aug 22 reducing my bac dosage to 75mg to see what happened. Well, on Aug 24, I drank 8 beers. Just felt like it, was out with friends at a BBQ. On Aug 28, I drank 4 beers, but I got distracted and only took 50mg. On Aug 29, I got plastered, 13 beers, but took 75mg again. That was the beginning of the end. since 8/29 I have been caught up in a spiral of terrible depression and alcohol.

From Sep 2 to Sep 10, I tried as hard as I could to drink myself into Oblivion. I don't really know what came over me. I do know I took some bac during that phase, but not much. I went to work, but I didn't do much. I was very hungover all the time, just like it was prior to starting bac. I stopped eating, which was scary. I ate a very light lunch every couple days, but focused on drinking beer. I stopped going to the gym too.

On the 12th, I returned to my senses and realized I'd made a colossal mess of things, and ramped back up to 100mg. Too little too late though, I'm having a really hard time with the cravings now.

I'm going to ramp back up, might go higher than I was at previously, see if I can hit "the switch" in a more definitive way. I had to order more bac, which arrived without incident, but oddly this batch arrived with a customs tag and an actual signed prescription. Crazy.

Figure I'll use my first name now. You guys have seen enough of me for a little familiarity, right?

-John Moglor

[Cinders]

My Baclofen Experience

John,

It is "funny" how when we are drinking we "forget" to take our Baclofen.

I have actually put the dosage into a pill minder on my phone so I can't forget no matter what.

Keep us posted as you titrate back up and let us know how it goes.

Meanwhile, I am sticking with it and going up slowly to avoid suffering the SEs that are so scary, which for me is sleep paralysis and blurred vision.

However, those SEs are nowhere near as bad as the SEs I suffer from drinking.

Hang in there.

Cindi

[moglor]

My Baclofen Experience

It is funny, Cindi! Part of it (for me) is that I wake up too late to take my morning dose, or feel too ill to take a pill I know is going to have some physiological effects.

But, I'm sure a lot of it is the just the demon addiction wiring my brain to say DO NOTHING BUT DRINK UNTIL I AM SATISFIED.

What a pain in the ass this whole thing is. What a bizarre situation to be in! I don't WANT to drink! I don't care for how it makes me feel, I certainly don't care for the aftereffects, but it's a compulsion that just will not rest. Sigh.

-John

[Cinders]

My Baclofen Experience

John,

But, I'm sure a lot of it is the just the demon addiction wiring my brain to say DO NOTHING BUT DRINK UNTIL I AM SATISFIED.

I know it is that way for me, too. Unfortunately, at this point in my drinking career, "I can't get no, satisfaction." I drink until I can't get anymore.

My poor body and brain are whacked by this drug.

It is a huge pain in the ass. Let's beat it.

Keep working on the Baclofen but also keep working on the other areas. We have to find other choices that give us some satisfaction in life. Otherwise, why keep trying? I see many sober people who lived long lives as addicts, who are happy and satisfied.

I am determined to be one of them.

My goal is AF and happy.

Cindi

[muchthought]

My Baclofen Experience

Hi Cinders and Moglor,

You both commented on not taking the Bac when wanting to drink.. this was a major revelation to me a month ago.

I have been on Bac for 10 months now I would say, just so waffly about stopping drinking. Something in me changed and realized I just better take the Bac and drink or I won't take the Bac. This is the reverse of what I hear some people on this forum do, but for me if I want to drink I won't take the Bac.

So, I just slowly titrate up, I mean REALLY slowly, weeks at a time, and I just take the Bac but tell myself I can still drink. Sure enough, my drinking is decreasing.. I am at 60mg and drink half as much. I even stopped taking Bac just to see, and immediately I was back to my normal drinking levels.

I have followed both of your journeys and am grateful from the bottom of my heart to both of you for sharing. Hang in there, the fight is almost over. I really think so!

Much

[moglor]

My Baclofen Experience

Thanks for the comments, Much!

One thing I've learned from this whole ordeal is that I think I need some external help. I have redoubled my efforts to convince myself to speak to my doctor and try to find a psychotherapist skilled in addiction cases. Whether this maps to actually doing it or not is anyone's guess at this point.

-John

[Sunnyvalenting]

My Baclofen Experience

One of the determinants of more likely success is a period of abstinence along with the medical and psychological support to replace the alcohol reward system with more healthy, often less intense but quite satisfying rewards. It takes time. I believe we learn something even with the problem of relapse.
the smoker who eventually quits "for good" usually has attempted several times and "failed". This may reflect their determination to keep plugging away at the problem.
If at all possible try to be totally AF. Put that as a daily goal as you titrate up. Eevery drink reinforces the exact opposite of your goal IMO.
I am sober for 8 months on Baclofen. I have titrated down to 15 mg at bedtime. Occasional thought of alcohol but no ingestion and no plan to even test the "cure". No need or point to risk it.

[Sunnyvalenting]

My Baclofen Experience

Another comment:
It seems you did not stay at your AF dose for very long. I was advised to plan to be on Bac for at least 6 months. I wonder if it would be good to reach your switch level and stay there AF for 60 days to really allow your brain to rewire away from the reinforcement of AL.
Each of us is different. I wish you all the best.
Sunny

[RedThread12]

My Baclofen Experience

Hi John: Sounds as if you've got yourself into a bit of a mess. No judgment there, just trying to put myself in your shoes regarding the erratic patterns of baclofen and drinking. Have you considered talking to Dr. Levine in Chicago? Maybe he could help you out with a protocol for how to get from where you are to where you want to be. In all honesty, your story sounds a little scary to me at this point. It's not just about bad SE's or not being able to get AF. Seems much more complicated and this might be a good time to, yes, pursue outside help in the way of counseling, but also to get outside help regarding baclofen.

Here's a link to the post Corkit made with his contact information: https://www.mywayout.org/community/f2...sen-41531.html

Good luck!

[Isolde]

My Baclofen Experience

Sunnyvalenting;958706 wrote: One of the determinants of more likely success is a period of abstinence along with the medical and psychological support to replace the alcohol reward system with more healthy, often less intense but quite satisfying rewards.

Hi Sunny, could you elaborate a bit on the idea of replacing alcohol with more healthy rewards? This definitely sounds like something I need to implement as I attempt to get to an AF period with bac.

:thanks:

[Sunnyvalenting]

My Baclofen Experience

Isolde,
What this means is that the addicted drinker's life has become all about alcohol. None of the normal joys of life such as friendship, love, sex, meaningful work or activity (all of which are often long range in their reward payoff) can substitute for the immediate need for alcohol. Once abstinent, by whatever means, one can learn how to be happy without alcohol. It takes awhile and feels awkward at first, but slowly the old pattern and neural wiring are replaced by the normal fun things of life. This has been shown to be actual remodeling of the brain at least to some extent. The newly abstinent should use their newfound independence from alcohol to develop new hobbies, fall in love (again?), get on a health kick, take a class, get a job, write a book, help a friend, or follow their healthy bliss wherever it legitimately takes them! It is just the simple substitution of healthy wholesome habits for nasty destructive ones. Risk taking and success in one area (becoming AF) leads to the opportunity for more appropriate risk taking and success in others. All pleasurable experiences can be reinforcing through the same neuro pathway that alcohol once dominated.
For example since I quit drinking I have started to go regularly to the gym and have lost a fair amount of weight. I have also done a lot more of my fun hobbies and am much more productive in my work life. My friends trust me now after 8 months to show up sober. That trust in and of itself is reinforcing as is the pleasure of the events.
A grateful heart helps as it lets one see the possibilities. It helps to not be depressed and if depression is present it should be treated along with the chemical dependency.
What is your current situation?