My Baclofen Experience

[terryk]

My Baclofen Experience

Hey Mog, it's really good to see you here and I'm glad that things are working a bit better for you.

This study Combination of Naltrexone and Baclofen for Alcohol Dependence:A Pilot Study. - Full Text View - ClinicalTrials.gov, completed a while ago. Look for the findings to be published soon (the baclofen dose is low and it's not TSM for sure, but it may be worth something).

I have used naltrexone in the past as a participant in 2 drug studies. I was in it for the money only and not looking to stop drinking. The nal definitely worked to make drinking annoyingly unpleasurable, so I know it works for that. Good luck and thanks for the update. -tk

[Bruunhilde]

My Baclofen Experience

Thanks for the info Mog, I'm considering doing this very seriously.

Those are high doses of bac all at once, do you have side effects or did you at one time? I would be flat on my face with that kind of dose. I think. I guess if you're only drinking 1-3 units a day, then SEs are much more tolerable. Good stuff to think on.

:thanks:

[moglor]

My Baclofen Experience

I'm around 50mg/day, 25 in the morning and 25 before bed for baclofen. I did high dose baclofen for a lon g time, so this is nothing. It's mostly for anxiety at this point. I might look at switching to ativan or something, but for now this is OK. More later. Too tired now.

[RudyB]

My Baclofen Experience

heya mog. things sound good on your end. the drinking is very much improved - that's fantastic! thanks for checking back, it's always nice to hear from you.

i'm a big grump tonight so shall sign off and hope a good night's sleep will revive my cheer.

love,
rudy

[moglor]

My Baclofen Experience

Hi All,

Back in the saddle here. Looks like it's been an eventful few months on MWO! Last time I posted I'd been taking Naltrexone along with bac. The Nal had an unintended consequence - the gym became a theatre of torment. Blocking the "enjoyment" of alcohol blocked the crap out of the endorphin rush from exercise, turning it into a truly miserable experience. I ended up blowing it off, and of course my diet and overall well-being went to shit. I was experiencing various digestive issues, which led to a spiral of no exercise, poor diet, and excess drinking. I dropped the Nal pretty quickly in an effort to get back to the gym. I was going to head back to HDB, but I saw the issues with Goldpharma and was unable to order. I still had a stockpile, but I decided to taper off to nothing, and have been drug-free for the last two months, and the stress of the holidays are a huge trigger for my drinking, so it hasn't been a fun couple weeks.

One thing that going through this digestive problem taught me is that I'm very sensitive to gluten, and the effects it has on me are much more systemic than just irritable bowel type symptoms. I am switching to a completely gluten-free diet, which of course precludes beer, my achilles heel.

I was able to place a new Goldpharma order today, so presuming it arrives, I will start titrating back up.

I'll keep in touch. Haven't had a chance to read through all the backlog, but good to see familiar names still posting.

Happy and safe New Years, all!

[RudyB]

My Baclofen Experience

heya mog!

good to see you here again. i was just thinking about you the other day, wondering how you're doing. i'm not a bit surprised to hear about your experience with nal, darn it! (please remind why you added that to your cocktail; was something going wrong with bac?)

good to get off the gluten, i'm sure that will help. oh boy, and watch out for that beer! yowza! a little too much of it wreaks havoc on my guts, which are otherwise made of iron and don't mind gluten one bit.

i hope you get your bac very soon. please keep us posted.

xo rudy

[Bruunhilde]

My Baclofen Experience

Heya Mog! Happy to you too!

So the gym hasn't always been a theatre of torment for you? I think I had endorphins once in my life, and I used to work out like a demon daily. I gave up the torment and here I am... Sorry to hear your story, sounds very much like mine but mine didn't have the endos, as stated. Glad you're back on a plan - your goldpharma order is for baclofen?

I relate to the GI distress too, and I depend on a tablespoon or more of fiber AM and PM to keep me from having problems. The fiber is mostly psyllium husk but I also mix in DE and fresh ground flax.

Here's to a healthier 2012! Keep posting mog

[Ne/Neva Eva]

My Baclofen Experience

Sorry your back, nice to see you!

Do you remember that I sent the post that you wrote about not caring about alcohol anymore to my family and friends? It was such an inspiration to me. I hope it's an inspiration to you, now, too. It will be yours again!

Hang in there, Mog. And Happy 2012!

[moglor]

My Baclofen Experience

Bruun - The gym is never easy or fun, but I always felt good after a workout until the Nal. Then I just felt tired and ill. Yes, the Goldpharma order is for Bac.

Rudy - I added Nal because I stupidly got myself into a situation where I felt like I could moderate, and discovered I couldn't. Boy was that a mistake! I added the Nal in the hopes of curtailing the addictive response. It worked, to some extent, but I just felt really ill all of the time. That might have been due to other factors as well.

Neva - Yes, I remember. I am very glad you found it inspirational! I try and tell myself that I've made it there once, I can make it again, this time without the mistakes that caused me to fall off the wagon.

[moglor]

My Baclofen Experience

Just a quick update. I had started tapering back up after I got my goldpharma order (took longer than usual, think I received it around the 17th, after ordering on the 3rd.)

I had a particularly bad blackout last week, and I think it gave me the push I needed to completely stop drinking again. I'm up to 150mg/day again and been sober 6 days. Most of the detox/withdrawal is gone, and I'm feeling a lot more stable and productive.

Whenever I am tempted to drink, I close my eyes and think HARD about how I felt the morning after my blackout, and it's been helping me stay strong. I am trying to keep that memory (or lack thereof, hah) alive through something like meditation/visualization so I don't ever forget how crappy that was. It's too easy to just take another drink and forget about the stupid shit we did.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

My Baclofen Experience

moglor;1253430 wrote: It's too easy to just take another drink and forget about the stupid shit we did.

Amen. Every now and then I catch myself thinking it was fun. All I gotta do is check in here, in the Just starting out section, or read my own thread. F*** that sucked.

Stay strong, Mog. You'll keep feeling better.
Is 150mg a happy place for you? It was for me, several times! :H

[RudyB]

My Baclofen Experience

welcome back, mog. sorry about the blackout, but you're in good company here, as you know. hope 150 is treating you well, and congrats on 6 days sober. good strategy on thinking about the day after. best of luck to you m'dear!

xo rudy

[moglor]

My Baclofen Experience

Yeah, 150mg is a good place right now. It doesn't completely blot out the cravings, but they're not overpowering. I'll probably remain here for awhile until the intense somnolence abates somewhat.

[Bruunhilde]

My Baclofen Experience

How's it going Mog? I'm having those cravings and self-talking too, ugh. My day afters weren't sucking, but my weight is an issue and my lack of a life is an issue. It helps I have a goal with my weight, it really helps. Maybe that's why I'm fat, so I can become AF. There must be a reason because not everyone gets fat on spirits.

[moglor]

My Baclofen Experience

My weight continues to be a huge issue for me too, and has been one of the big reasons I always ended up hitting the bottle (depression from self loathing.) The weight gain from drinking was a one-two-knockout punch of a) calories from beer, b) depressed metabolism from alcohol, c) horrible diet of fast food and chinese takeout because I was too drunk, sick or lazy to get anything else.

I'm still at 150mg/day and the sleepiness is starting to abate. I haven't had too much in the way of cravings, mostly just "wow, a beer would be really good right now." Almost always those thoughts come when I'm bored.

I also have the issue of lack of a life. A lifetime of drinking has left me with few opportunities for activities outside my computer chair, and fewer friends with which to share any rare opportunity that may come up. I don't really know what to do about this. People always say "oh, join a club" or "do volunteer work." Well, I don't have any interest in any clubs, and volunteer work depresses me.

At any rate, I'm finally back at the gym, which is great. I fell off the gym wagon when my experiments with Naltrexone basically obliterated any endorphin rush I got from gym work, so it didn't take much of a push to stop going

I also switched my diet back to low carb, which is a good motivator (and excuse to other people) to stay off the booze.