Can Baclofen help me?

[ash13]

I am an alcoholic. I am drinking as I write this. My history of addiction .... is almost twenty years old. I have been in rehab once. A traditional 12 step rehab, much in the mold of the sixties .... confrontational and humiliating. I did well there. But two months after coming out, I had relapsed. I am not so good right now. Tomorrow I have an appointment with a physician who I have to convince to prescribe Baclofen to me. Somehow, Baclofen seems too good to be true. And if I put all my trust in something that does not work, I may not survive. Which may not be a bad thing overall. Except that someone may be turning a trick. And that is a bad thing. I am willing to try anything, because I have no place to go. But does Baclofen really work?

[tiptronic_ct]

Can Baclofen help me?

Hi, Ash

:welcome: to MWO

[tiptronic_ct]

Can Baclofen help me?

Now that we have the formalities behind us....

Yes: baclofen works for a large number of people. I have been sober (as in completely AF) for over a year. It took fairly hard work to get to the switch, but once you do, it is fairly effortless for the majority of people.

[PhoenixRising]

Can Baclofen help me?

I had a 35 year drinking history and Bac worked for me. I think it will work for you, too. Have you read Dr. Amiesen's book?

[Light Of Daz]

Can Baclofen help me?

Welcome ash13! Bac is working for me, and I hope it does for you.

Also might be good to take this recent finding to your doctor tomorrow. 88% success rate for this study:
https://www.mywayout.org/community/f2...lts-44569.html

[ash13]

Can Baclofen help me?

thank you

thank you for responding. sometimes all you need is encouragement. thank you people around the world for bothering to listen to my pain. I start baclofen therapy tomorrow. If it helps I will be alcohol free. If it does not you will know. You dont know how much you have helped me by responding to my thread. I hope that I can do the same for you guys.

[airam]

Can Baclofen help me?

We are all alcoholics or alcohol abusers. We know your pain. :l
I'm also hoping Topamax will work for me. :welcome:

[tiptronic_ct]

Can Baclofen help me?

Ash,

What was the outcome of your appointment? Was the doc willing to prescribe high-dose baclofen, or only within existing guidelines?

[ash13]

Can Baclofen help me?

tiptronic_ct;945805 wrote: Ash,

What was the outcome of your appointment? Was the doc willing to prescribe high-dose baclofen, or only within existing guidelines?

Sorry for the late reply. My doctor was not entirely convinced, but agreed to prescribe me low dose baclofen and see how it goes. Right now I am on 10 mg daily and feel no discernible difference. Have drunk once since I started treatment on Sunday last (Aug 29). My doctor says to stay at 10 mg daily for five days and then go up to 20 mg for another five days. Then he wants to run some tests on me.

Hopefully I will be able to convince him in time, as he is not entirely dismissive of the idea of high dose bac, but is cautious right now. Lets see. Thanks for asking. I will be starting a different thread on my baclofen journey hopefully in a day or two with full details of my alcohol abuse history, weight, titration schedule, and hopefully some good news.

By the way, if my doc does not want to go all the way, do any of you know of any docs who may want to treat you online or by phone? I know its a long shot, but ...... thanks anyway all of you. Good luck and God bless.

[Seethepony]

Can Baclofen help me?

"Baclofen seems too good to be true"

I've been taking Baclofen for a little more than a week, and am now on a modest 3x 25mg /day. The day I went from 3x10 to 3x 20 mg / day I had been drinking heavily and irony of ironies, had to play a game of soccer. To say I felt dreadful is an undertatement. I thought my heart would explode. It's been said before, the combination of booze and baclofen is deeply unpleasant, even distressing. After several days of relentless, worse than normal hangovers, I managed a booze-free night last night and feel fine this morning.

The problem with getting your baclofen off your doctor is that he may well see the side effects and pull the plug on the whole idea.

I found the idea of having to persuade a physician to help me too daft - I asked one and got a resounding "no" - so I decided to go the route followed by many here and ordered the baclofen online. Goldpharma works for me - you have to explain (in a word or two) why you want the Baclofen, but once it's ordered, it arrives a few days later in a plain, inconspicuous envelope. Totally hassle free and, best of all, humiliation free.

Good luck with your struggle.

[Rusty]

Can Baclofen help me?

Ash,

Baclofen is working for me, too. I have been on it since the middle of June and started at 10 mg 3 x day and now I'm up t0 20 3x per day. It works for me, but Baclofen makes the effects of consuming any alcohol so much stronger, so actually that is a deterrent from bingeing. It's miraculous as far as helping with cravings. My problem was I wasn't taking my dosages religiously until just a few weeks ago. BAC is a muscle relaxant and I have noticed when I'm taking it, that I actually feel calmer and happier. A couple of drinks while taking BAC is ok but no more because like Pony said, you will have the hangovers from hell. Like Pony, I did and I really thought I should call the EMTs.

I have been mostly AF since the end of June with a few days here and there where I had a couple of glasses of wine but had no problem controlling it. Everybody's journey is different, though, and the success rate of BAC also depends on how long you've abused alcohol, your consumption, etc.

I ordered mine from River Pharmacy. It is expensive through there but I love the support. Debbie, the Customer Service Rep., has been AF for over 5 years and she did it on BAC. My doc hadn't even heard of Campral so I thought, "talk about daft." I went online right away.

Best of luck to you!

[ash13]

Can Baclofen help me?

Thanks Seethepony and Rusty!

I am really hoping it will work. One question though. You guys seem to have started way stronger on Bac than me. This is my titration schedule:

Day 1 to day 9 - 10 mg once a day
Day 10 to day 14 - 20 mg once a day
Day 15 to day 21 - 40 mg three times a day
Day 22 to day 28 - 60 mg three times a day
Day 29 to day 35 - 80 mg three times a day
Day 36 to day 42 - 100 mg three times a day
Day 43 to day 49 - 120 mg three times a day
Day 50 to day 56 - 140 mg three times a day
Day 57 to day 63 - 160 mg three times a day
Day 64 to day 70 - 180 mg three times a day

I don't really want to go above 180 mg because a} the side effects are likely to be horrendous, and b} because from what little I have gathered the switch usually happens between 140 and 180 mg if taken in a slow and sustained manner. However, if neither SA nor switch happen I will keep going on till at least 270 mg.

I am a male weighing 90 kgs (198 pounds), and have an alcohol abuse history of twenty years, with a year of enforced abstinence in between. What do you guys think of my titration schedule? Am I going to slow? I am on 10 mgs a day now for two days and dont feel a thing.

And thanks Seethepony for the internet tip. I am hoping to convince my doctor, and I am good for the next 28 days at least, but if he does not agree to dose above 60 mg, I will go and order from the net.

Thanks again guys, and let me know ....... keep kicking:thanks:

[PhoenixRising]

Can Baclofen help me?

Dr. A hit the switch at 3.6 kg/mg, same as I did. I went up to 245 to hit the switch. The SE's were not any worse at the higher doses. It's the worst when you increase the dose. I see you are going up 20mg a week. I did 10 mg every 4th day so as not to have such a big jump. Early on 20mg is a larger % increase than it is at a higher dose. (obviously if you do the math! )

[muchthought]

Can Baclofen help me?

Hi Ash - I'm glad you are starting this. Mine has been a long Bac journey due to my unwillingness to be diligent in taking it. I titrated up VERY slowly, meaning 2 weeks at 15, 2 weeks at 20, 2 months at 30, 2 months at 40 and missing days inbetween, or dropping down because I forgot to take it. Lame, I know.

[muchthought]

Can Baclofen help me?

Ack - I pressed the wrong button! I'm not done yet!!

Anyway, I made a chart of the last month and when I take the Bac on a given day, 90% of the time my drinking is down by 1/3 - 2/3 with a few AF days. So, any amount helps moderate my drinking. Last week I purposefully didn't take it and sure enough, back to nearly two bottles of wine a night, every night. I hope this is encouraging - it really does work, and my titration made virtually no side effects! Not that I would recommend being as ditzy as I am.

Best of luck and God bless you on your journey.