Getting your Dr. onboard

[hopefulspirit]

I just returned from my PCP and was so impressed that he read Dr. A's book. I mentioned my plan during the last visit but he would only prescribe up to 100 mgs. After reading the book, he said he's completely on board and will support my efforts. He seemed sincerely fascinated with the prospect of it working and potentially helping others.

Anyway, maybe my doctor is an anomaly in the medical world but it can't hurt to ask your doctors to read the book or simply print out one of the many articles on the subject. I also heard that McLean's hospital (Harvard psychiatric hospital) has begun to prescribe it. If that's the case, it would be difficult for any PPC to deny prescribing it off-label.

Unfortunately, I have not hit my switch but am hopefully getting close. I'm at 160 mgs per day and the side-effects are not that bad. My worse one is insomnia and my PPC also prescribed a sleep aide for that.

Thanks,
HS

[HelpingAFriend]

Getting your Dr. onboard

:new:
It's great that you managed to get your doctor to prescribe off-label for you - he sounds very open minded!

I'm not sure of the right place to post this, so hopefully it's ok here. If I need to move it, please just let me know!:

I'm trying to help a friend who has suffered from Alcoholism (and nearly every other kind of addiction imaginable) for over 20 years. He has severe anxiety and also has depression (which I think is strongly linked with his anxiety). He is very sceptical of anything new, as many people are, but seems willing to try balcofen at this point (after much nagging from me). He has been sober nearly 4 years, purely through therapy and AA, but his anxiety drives him near madness and I think balcofen could relieve some of this for him, as it has for so many others.

Does anyone know of a way to find out whether doctor's in a particular area are open to prescribing balcofen off-label? My friend asked his doctor about it (who also happens to be a recovered alcoholic) but he was very dismissive. The doctor told him the side effects are difficult and instead prescribed him Haldol (!!) for when he has a panic attack (if any of you care to look up the side effects of Haldol - you will see why it shocked me so much when this was prescribed and balcofen was dismissed). On top of this, Haldol is an anti-psychotic and my friend is not psychotic, nor do his panic attacks constitute a psychotic episode. I believe he needs something to manage his anxiety on a daily-basis, not something to use when he has a full-blown panic attack. He currently takes Ativan when he has a severe panic attack, but he is prone to taking these recreationally in down / depressed periods and I worry the addictive properties of Ativan make this a very dangerous road for him to continue on.

We live in Vancouver, British Columbia. If anyone has any information at all about physicians in this area who prescribe balcofen, I would very much appreciate receiving it!

Thank you!

[beatle]

Getting your Dr. onboard

HelpingAFriend;888698 wrote: :new:
It's great that you managed to get your doctor to prescribe off-label for you - he sounds very open minded!

I'm not sure of the right place to post this, so hopefully it's ok here. If I need to move it, please just let me know!:

I'm trying to help a friend who has suffered from Alcoholism (and nearly every other kind of addiction imaginable) for over 20 years. He has severe anxiety and also has depression (which I think is strongly linked with his anxiety). He is very sceptical of anything new, as many people are, but seems willing to try balcofen at this point (after much nagging from me). He has been sober nearly 4 years, purely through therapy and AA, but his anxiety drives him near madness and I think balcofen could relieve some of this for him, as it has for so many others.

Does anyone know of a way to find out whether doctor's in a particular area are open to prescribing balcofen off-label? My friend asked his doctor about it (who also happens to be a recovered alcoholic) but he was very dismissive. The doctor told him the side effects are difficult and instead prescribed him Haldol (!!) for when he has a panic attack (if any of you care to look up the side effects of Haldol - you will see why it shocked me so much when this was prescribed and balcofen was dismissed). On top of this, Haldol is an anti-psychotic and my friend is not psychotic, nor do his panic attacks constitute a psychotic episode. I believe he needs something to manage his anxiety on a daily-basis, not something to use when he has a full-blown panic attack. He currently takes Ativan when he has a severe panic attack, but he is prone to taking these recreationally in down / depressed periods and I worry the addictive properties of Ativan make this a very dangerous road for him to continue on.

We live in Vancouver, British Columbia. If anyone has any information at all about physicians in this area who prescribe balcofen, I would very much appreciate receiving it!

Thank you!

I'm sure many others will come on here to give advice, so I'll just give you some pointers (not medical advice, mind you, and I am not of the medical persuasion... um, I mean profession ).

-- Everything you wrote is spot on (in my opinion). I am exactly like your friend (except I've only been addicted to one substance).

-- Definitely stay away from antipsychotics... not appropriate at all (in my opinion) for your friend's condition.

-- Ativan (lorazepam) is indeed extremely addictive and usually extremely difficult to withdraw from. (However, many people benefit from putting lorazepam under their tongues when a panic attack starts... but for me, this has not been viable).

-- Most people with anxiety seem to experience relief from baclofen at lower doses, but often more anxiety or agitation at high doses. This certainly applies to myself, but I have also seen this in many other posts on this forum.

-- All of us (I am quite certain) who titrate up to extremely high doses do it for the alcohol problem, not the anxiety. In fact, since anxiety often increases at higher doses, this is considered one of the most intolerable side effects for many (including myself). At very high doses (2 or 3 or so mg/kg), many people have hit a "switch" in their brains and bodies, that makes them completely indifferent to alcohol. It is this we seek when we push ourselves through the SEs.

-- It is very simple to order baclofen over the internet without a prescription or any information of any kind (except you credit card, of course). Many of the success stories on this forum have obtained their baclofen online.