Tapering off baclofen

[tiptronic_ct]

Tapering off baclofen

I'll have to take it slower. I'm back on 70mg. Yesterday (2nd day on 65), I felt "out of sorts" - no cravings for AL, but kind of anxious. I took 30mg p.r.n. at around 6.00 pm when the feeling didn't go away. I normally take a single daily dose around 1.00 p.m.

I'm going to stay on 70 for the next week, and then only decrease by 2.5mg, with longer intervals between lower doses. In the interim, I'll invest in a pill cutter

[craving]

Tapering off baclofen

tiptronic_ct;947257 wrote: I'll have to take it slower. I'm back on 70mg. Yesterday (2nd day on 65), I felt "out of sorts" - no cravings for AL, but kind of anxious. I took 30mg p.r.n. at around 6.00 pm when the feeling didn't go away. I normally take a single daily dose around 1.00 p.m.

I'm going to stay on 70 for the next week, and then only decrease by 2.5mg, with longer intervals between lower doses. In the interim, I'll invest in a pill cutter

Hi tip. Good to hear you take it slowly. As I said, there is no race to win.

Regarding anxiety ... I have my own opinion about that, as expressed in this thread.

https://www.mywayout.org/community/f2...hol-42714.html

I think that anxiety is the resolved form of craving.
Body understood that alcohol is the remedy for anxiety and provided us with a short cut "craving".

Once we are long enough away from alcohol the body probably dissolves this short cut and converts it into the original signal ... anxiety.

I think the problem does not lie into the steps you take. 5mg at one time is okay according to my experience for now. You just need to stay longer on the lower dose to have your body fully adjust.
Titerating down 5mg every 2 weeks will bring you down safely to 0 within 28 weeks ... Of course you can go faster, just trying to show that 28 weeks make no big difference in the long treatment you already underwent with Baclofen.

I am going to take it even more easy. I am looking at 1/4 of 25mg less every 3-4 weeks and my target for now is 37.5mg (3 times a day 1/2x 25mg) - so not even looking to titrate down to zero. Will do the steps as it fits me and depending on how I feel. Important is that I do not get anxiety problems like I had before when titrating down 2.5mg every 4 days (which was absolutely insane looking back with what I know now!!)

It will take a few days for your anxiety to disappear on the higher dose.

[Sunnyvalenting]

Tapering off baclofen

I am down to 15/day at bedtime. I have not slept well for the last decade(except when drunk or on high dose baclofen) and have noticed a return of my insomnia since tapering down on the baclofen. I feel fine. but often don't sleep more than 5 hours and those hours seem "light" as well.
Anyone else having trouble sleeping? I don't believe I am anxious.
Hope this can all be sorted out in my brain!
Feeling confident tho
Sunny

[craving]

Tapering off baclofen

Hi sunny,

yes I also have light sleep during tapering off Baclofen. I wake up with a little noise and have a hard time falling asleep again.
Have you tried natural remedies?

[PhoenixRising]

Tapering off baclofen

tiptronic_ct;945065 wrote: So far so good on 70mg.

As of tomorrow, I'll lower to 65 and see how it goes.

Good, Tip. I know you were concerned about it. I am going down to 150 today, all is still well.

[Sunnyvalenting]

Tapering off baclofen

I have used melatonin with good results at times. Teas tend to upset my stomach worse than alcohol! I have also used benadryl but If I take it too late I am sort of loggy in the morning.
I am still at 15 and doing fine. This is a good thread
Sunny

[henry]

Tapering off baclofen

tapering down too quickly (of necessity)

hi there I nave followed much of the information with great interest. My present situation is that I titrated up to 275mg of baclofen and stayed there for 6 weeks. i was difficult but not impossible. I didnt reach the switch on reaching this level but did reach it after a month. I stayed there for another 2 weeks because I was risk-aversive that my immunity to alcohol would dissappear. I then titrated down to 225g - reducing dosage at 12.5 mg every three days. Unfortunately the order I put in for an additional 300 (25mg) tablets for a month had not been processed because I inserted one account detail incorrectly (I didnt check my emails so didint know it had not been processed). Was waiting in vain for the delivery when I did finally check email. Reordered immediately of course. But meanwhile in order to breach the gap between the situation i found myself in that day and ems delivery in 5-7 days' time, I had to come down pretty drastically to 125mg eak out my remaining supply.

The effects of this drastic reduction has been the same as those experienced by another member:

neck pain
muscle pain
anxiety and fear
panic
general overflood of feelings, leaves me sometimes a bit paralyzed

This member suggests that the body needs to have enough time to compensate the reduced GABA activity by starting its own activity again.

My question is: do I tritrate back up to 225mg in order to give my body enough time to replenish the GABA activity that was severely curtailed with the above unpleasant effects? And then tritrate slowly down to 125mg which was to be my long-term target?

Or do I stay at 125mg now?

The anxiety is the worst thing - the kind of thing I used to get frequently after a bout of heavy drinking. It leads one to speculate all kinds of nightmares - in particular that with my carelessness I have undermined and undone all the good work that has been done with this amazing treatment.

[craving]

Tapering off baclofen

hi henry,

When I jumped from 250mg to 150mg I had the following day craving, so I upped the dose back up. Luckily I had enough pills.

The higher you are up the faster you can go down with the dose. I used to do minus 15mg every 4 days which worked well.

Since you have been on the lower dose for some time now, I would not go back to 225mg, but instead I would try to up the dose from where you are now.
Going to 150 or 175mg / day may stop your anxiety within 3-4 days. Then stay on the comfortable dose for some time until your body is in balance again, and then I would start a titration down shedule with 12.5 - 15mg down every 4 days until reaching your goal of 125mg. Doing this temporary upping and then lowering slowly will give your body more time to compensate and you will feel a lot better with the lower dose later on then.

Because you are on a lower dose already your body was forced to start part of its GABA activity in an "emergency" program. Going back to 225mg would make your body again stop part of its activity again.

Simply go up slowly again to the point where the anxiety disappears, once you are there you will be able to think very clearly again.

[henry]

Tapering off baclofen

thanks for this. much appreciated. i have in fact only been on the 125mg dosage for 6 days but I suppose this is sufficient time so your advice is well taken. coming down from 225 to 125 in one day has been pretty hard on me. i still havent received my supply as of yet and will run out after tuesday. my supply was shipped thursday. given 5-9 working days on EMS express delivery the earliest i can expect is this coming wednesday. the latest could be the tuesday after - in which case i would be baclofen-free for 6 days. Not a prospect i look forward to.

[craving]

Tapering off baclofen

In no way should you run out of Baclofen, the 225mg -> 125mg will then look like piece of cake in my opinion.

On high dose it is very easy to reduce, on lower dose the body needs significantly more time to adjust or the side effects can be unbearable.
If you can't get your Baclofen in time I suggest finding a doctor to prescribe it to you. Even if he does not agree to your treatment he needs to help you titrating down.

Baclofen can be best compared to Benzos in the way it needs to be titrated down. Benzos you would also titrate down in big steps first, and then for the last few steps you would lower it even slower over even bigger time intervals.

My guess is that the body can re-activate a big portion of the GABA activity in a matter of days. But the rest is more slow and if you take away the stimulating GABA activity of Baclofen, your body won't be able to run the emergency program as good and fast as it was trying with lowering the dose.

All the best. I hope it comes in time!

[Sunnyvalenting]

Tapering off baclofen

Henry, I would suggest that you avoid complete withdrawal by decreasing your current dose to make it last until the Rx comes. I know that would result in worse symptoms but would avoid the going to zero. You may also be able to go to your doctor and advise him/her of the situation and get an emergency script for this situation.
If you live in the US I could mail you some pills on Tuesday to tide you over for a few days. PM me if interested.
Sunny

[henry]

Tapering off baclofen

thankyou for your kind offer. I have checked the tracking number of my mail and it says that it left the host country on friday so here's hoping! I will tritrate down to 50mg a day I think in order to avoid having szero tablets for a number of days. it is better than the alternative i think! thanks again.

[henry]

Tapering off baclofen

when i said thankyou for your kind offer i meant it .... i should have said that i live in the Uk. thanks again.

[Sunnyvalenting]

Tapering off baclofen

You are welcome. I now am down to 15 mg/day with no cravings or withdrawal symptoms. I am just thrilled that this med seems to be working so well. Hope your supply comes in soon. I agree w craving that once you get your supply go up slowly until the symptoms abate then stay there several days at least to "normalize" then decide if it is time to taper down. I can't recall, how long have you been AF?
sunny

[tiptronic_ct]

Tapering off baclofen

I have made another attempt at tapering down further.

Reminder: hit the switch at 270mg in August 2009, have been at 80mg for (more or less) 9 months now after titrating down. When going below 60, I remain indifferent to alcohol (I have deliberately made an effort to test that by browsing wine shelves in shops etc. BUT: I do feel somewhat anxious at that level.

I am now going to stay on 80 indefinitely. I have absolutely no SEs, and it works for me.