I Am Ready To Take The Baclofen Plunge!

[Sunnyvalenting]

I Am Ready To Take The Baclofen Plunge!

FF,
Welcome to MWO. I guess it takes what it takes to get here. For me it was 14 years of unsuccessful attempts to quit. It cost me my marriage, lots of friends. Almost a career. I am 58 and finally feel free to make choices I know I can follow through on. I have been on Bac for 11+ month and abstinent the entire time. Have lost a lot of weight (after initially gaining a few pounds btw). I suspect the initial wt gain may have been nutritional repair of muscles and rearrangement. I also did not watch the diet whatsoever for the first 5 months. It seemed enough just to not drink and get my head straight there rather than also doing a bunch of other worthwhile but possibly distracting things. Now I feel I can take em on!
With respect your clinical internship go for it. Make your case. You may find yourself in the perfect position to help others on a similar path with your degree!
Sunny

[Far, Far, Away...]

I Am Ready To Take The Baclofen Plunge!

I wanted to update everyone on how the holidays have gone. I left Colorado two weeks ago and have been with my family ever since. I have not had a single drink! Not one. I am taking between 60 and 70mg of BAC daily. I have been really lazy about ordering more, so I am going to do that today and will then be taking 75mg per day until the new shipment arrives.

I have been titrating very slowly. As I said in an earlier post, I have not really had the opportunity to drink over the holidays. I am staying with family, and drinking around them would certainly cause a huge fight, etc. as they are aware of my alcoholism and have had to deal with my shit more than enough in the past. BUT, this is easily the longest I have gone AF in years. I have not been tempted to sneak any drinks or try to surreptitiously get drunk - things I have done over the holidays previously.

While this is encouraging, it would have never happened under different circumstances. I never could have done this at home. The real test for me will be when I get back out West and am free to do whatever I like again. I am very optimistic, however, that I will be able to keep this going. That is my goal anyways. I am leaving on Friday to go back home and then the real challenge will begin.

P.S. ---> This not drinking stuff doesn't feel too bad Finally getting some real sleep too!

[ignominous]

I Am Ready To Take The Baclofen Plunge!

Sounds like you may have got there Far but we all have our own final tests to pass first.

Wish you the best when you get home.

[Lowcountryman]

I Am Ready To Take The Baclofen Plunge!

Far Far,

Good for you! Give it a go and figure it out. I hope you had a real fine holiday! And tests, well, they are just tests. There's always another opportunity. Maybe you're enjoying a head-start now, who knows? It will come all together. Be patient and if it might go 'wrong' don't be disappointed in yourself, that's a terrible waste of energy in my opinion.

chrs, Low

[bleep69]

I Am Ready To Take The Baclofen Plunge!

Hey Far,

Read your thread with interest. Your pattern sounds very similar to mine, almost daily drinking with the odd bender thrown in for good measure, so it is encouraging to see that you appear to be making really good progress!

"Be patient and if it might go 'wrong' don't be disappointed in yourself, that's a terrible waste of energy in my opinion. "

Fine advice Lowcountryman.

[Sunnyvalenting]

I Am Ready To Take The Baclofen Plunge!

Use all the tools at hand, including will power, and avoid drinking once you get home. Make a plan to be busy doing something best done AF. It will feel awkward only at first. Changing habits feels awkward. That is just the nature of habit change. You will soon get used to it and find you are actually getting things done at home.
Congrats on your AF time. I now have almost a year AF on the Bac.
Sunny

[ignominous]

I Am Ready To Take The Baclofen Plunge!

Have to agree with Sunny here.

Bac's only going to get you off alcohol if you want to be a non drinker. Sounds to me like Bac has already given you back the power of decision, so now's the time to use it.

Again, best of luck and let us know how you're getting on.

[c0ffee]

I Am Ready To Take The Baclofen Plunge!

anyone know which baclofen one to order from Goldpharm. there are so many choices for Lioresal. are any of them fine? b/c i want to order a bunch; like 300+ pills but you can only add 2X each item to cart, so i was gonna order 2X a bunch of different Lioresal's. but are they each different? can anyone help?

[Rusty]

I Am Ready To Take The Baclofen Plunge!

cOffee,

I don't know the difference between the Lioresals at Goldpharma. They probably have a Contact Us link you can use. Sorry I can't help you there. If you're in a hurry to order Bac, I would call Dr. Fred Levin at his office tomorrow. He was fabulous to me, and I was able to get a script right away (as in within an hour) because my shipment from River Pharmacy was delayed by 2 weeks. Here is his office number: 312-236-6675.

[Far, Far, Away...]

I Am Ready To Take The Baclofen Plunge!

Is it important to get Lioresal? I have been getting Baclofen from Ratiopharm

[ignominous]

I Am Ready To Take The Baclofen Plunge!

Lioresal worked for me and Coffee I waould just get as much in as you can
Also heard good reports on Pacifen but I think that any good make should be fine.
Next time someone talks to Levin maybe they could get his opinion on the different brands.

[Sunnyvalenting]

I Am Ready To Take The Baclofen Plunge!

I believe I have taken both. No difference to me.
Sunny

[Far, Far, Away...]

I Am Ready To Take The Baclofen Plunge!

Hey everyone. So I got back home on Friday night. I was planning to get drunk when I got back on the first night. I was sober for 19 days while I was traveling and staying with family over the holidays. It wasn't very hard, which was surprising.

I am currently taking 75mg of Bac a day. Anyways, I didn't drink on Friday, which was also very surprising. I just decided not to, and used some willpower I guess. I just had to experiment, however, which I admit is stupid and a little discouraging considering how long I had managed to stay sober. I did my experimenting last night and had 6 beers and 200ml of whiskey, got intoxicated and fell asleep on the couch.

Surprisingly, I woke up this morning in a good mood and hardly a hangover. Unfortunately, my mood has been going downhill as the day wears on. On a positive note, something is definitely different with Bac. I have much more control. AL has lost its allure to some degree. Its band-aid effect is being diminished in my mind. It is becoming less effective/satisfying with regard to the reasons that I have abused it for so long. Let me explain.

The feelings and emotions that have always surrounded my drinking are anxiety, frustration, depression/unhappiness and boredom. Over the years, AL has been a reasonably good short-term solution to these feelings, but with awful consequences and no long-term benefit. Now that I am taking the Baclofen, my mind's attitude towards AL seems to be changing. I just don't view it as being as effective/satisfying/desirable.

BUT, in some ways, this is a bit troubling. I still have all of the same problems and emotions, but I don't have much of any solution or coping mechanism for them now that drinking has become less satisfying/desirable. I know this is totally normal and has been discussed here many times. I am not terribly worried, it is just an observation.

The desire for the band-aid effect of AL appears to be dissipating. But I still have the same feelings, frustrations, depression, boredom, etc. but not the same motivation to cover them up with AL....which makes them even more disconcerting? I am not really finding enjoyment in much of anything, which is not necessarily new, but maybe more obvious without the constant drinking.

[Far, Far, Away...]

I Am Ready To Take The Baclofen Plunge!

I wanted to add that I believe many of the unpleasant emotional states that I mentioned above have been intensified or primarily caused by alcohol abuse. That is the nature of alcoholism as I see it - you drink to alleviate emotions, feelings, states of mind that were frequently caused by drinking in the first place and you do this ad nauseum. This is the "merry go round" of alcoholism.

My hope is that my moods and emotions will stabilize once I can consistently string together long periods of sobriety, although I know it won't happen overnight.

[Sunnyvalenting]

I Am Ready To Take The Baclofen Plunge!

Far,
Great going on 19 days. And for recognizing some of your consequences of continued use. What bac does is give you the ability to make a choice and execute it. Before bac, I could make a choice but the cravings always undid it!
It takes several months AF to normalize your brain. Some depression is to be expected. In my case some of it was from the realization and acknowledged guilt and responsibility of where I found myself. It definitely gets much better. Without the "quick fix" of alcohol I have been learning to address problems head on. They cannot all be solved but at least I am not making things worse for myself or others.
I was abstinent from the very start and intend to say so. I will have one year on the 13th. I still take a tiny dose at bedtime and carry some with me "in case". Interestingly I have not needed it.
I believe that your "will power" is part of the solution. I advise practicing that regularly! The more you do the sooner effortless abstinence will become your default habit. What we are doing, to a great extent, is rewiring the neural pathways to new ones. It takes EFFORT. It is awkward at first, just like any meaningful change. It sounds like you don't expect the drug to do it all for you. that is very realistic and sound judgment.
I totally relate to your merry go round analogy. I was on it far too long. I plan to stay off it. so I can get somewhere!
I wish you the best on your journey
Sunny