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[christyacc]

Well, I hung up my bac, and so far I'm feeling fine. I stopped a week and a half ago, and feel fine. I drank on the weekend like I normally would have if I was on the bac, and I have had no cravings at all.

I think I'm just going to do this the old fashion way, good ol' will power. I really didn't like how bac made me feel.

Good luck to everyone. I still always check in and see how people are doing and if there's any new news.

[inde72]

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i saw on other threads that SE's were a problem... would NAL/TSM be a better match?

[christyacc]

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inde72;1004896 wrote: i saw on other threads that SE's were a problem... would NAL/TSM be a better match?

Thank you for your reply....I have tried Nal, and also Topa. Neither were a good match for me.

I feel much more human now. Not tired, no heavy lidded eyes, no vertigo.....just me. I have a decent handle on drinking, I can now go without if I so choose.

Thank you again for your thoughtfulness.

[guardian]

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Sorry to hear that Christy. You sure do have the right attitude about it though. That's where that 20% or so spontaneous remission rate comes from.

Hopefully in the near future we'll get a gabab agonist mass produced without all the nastiness, or at least a regimen of drugs or supplements to counteract it.

Good luck, although with that attitude you make your own.

[mikeone]

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christyacc;1004856 wrote: Well, I hung up my bac, and so far I'm feeling fine. I stopped a week and a half ago, and feel fine. I drank on the weekend like I normally would have if I was on the bac, and I have had no cravings at all.

I think I'm just going to do this the old fashion way, good ol' will power. I really didn't like how bac made me feel.

Good luck to everyone. I still always check in and see how people are doing and if there's any new news.

I'll second that. I could not tolerate baclofen, even at a very low dosage. I stopped and feel incredibly better. Granted, my wine intake wasn't enormous to begin with--3-6 units each evening. I just wanted to stop it completely. The cure happened to be worse than the condition in my case. I might revisit all this later if circumstances require. However, not ever having had any personal, health, legal or marital issues with my evening wine consumption--I know when I'm near or over the limit--baclofen seems to be overkill in my situation. It's amazing how a little pill like that can mess, and badly mess, with neurotransmitters. The medication might be very useful for hard-core alcoholics. But apparently not for people like me who indulge a bit too much and go to sleep early in the evening. At least without baclofen, I wake up refreshed and ready to go with no hangover or the horrible drugged feeling that even low-dose baclofen gave me. I just can't imagine escalating into the hundred-plus mg dose would entail.

Some things are better left to sort themselves out without interventions, I guess. Good 'ol willpower is really better!

-Mike

[Greg]

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guardian;1004986 wrote: Hopefully in the near future we'll get a gabab agonist mass produced without all the nastiness, or at least a regimen of drugs or supplements to counteract it.

I believe that GHB is used in alcoholism treatment in Italy, and also that Dr Ameisen was interested in it, and some sources say it works somewhat like baclofen as a GABA-B agonist (although other sources say it works largely via a different receptor). GHB is also legally used in the US as a sleep drug under the brand name Xyrem. Unfortunately bad publicity about GHB as a party drug and 'date rape' drug would make it less attractive as a medicine in the eyes of authorities and some patients...the dosage when buying it on the street is probably unknown in most cases, and people probably also combine it with other drugs and alcohol, so that gives it an even worse image.

Another GABA-B agonist drug is phenibut but there is some info out there about it being addictive and causing quite rapid tolerance (although if it worked then the addictiveness might not be too much of a limitation given how addictive alcohol itself can be for some people).

I have also heard of the anti-nausea drug ondansetron being used for alcohol craving but don't know too much about that.

Even GABA-A agonists could possibly be used as a sort of maintenance therapy for some alcoholics, even though these drugs can be addictive. Almost anything is preferable to an alcoholic drinking themselves to death, especially when other therapies have been tried and failed. I remember reading in AA's Big Book (I think!) of a doctor prescribing himself barbiturates as an alcohol substitute, back when they were still used a lot. He eventually went on to become free of alcohol and barbiturates from memory and called his barbiturates "alcohol in solid form" or something very similar.

Hopefully in the future there will be more medical treatment options for alcoholism and something like GHB could be medically dispensed and supervised as a treatment, but who knows how long it may take for this to happen and how many more alcoholics will have died by that time?

Anyway that is just my opinion. I wish everyone all the best with recovery.

[Topsy-Turvy-Tracy]

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Greg;1005317 wrote: I believe that GHB is used in alcoholism treatment in Italy, and also that Dr Ameisen was interested in it, and some sources say it works somewhat like baclofen as a GABA-B agonist (although other sources say it works largely via a different receptor). GHB is also legally used in the US as a sleep drug under the brand name Xyrem. Unfortunately bad publicity about GHB as a party drug and 'date rape' drug would make it less attractive as a medicine in the eyes of authorities and some patients.

Greg, are you talking about ketamine? Roberta wrote about it at one point. I didn't read it as being about "maintenance" as such. Here's a doc who uses it to treat addiction:

Eleusis - Alternative Alcoholism & Drug Addiction Treatment Center

*Edited to add: I think there are worse things than drinking and, in my experience, Ameisen discovered one of them. Past a certain point, bac felt like poison to me.

[terryk]

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Topsy-Turvy-Tracy;1005324 wrote: Greg, are you talking about ketamine? Roberta wrote about it at one point. I didn't read it as being about "maintenance" as such. Here's a doc who uses it to treat addiction:
I believe Greg is talking about what he was actually talking about: GHB, another GABA-b receptor agonist that *is* being used in Italy to treat alcohol addiction and also *is* mentioned my Ameisen in his book as a naturally occuring (it is) chemical in the human body that alcoholics might have a natural deficiency of. GHB is also an illicit recreational drug with a very, very high abuse potential.

Topsy-Turvy-Tracy;1005324 wrote:
*Edited to add: I think there are worse things than drinking and, in my experience, Ameisen discovered one of them. Past a certain point, bac felt like poison to me.

If you are referring to Baclofen, Ameisen didn't discover it. First synthesized as an anti-epilepsy drug in 1920's baclofen has since helped thousands of patients find safe. long-term relief from spasicity. Ameisen did however, discover a novel use for baclofen, that being at a high dose level he became indifferent to drinking alcohol.

Tracy you obviously have some problems with the idea that anyone could benefit from baclofen as many (but not all or even most) have on this forum. Inferring that baclofen is poison (and *worse* than drinking) sounds pretty absurd given the fact that it has proven a safe and efficacious drug for so many (albeit for patients seeking relief from spasicity)(and often at a higher level then the 80mgs the PDR recommends - My pharmacist told me that 150mg/day was his "on label" upper limit, but is okay giving me more).

I thought that you showed some class and maturity by stepping away from the meds forum after you were clearly instigating much of the turmoil that was going on while you were posting. I guess I was wrong because it seems that you had to jump in one last time when somebody makes a change in their recovery plans and say "See I told you so! It doesn't work for me, it can't work for anybody."

Well it works for me. And you make this place a drag.

-tk 260mg/day totally indifferent to alcohol. Hit my switch on Sept 26th. 2010 @280mg/day. And I don't care how Tracy feels about it or anyone else for that matter except my family and friends. And I can see why people who find their "Own Way Out" often leave and stay out of here.

p.s. - christyacc- I apologize for hijacking this thread. I've been reading MWO (and your posts) since early this year and I respect what you have written and I'm sorry baclofen didn't work for you. It was a long, hard road for me and I had intended to quit more than once. Good luck to you and I wish you the best.

[Topsy-Turvy-Tracy]

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terryk;1005350 wrote:
Tracy you obviously have some problems with the idea that anyone could benefit from baclofen as many (but not all or even most) have on this forum.

Wrong, Terry. I was addressing Christy. I was also asking a question of Greg (re: the date rape drug comment, which is how ketamine is typically referred to), and specifically addressed my own experience. But I leave you to your fit.

[mama bear]

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christy...I am in the same boat as you, my friend
Topa made me stupid, bac gave me vertigo and high blood pressure..so now I take antabuse.....

[christyacc]

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Thanks for all your support guys...I really appreciate it. I haven't taken my Bac for about a week and a half, and I drank Friday night and Saturday night (a bit much) and haven't had anything since, and no cravings. I have also started the South Beach diet which doesn't allow AL for 2 weeks, so this is good for me as well.

Thanks again!

[Pride before Fall]

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I don't know much about GHB except that its street name at our clinic is "grievous bodily harm." Coming from a junkie, that's enough for me to stay the heck away from it, but you can sift through the abstracts here if interested: PubMed home (search term "gamma-hydroxybutyrate").

Pride

[beatle]

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Topsy-Turvy-Tracy;1005324 wrote: Greg, are you talking about ketamine? Roberta wrote about it at one point. I didn't read it as being about "maintenance" as such. Here's a doc who uses it to treat addiction:

Eleusis - Alternative Alcoholism & Drug Addiction Treatment Center

*Edited to add: I think there are worse things than drinking and, in my experience, Ameisen discovered one of them. Past a certain point, bac felt like poison to me.

Wrong, Terry. I was addressing Christy. I was also asking a question of Greg (re: the date rape drug comment, which is how ketamine is typically referred to), and specifically addressed my own experience. But I leave you to your fit.

Am I missing something here?

Tracy clearly started her first post: "Greg, are you talking about kertamine?...

After terry responds to the contents of Tracy's post, Tracy responds:

"Wrong, Terry. I was addressing christy."

I can't see anything in Tracy's first post that indicates it is addressing christy.

[beatle]

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I also don't understand why somebody who couldn't tolerate the side effects of baclofen feels the need to continue to visit baclofen threads to reiterate in a generalized way their negative *opinion* about bac based entirely on their own experience.

Others who suffered SEs on baclofen have freely contributed about their SEs on many different threads, most notably on the SEs thread, allowing those who are contemplating baclofen to be warned and know what they can expect, and then make their own informed decision. Along with the other various baclofen threads, it also serves as a forum to exchange and commiserate about SEs for those already on baclofen. All in all, reporting details about one's personal SEs represents an invaluable resource, which is unique to this forum.

Christy was a great asset to the baclofen discussions, and contributed immensely. She kept us updated with her progress as she titrated up, detailing her SEs as she went. When she just couldn't tolerate it, she said so in a rational and dignified way.

There are many, many people for whom one medication or the other didn't work, or had too many side effects (be it baclofen, NAL, topomax, campral, antabuse, or any others). In general, they tend to share their experiences and reasons for quitting, and let the other members make their own conclusions. Contributions from people who did not succeed on one medication or the other are equally valuable as those contributions sharing successes.

Sharing personal experiences adds to the cumulative information base we are building here.

Generalized personal opinions do not contribute to this information base.

[christyacc]

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beatle;1005740 wrote: IChristy was a great asset to the baclofen discussions, and contributed immensely. She kept us updated with her progress as she titrated up, detailing her SEs as she went. When she just couldn't tolerate it, she said so in a rational and dignified way.

Thanks Beatle. :h