:new:
I have been lurking here for many months. I feel so fortunate to have found this forum that I figured it was time to start contributing. So here goes!
As a reference point, I am a 45 yo male who has struggled with AL for the past 25+ years. There have been periods where I was able to keep things under control, and other periods not so much... The past year and half my drinking has been more consistent than ever. Before starting BAC I was drinking 1 to 1.5 bottles of wine every weeknight, with more (occasionally much more) on the weekends. OK, enough of that.
After reading the threads on this forum ad nauseum and researching BAC , I made the decision to give it a try. Like so many here, I did not want to go to my primary care with this, but I still wanted the input from an MD. I have a good college buddy that is a successful internal medicine doc in the midwest. It was a very tough call to make, but to my relief he was familiar with Bac as a treatment for alchoholism and was very supportive. The only thing he made me promise was to keep enough Bac hidden away for an 8 day titration down in case of emergency. He even told me to put it in a safe deposit box!
I purchased my Bac from 4RX. It is Fexobac made by Genpharma and seems to be good quality. My first order took 16 days to arrive (I live on the East Coast US), my second order 14 days.
One of my greatest worries before starting Bac was my size - I am 6' 6" and 260 pounds (118 kg for our metric friends). I was not thrilled with the prospect of having to go above 300 mg to hit my switch. I had read that slow titration may result in hitting the switch at a lower dose, so I decided this is the route I would take.
I started taking Bac on 11/19 at 30 mg/day. I have titrated up 10 mg/week and am currently on 80 mg/day. I plan on continuing at +10mg/week until I get to wherever I get - I am not going to worry about it now.
I have really noticied a difference the past 2 weeks. The desire to drink, while still there, has greatly subsided. Over the past year and a half it was very rare that I would go more than 48 hours AF. Well last week I went 4 days AF, had some wine Fri and Sat, and right now I am on day 5 AF. If this is as good as it gets its fine with me!
Quick rundown on the SE's:
Bad: Somnolence daily; headaches occassionally; a little forgetfulness from time to time (I think..actually I just forgot); flatulence (sorry!) the first couple of weeks; and snoring (my wife used to say I only snored when I drank too much. Ha! Proved her wrong!
).
Good: A great feeling of calm and reduced anxiety; sleeping like a baby; really cool, vivid dreams (no nightmares yet); more energy at the gym (believe it or not); and lastly libido ('nuff said on this one).
I'm sure you are all asleep by now reading this long post! Things are good for me right now, and that is good enough. It is Friday and I am even thinking about not having a drink tonight and hitting the hay early. But if not, no big deal. I have had 25 years of guilt / self-loathing over my drinking and I am done with that crap.
Thank you all for this great forum!
I have been lurking here for many months. I feel so fortunate to have found this forum that I figured it was time to start contributing. So here goes!
As a reference point, I am a 45 yo male who has struggled with AL for the past 25+ years. There have been periods where I was able to keep things under control, and other periods not so much... The past year and half my drinking has been more consistent than ever. Before starting BAC I was drinking 1 to 1.5 bottles of wine every weeknight, with more (occasionally much more) on the weekends. OK, enough of that.
After reading the threads on this forum ad nauseum and researching BAC , I made the decision to give it a try. Like so many here, I did not want to go to my primary care with this, but I still wanted the input from an MD. I have a good college buddy that is a successful internal medicine doc in the midwest. It was a very tough call to make, but to my relief he was familiar with Bac as a treatment for alchoholism and was very supportive. The only thing he made me promise was to keep enough Bac hidden away for an 8 day titration down in case of emergency. He even told me to put it in a safe deposit box!
I purchased my Bac from 4RX. It is Fexobac made by Genpharma and seems to be good quality. My first order took 16 days to arrive (I live on the East Coast US), my second order 14 days.
One of my greatest worries before starting Bac was my size - I am 6' 6" and 260 pounds (118 kg for our metric friends). I was not thrilled with the prospect of having to go above 300 mg to hit my switch. I had read that slow titration may result in hitting the switch at a lower dose, so I decided this is the route I would take.
I started taking Bac on 11/19 at 30 mg/day. I have titrated up 10 mg/week and am currently on 80 mg/day. I plan on continuing at +10mg/week until I get to wherever I get - I am not going to worry about it now.
I have really noticied a difference the past 2 weeks. The desire to drink, while still there, has greatly subsided. Over the past year and a half it was very rare that I would go more than 48 hours AF. Well last week I went 4 days AF, had some wine Fri and Sat, and right now I am on day 5 AF. If this is as good as it gets its fine with me!
Quick rundown on the SE's:
Bad: Somnolence daily; headaches occassionally; a little forgetfulness from time to time (I think..actually I just forgot); flatulence (sorry!) the first couple of weeks; and snoring (my wife used to say I only snored when I drank too much. Ha! Proved her wrong!
).Good: A great feeling of calm and reduced anxiety; sleeping like a baby; really cool, vivid dreams (no nightmares yet); more energy at the gym (believe it or not); and lastly libido ('nuff said on this one).
I'm sure you are all asleep by now reading this long post! Things are good for me right now, and that is good enough. It is Friday and I am even thinking about not having a drink tonight and hitting the hay early. But if not, no big deal. I have had 25 years of guilt / self-loathing over my drinking and I am done with that crap.
Thank you all for this great forum!
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