My Baclofen Journey

[fickle]

My Baclofen Journey

Hi all,

Quick update.. Must admit to having had a rough time. Titrating down was awful as anxiety returned with a vengeance leading to backsliding with AL. Have been trying to titrate up again as quick as I can stand. Been feeling wierd and very emotionally vulnerable. Can't help but feel that was the combination of hangover plus bac. My head is full of cotton wool.

Lesson learned from this - if you are going to try bac then get organised in the first place and don't mess about with running out. It's not as easy to have to go backwards and try to start again. I've needed more bac this time to get back to where I was before.

Am now on about 40-50mg x 3 per day and losing interest in AL thank goodness. Have moved back from craziness to about 3 units max per day. Whew!

[fickle]

My Baclofen Journey

Has anyone ever had a SE of feeling like you've got little electric shocks going off in your hands? I am having this at 50mg x 3 (150mg per day) in the evenings.

On a positive note I'm not interested in drinking at all!

[Cinders]

My Baclofen Journey

Ficks,

Yes. It does seem to get worse as the day progresses.

I am only at 65 mgs/day 20-25-20 atm.

I also get blurry vision after the noon dose. I hate it but I do recall getting pretty blurry vision from drinking, too.

Great news that the Bac is helping you so much!!

Cindi

[terryk]

My Baclofen Journey

I get electric shocks to my hands whenever I titrate up, and the faster I titrate, the more severe they are. Sometimes typing on the computer is hard be cause my fingers activate along with the shocks, and once for a few days after an 80mg jump in 2 days, the shocks were so bad that I was spontaneously dropping things every couple of minutes. Lost about 4 plates that week. It was REALLY disconcerting at first. I've learned to live with it and keep my titration slow - adding 10mg every 5-6 days or so (and I'll still get the shocks almost every time). They do go away if I level out for a week or so. that's me 260mg/day no switch yet, mostly AF. -tk

[fickle]

My Baclofen Journey

Thanks Cinders, Terry,
I think I'll stick with the dose I'm on then.. 40-50-50 and wait till I get used to it. Can't say I feel great but this is seriously the thing I need to get and stay AF for a good period of time. Perhaps I need the wierd feeling to remind me that this is serious and I'm fighting for my life here. At other times I've just felt so euphoric when AF that I slip up easily thinking it's all over.
Had a rough night. Am not sure whether to stay with 40-50-50 or go back down to 40-40-40. Having had issues with titrating down I'll admit to being scared to try that.
Do you think I'll get used to it if I stay on this dose and don't go any higher... will the SE's lessen?
It was a trippy night. I could see flashing lights and colours behind my eyelids and at one point I woke up with the feeling that my breathing was very weak. Felt like I might stop if I let myself.. but here I am.

[terryk]

My Baclofen Journey

I'm almost certain that the side effects will wane with time if you level off. Whenever I titrate up I ALWAYS get: pronounced somnolence, visual flashes when I open and shut my eyes (these can sometimes be intense and scary), and more electric shocks. These peak about 24-36 hours after the up in dosage (usually 10mg every 5-7 days for me). Earlier on I was unnerved by shallow breathing, either I don't get it as much now (probably) or I'm used to it and it doesn't bother me. -tk

[fickle]

My Baclofen Journey

Thanks Terry,

I had a pretty stressful day at work. only took 40mg in the morning but still felt really trippy. I've noticed the blurry vision thing too.

Decided to drop back to 40-40-50 and be patient. Great to know the SE's are normal and endurable. My work is really important to my family's survival so I must put that first. It was bad enough feeling hungover at work... so trippy is really not an option. I've got to wait for my body to get used to the bac before I try to titrate up to 50-50-50.

Thanks heaps for all the feedback everyone. It is so amazing that you are here to help!
:l

[fickle]

My Baclofen Journey

Heya Reggie,

I was going to pm you tonightt actually, as I was feeling pretty nervous about how I'm going. Got sidetracked in a good way but thanks for you rmessage.

Seems to be one step forwards and two steps backwards at the moment for me.
I've had great success when titrating up at relatively low doses.. have felt like I've ARRIVED at AFdom a couple of times but then having to titrate down a little... means I start to freak out and start to drink again etc.

Am trying not to give into feeling bad about it all but I can't help wondering if I'm ever going to 'get there'. Knowing now that I'm only on half the dose you are makes me realise that I'm being impatient again so thanks Reggie!

This is a wierd trip with the SE's and I do admit to feeling a bit strange most of the time. As I think i mentioned before, work has been stressful this week and the bac brain has made me feel fairly strange at work... Anyhoo I hope I can get it together.

Am willing to work harder Reggie... we are in this together :l

[fickle]

My Baclofen Journey

I agree Reggie,

I really have to commit to this wholeheartedly. I am on 50, 50 and 60 at the moment (160mg per day) so have moved from 150mg on Monday where I was having such success, down to 130 because I was feeling so wierd at work which caused me to backslide a bit so up again to 140mg on Thursday and 150mg on Friday and 160 yesterday. Yes, still having the shocks in the hands but am ok with that if I'll get used to it.. I think it should subside if I try to go up more slowly from now on. Decided to use the weekend to try to up my dose a bit and try to get back the success I was having. Think I?ll stick with 160mg for this week. It?s not good to titrate up while working.

At the moment I'm taking bac 3 x per day. Am thinking maybe it would be better to break the doses down into 6 times smaller doses through the day??? Not sure if this has helped anyone? I know there has been a fair bit of variety in the ways people get to know their bac. I am an evening drinker (start at arsenic hour) so took heart from the suggestion from someone with similar habit that they were taking more towards the late afternoon to pre-empt the arsenic hour temptation.

One thing I have learned is that if there is wine anywhere around I will drink it and have trouble stopping, bac or no bac. However, if I make sure there is something lower in alcohol in the house, I prevent myself having an excuse to 'pop to the shop' so avoid the wine. This has been the key to my success when I have had it. It is much less attractive to drink cider for example and I find the tiredness overcomes me more than the desire to drink. Its been great because I could have a couple and then go to bed and listen to hypno. The difficulty with waking up has left me thank goodness.

However, one thing that is really making me think is the fact that I?ve had success at a relatively low dose, then lose it. I think I have to do more work on why I lose it and making sure I stick to my cider plan until I can just skip it and go listen to hypno. Perhaps I also need to work on a bunch of things which cause me to drink in the first place. Having been relatively sober recently has given me the opportunity to engage more fully with my kids and brought some realisations about my life and things I need to fix. I think I can do this with a little help from my friends Reggie :l

One thing I?ve noticed is I?ve let go of the struggle somewhat. This was good at first? all the anxiety left me and I just let bac do the work and it did work like a charm. Having backslided a couple of times now though I am feeling more need to commit and make a little effort?do some part of the work to achieve what I need to. Maybe if I try harder I can get there with the bac.

The other weird thing I?ve noticed is that I can get quite tired and want to lie down relatively early? around dinner time. But I fight it and stay up to supervise kids etc? then I get off on a tangent doing something, whether it?s posting somewhere on MWO or cleaning my kitchen? and find myself sitting up at 2am trying to keep my eyes open. Very strange behaviour. Easy to zone out on bac... must try to introduce some discipline! Might go through my hypno mp3?s and send you a couple that I like. Likewise, if you have any that work for you, we might do a swap?

Anyhoo, let?s check in at least once a day here Reg and talk through what?s the plan. My commitment is to not buy any more wine. I?ve found with cider that I drink it slower. In the usual time I could drink 2 bottles of wine, I can only drink about 4 ciders. That?s a big difference! Under 6 units instead of 16!!

[Sunnyvalenting]

My Baclofen Journey

I had to take my baclofen in smaller doses 6 times/day for the first several weeks. It decreased the side effects and made things more "even".
Good luck,
Sunny

[fickle]

My Baclofen Journey

Thanks Sunny,

I think I'll do that from now on. Had 50mg this morning... will take my next few doses 3 hrs apart...12pm 30mg, 3pm 30mg, 6pm 30mg, 9pm 30mg... will try to continue the pattern through the week.

Just had another chat to Mr G and he has reinforced the notion that i must get AF as quickly as I can. So I'll be titrating down again on the cider this week and practicing the 'early night' technique as much as possible.

Thanks again everyone... this feedback is vitally important and hugely appreciated!

[sapphire1]

My Baclofen Journey

Ficks just sticking my two cents worth in.

Question your dangerous time is at night? As a single mum are you totally responsible for the kids every night? If thats true, then your drinking time is the only "Me" time. Time to check out of the responsibility and the day to day grind of work, then home, taking care of the house, the kids, the dog/cat/fish. Its a huge job being a single mum.....I feel your pain as I am too! Do you schedule any me time every day into your routine? Is there a transition between work out of the house and work in the house? Can you get out of the house in the evening for a while, to break that relationship between being on your own and drinking? If nothing changes, nothing changes. Are you the sort of girl to go running or to an exercise class for instance? I find that bursts of intense exercise even when I am knackered kicks cravings onto the curb......put some energetic music on and jump around the loungeroom....literally burn the bastard out of your head!! For example, I felt a sneaky uneasiness this morning......I hadnt a class to do or go to....so I ramped up the music REALLY LOUD, did 30 mins of high energy exercise and like magic...no craving...maybe you can think about dancing the craving away. Single mummas have a lot on their plate, but its important to actively think of ways to get some me time everyday

[sapphire1]

My Baclofen Journey

Another thought about anxiety/sleep disturbance etc. Have you looked at meg doses of vitamins to help the anxiety etc. There is a Doctor called Abram Hoffer...lots of stuff about him and his collegues on google. He was the instigator into lots of studies on treating mental illness using large doses of vitamins. Called the program Orthomolecular Medicine. I have done a lot of study into Hoffer and Pfeiffers work on this because I have a son who suffered a schizophrenia type of illness for eight!! After many hospital admisssions for psychotic breakdowns etc. and seeing endless psychiatrists/psychologists and getting no better, I loooked at natural therapies. Using combinations of Vitamin B3 (NIACINAMIDE),
G.A.B.A. Flaxseed oil; Vitamin C, viTAMIN B, and others after all these years my son is well!!!!!!!!!!! No pharmaceutical drug could go any near helping him, in fact they added to his problems, but the mega doses of vitamins have saved his life (and my own sanity). Hoffer also used to manipulate diet to create chemical harmony in the brain and reduce toxicity. As a result of my extensive and exhausting research I also found the Vitamin B3 and GABA, to be absolutely fantastic for easing my own anxiety/insomnia etc. Natural anti-depressant/anti-anxiety by Orthomolecular Therapy. It might be worth you having a look at Hoffers work and see if anything like that might prick up your ears.

[sapphire1]

My Baclofen Journey

Hi Ficks, just remembered something else about Dr. Hofffer (i have his books).......He was also a friend of Bill W. The founder of AA...who also took Hoffers therapy (something that is not widely known. I think that as suffering people,we have been let down by conventional wisdom(folly) medical practitioners and must think outside the square. By correcting vitamin deficiencies and reducing brain toxicty due, to a myriad of causes, adding natuaral therapies as an adjuct to pharmaceuticals we can have a better chance of recovery

[Going Strong]

My Baclofen Journey

Hi Fickle

Hi Ficks,

I have not been on for a while and wanted to check to see how you are going.

Mr G is right the best results of bac come from being AF. Bac just adds some armoury to cope with the cravings.

Saph what you have written is really interesting stuff.

I go to a doc that is exactly like that and treats his patients with a combo of vitamins and food.

How much B3 do you take and when?

I find gaba really good for me but still not sleeping really good so would like a plan for that.

Fickle you and me go way back and we are going to beat this................. I just know it.

Take Care Shas xxx