Sobriety. From one who knows. A sober point of view.

[bleep]

Sobriety. From one who knows. A sober point of view.

I, too, take no enjoyment from getting pissed, and like you, I am finding that realisation odd. It's taken me a long time to realise it though.

I'm not able to help on the 5HTP scenario. I take vitamin B and folic acid as supplements, so aren't able to contribute much on that front.

It is very pleasing to hear that seem to be coming to grips with your dysphoria.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Sobriety. From one who knows. A sober point of view.

ignominious;1101221 wrote: There goes my illusions of grandeur bit again .... imagined I was in "Terninator 2011"!.
Can I have a role in it? I'm partial to Sarah Connor, but I'll be one of the supporting characters just so long as I get to fight evil, and if I've got to die, I'd like it not to be in vain.
I'll let you cast the part!

ignominious;1101221 wrote: 'til I hit the milestone of 6 months where I shall be assessing my new life critically. So no, therapy or boat for me chaps but if I learn something positive everyday it's got to add up to something eventually I figure.

As almost always, Ig, your thoughts and reflections offer up much to think about and reflect on. You're still 3 months ahead of me, and always will be (just as you will always be soooo much older :H kidding, okay?) and I'm listening.

Hope it's a good night for you.
Ne

[ignominious]

Sobriety. From one who knows. A sober point of view.

Thanks Bleepo for your response. The symptoms that I associated with 5HTP have not reappeared so I guess I just didn't react well with it. Ne, we're all trying to grow up in our own way!

Got the dog, 3 month German Shepherd X Doberman (with some Rottweiler in there somewhere I suspect). Despite being abused by my children even as she's eating she hasn't growled once (more patience than me!) She's got big feet so I expect her to grow to a good size. Fantastic, I was slightly dubious about the mix but she's going to be perfect for the family and ward off unwanted guests. Doesn't even chase the chickens.... much!

I reduced my dose to 70mg about 5 days ago and was alarmed at my interest in going to the pub. This has happened before, sudden resurgence of alcoholic thoughts on a small reduction of baclofen. This time rather than increasing my dose again I thought I would ride it out for a bit the old fashioned way - willpower. Frankly, couldn't have been easier, once I had made the decision that I wasn't going to drink despite renewed interest; I lost interest. Hope it's not too early to say but I feel fine on 70mg - if I go on a massive binge you will be the first to know! Metaphorically, I'm using baclofen as a crutch for my battered psyche and as that heals I will have less use for the support.

Something else which may be of interest is that I have experienced a shooting pain in my right toe. The first time I had this was over a year ago before baclofen but it only lasted for a few seconds and didn't repeat for a couple of months. Recently it becoming more chronic and both in duration and frequency of attacks. Its bloody crippling. After ruling out turf-toe I assumed it was gout which had, ironically (seeing as I've stopped drinking) at last caught up with me. But some things didn't add up, I have now come to the conclusion that its due to bad blood circulation. Baclofen SEs affect individuals differently, some show signs of hypertension and some hypotension and some get both at different times. Looking back on my progress I suffered several times from pins and needles so maybe my circulation was down then. My blood pressure has always been fairly low but I think hypotension plus vaso-constriction due to smoking more, plus the lack of vaso-dilation I used to get from alcohol have combined to give me this condition. I got some drugs to dilate the blood vessels and things are hunky dory!

This brings me on to my next project which is to get some buproprion, Wellbutrin, Zyban on my next trip to Bangkok. Not available here. From what I can work out Zyban (indicated for smoking cessation) is the same as WellbutrinSR. I am also still suffering from a general malaise and lack of 'get up and go' so this drug looks to be be tailor made for me. Thanks to the folks who have already suggested this medicine earlier in this thread. Anyone who has experience with this either as a stop smoking aid or as an AD, I would love to here your thoughts and experiences particularly now as this is the road I intend to go down.

Long post. Whew! And if anyone gets to here, thanks for reading! Helps me to put my thoughts into words sometimes.

[startingover]

Sobriety. From one who knows. A sober point of view.

I love reading your updates especially now you got a dog!! She sounds gorgeous. My dogs are my life savers.
Great idea to try the zyban/wellbutrin. I have heard excellent reports about it. As you know, I am a bit of a fan of AD;s

[bleep]

Sobriety. From one who knows. A sober point of view.

Hmmm. Interesting points there Ig. I also get pins and needles a lot these days, hadn't really thought about it too much until you posted this. Makes me wonder.

Good news on the 70mg front. It would be nice if ultimately we can all remove baclofen from our lives entirely. I think this is much more of a possibility for those who pursue abstinence though. Moderators, I suspect, may have to rely on baclofen a lot more. Time will tell.

I used Zyban to give up smoking a few years ago. I can't really say that it helped that much, although I know a couple of people here who swear by it. I got to 6 weeks, which is my standard effort at stopping, and then foolishly re-started. I don't remember if I was still taking Zyban when I restarted. Knowing me, probably not.

Currently I am 1 week smoke free. I really think baclofen is helping, although I am aware of grasping at any straw to help the battle tip in my favour. Saying that, I am somewhat of a veteran at giving up attempts, and this is feeling easier than the others. It can only be baclofen. I'm still on 270/300mg's, a reasonably high dose.

[ignominious]

Sobriety. From one who knows. A sober point of view.

Hi Starts, how're things, good I hope. Looking forward to getting some bupropien, should be in Bkk at the weekend. A year ago the thought of me self medicating with ADs would have been a laughable. Now it looks like the most logical step forward.

Mr Bleep, they say that most smokers give up multiple times (maybe as many as 8 or more) before it sticks so hopefully this is the one! I think if I can give up for 6 weeks I'll be home and dry. My previous attempts were all sabotaged by that one innocuous little puff ... whilst I was drunk. Just need something to give me a nudge I hope. I regret no trying to stop when I was at my switch dose because I'm sure it would be easier. Thanks for relating your experience, I'll let you know how I fair.

[redhead77]

Sobriety. From one who knows. A sober point of view.

Ah, you are a smoker. I guess we are a pathetic lot. Good to know I have a few more times I can quit before, it may actually stick. Baclofen does not help my smoking. It has made it go through the roof. I don't know why. It seems most people are able to use it to stop.

Where is the girlie grat was talking about? Was it a temporary?

[ignominious]

Sobriety. From one who knows. A sober point of view.

I'm sure my smoking increased, probably because I wasn't so anxious about it! 'bout 3 packs a day. Theoretically bac should help to reduce the cravings but I think the cigarettes have much more of a habit hold on me than al. I'm just hopeing the Wellbutrin will give me enough of an impetus to stop for a few days and then I'll do the rest...........hopefully...........maybe.

The girlie is the emoticom I used.

[moglor]

Sobriety. From one who knows. A sober point of view.

ignominious;1113347 wrote: Anyone who has experience with this either as a stop smoking aid or as an AD, I would love to here your thoughts and experiences particularly now as this is the road I intend to go down.

I take it as an AD, 150mg/day of generic bupropion SR. It helps moderate the extremes of my depression, but doesn't remove it entirely. I like it because it has zero SEs for me, and I can't really even tell I'm taking it, other than by the fact that I feel less miserable all the time.

Someone commented on "retarded ejaculation" as a side effect. I do experience this, but it's from baclofen, not bupropion, determined by the fact that I don't have it while on bupropion alone, but have it on bac (with or without bup.)

A close friend of mine used it for smoking cessation to good effect. Personally, I've never felt strongly about smoking one way or the other since I quit, so I can't speak directly to its efficacy in that regard.

-John

[Murphyx]

Sobriety. From one who knows. A sober point of view.

No, retarded ejaculation is an SE of prozac. Bupropion has the opposite effect.

[ignominious]

Sobriety. From one who knows. A sober point of view.

Sort of looking forward to the opposite effect. Never been a fan of amphetamines but it feels like that's what I need atm. Something to rev me up a bit. We'll see.

How can you not feel strongly about smoking? I used to empty outside dustbins to find stubbs if the shops were closed, take a cig break during final exams, furtively smoke out the window in hospitals and in bogs on planes. Now I have a large enough stash at home to start a tobacconist! If there's a nuclear war I'm good for bac and fags (dammit - had to use that word) for a month. Great to hear you friend had success. How long did it take him?

[moglor]

Sobriety. From one who knows. A sober point of view.

Her. A few weeks. She quit cold turkey and said the cravings were pretty minimal with the Zyban, and she tapered it off relatively quickly. I could ask her for details if you are interested.

Maybe I was never addicted that bad? I dunno. At my heaviest, I "only" smoked about a pack and a half a day. Quitting was very difficult. The first time, I did it cold turkey. The second time was with the gum. The second time was when I quit for the longest term (maybe about a year) before picking it up again, and during that entire year, I swear I thought about nothing but smoking. Everywhere I went people were smoking. Every TV show, every movie, smoking. Ugh! The last time I quit was again cold turkey, and for whatever reason, it stuck, and I wasn't plagued by those same thoughts. Just woke up one morning and said: "I've had enough of this."

The only things that have been harder to quit so far have been alcohol and diet pepsi, and I haven't fully succeeded with either of those yet.

[Murphyx]

Sobriety. From one who knows. A sober point of view.

Oh no, now I've got to make fun of you. Ig, how many fags do you suck on in a day? :H

[ignominious]

Sobriety. From one who knows. A sober point of view.

Gotta point out, Murph, that I've already used that joke once today, had to type quickly to get it in before you! So good effort :goodjob:

ignominious;1113559 wrote: Have a few sleepovers with your girlfriends until you get used to it!:H

Maybe the word doesn't have the same connotations in Africa.

[ignominious]

Sobriety. From one who knows. A sober point of view.

Hey Mog, I missed your post previously, my attention and intention was focused on putting me on the straight side of the fag jokes. Maybe I can add homophobia to my hangups! Oh, and good luck to you with the diet pepsi!

I'm interested to find out if your friend or other Wellbutrin users experience a decreasing desire to smoke before they quit or only feel the effects of the drug when they quit. I've been on 'it' for just over a week now and smoking just as much as before. They say that you should attempt to quit during the second week so I'm almost there and have no confidence at all!

As to other effects of bupropion, I can't say that I'm getting any except more difficulty sleeping in the evening. Rather than take all my baclofen in the morning I am taking half at 10pm which seems to have resolved this problem.

I am taking Arcoxia for my toe so that make a total of 3 different drugs atm which is totally out of character, so am skittish about that!

I had a drink while in Bangkok with a friend, it's been about 30 days since my last drink. I guess I drank 1/4 of a bottle of whiskey, my mate finished it and then we went out and sank a couple of beers. I could feel the buzz and blood going to my head but got absolutely no euphoric feeling. Pre bac days this would have been enough alcohol to cloud my judgement and having an accomplice for the evening, I would have drank 'til blackout. Encouraged by this and having spent 2 weeks at 70mg, plus the fact that I'm not happy having so many drugs swishing around my system: I decide to taper to 60mg yesterday.