The order has been placed...

[bleep69]

The order has been placed...

Does anyone have any advice about titrating down? It's just that I am involved in the biggest deal of my life, and I can't afford the drunk look that baclofen is giving me! This will set me financially for life, and I have a meeting tomorrow morning at 8:30 (little less than 24 hours from now). I simply cannot afford to appear slightly drunk! Can I lower the dose enough in such a short period to significantly alter this horrible side effect of a too rapid titration?

I would like to warn people at this point about titrating too rapidly. I thought that because there were no unpleasant SE's I could shoot up. Don't do it. Your mind is adjusting to baclofen, and needs time to do it. I'll list the unpleasant SE's later...

[bleep69]

The order has been placed...

UK I am still drinking, but have decided that today and tomorrow, for various reasons, are going to AF. No matter what. I am using my stubbornness here, I'm not drinking, I don't care what happens. I'm not counting the glass of wine I had at 1o'clock this morning!

[bleep69]

The order has been placed...

I now fully understand what you were saying in your thread about baclofen fucking up your business life one way or another! Sorry you had to go through it, hopefully I can pull this off... Pressure has always been good for, hopefully this is the case here!

[tiptronic_ct]

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bleep69;1043679 wrote: Does anyone have any advice about titrating down? It's just that I am involved in the biggest deal of my life, and I can't afford the drunk look that baclofen is giving me! This will set me financially for life, and I have a meeting tomorrow morning at 8:30 (little less than 24 hours from now). I simply cannot afford to appear slightly drunk! Can I lower the dose enough in such a short period to significantly alter this horrible side effect of a too rapid titration?

I would like to warn people at this point about titrating too rapidly. I thought that because there were no unpleasant SE's I could shoot up. Don't do it. Your mind is adjusting to baclofen, and needs time to do it. I'll list the unpleasant SE's later...

Time your doses in such a way that it is a close as possible to 8 hours after the last one when you go into your meeting. You can pop the next dose when you're done.

You need to taper down slowly - do it fast, and you run similar risks as with Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome or sudden withdrawal from benzos. Don't go there.

I can only talk about my own experience: I found it poissible to reduce my dose by up to about 25% per day for the 1st 2 days and then by about 10% thereafter. That was at my first attempt, when I also titrated up too fast and ran the risk of running out of bac.

[bleep69]

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Thanks Tip, good advice. These days I will be awake hours before 8:30, so will adjust accordingly. 25% is huge, that's extremely reassuring. I hope it reduces the drunk look enough!

Thank you.

[tiptronic_ct]

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My pleasure

But remember: it is NEVER advice when posted here

(said with tongue firmly in cheek)

[Guest]

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Bleep

Remove the alcohol and you may find yourself much clearer in thoughts as well as appearances.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

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I amended my post from last night. I have not experienced anything close to those dramatic SEs and didn't want to imply that I had.
Any dramatic SEs that I have experienced are a direct result of playing with the amount, and the timing, of baclofen titration.
Anyone looking for SEs can find them, just play with the this miraculous medication!
Glad you're re-evaluating, Bleep. I hope you won't let it derail you. Tapering down can be uncomfortable, too. Use caution and common sense. Tip has been around, and has found the solution. Hope you're listening.

Good luck.

[bleep69]

The order has been placed...

Tip, whose cheek is your tongue in? I have been taking my dose in small, regular amounts (8 x 30mg's). Do you think it's safe to suddenly have a 8 hour break? I now it's NEVER advice, some guidance is extremely useful and appreciated!

Side effects are there for all to enjoy, that's for sure. I was almost convinced my baclofen wasn't real, and wanted some side effects. Be careful what you wish for! These are (so far)! :wow:

- Intense manic periods whenever I wake up, that I'm almost not present for. My wife (who amazingly is very supportive of this whole thing) says she is nervous of me during these periods, I'm not myself, apparently. One such period had me under the bed at 1 in the morning, trying to lift it up to rescue a phantom friend who I thought was trapped under it. It made sense at the time... At least I think I was, not sure if the experienced is real or imagined. This is the worst SE so far, closely followed by;

- Massive emotional swings after taking my dose. Either high or low, had both. I have never been depressive before.

- Slightly drunk feeling and appearance.

- There are more minor ones, that mostly devolve from the above mentioned SE's

- I have never been a cleaner, or interested in household repairs. Suddenly I have tidied up the DVD collection, sorted my drawers out, my desk is tidy, I've fixed the stove and I'm eying out my cupboard for a spring clean! Someone else posted about about this effect, saying they didn't want baclofen to make them clean their house, and I now know what they mean! Although in my case, it's a good thing, my level of disinterest in this sort of thing boarded on passionate.

- Absentmindedness, extremely so. I had printed out some papers for my doctor about baclofen, and forgot to take them to him, so I returned home. I wandered in to the house, had breakfast, and left again, without the papers. Realised I had forgotten them again, so went home, buggered about for a bit, got in the car again. Luckily I remembered the papers at this point, so finally got them and delivered them. Could only laugh, it was a like a bad Monty Python sketch. Similar to your story neva! Forgot to post about this effect the first time around!

UK, I hear you on the drinking thing. That's the plan for today and tomorrow. I hope it works. There's a dinner on Thursday, and one the main reasons I would prefer moderation over abstinence is boozy dinners with friends, so no plan there for now.

Thank you all for responding.

Cheers,

Bleep.

[bleep69]

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I can see now how baclofen can cause a switch. It's an extremely powerful drug. OA had real balls to try this without knowing it worked, blindly pushing through these side effects with no guidance. Would eb fascinating to know his thought process, must order the book. What a star.

I can also see that I have been thinking baclofen would be a silver bullet. I don't think it is anymore. Some of this has to come from me, so I'm looking forward to a couple of days alcohol free.

[tiptronic_ct]

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bleep69;1043798 wrote: Tip, whose cheek is your tongue in? I have been taking my dose in small, regular amounts (8 x 30mg's). Do you think it's safe to suddenly have a 8 hour break? I now it's NEVER advice, some guidance is extremely useful and appreciated!

Cheers,

Bleep.

Baclofen stays in your system for at least 8 hours, with peak blood concentration after about 3 - 4 hours, if memory serves - refer early posts (mid 2009) when we still bothered about half-lives of meds etc.

If you feel nervous about it, take a smaller amount after 6 hours - just 10 mg, and another 20mg as soon as your meeting is over. That way, you run absolutely no risk of sudden withdrawal, or even discomfort for that matter.

You can alos reduce each of your doses by 10mg with immediate effect. If you feel any kind of anxiety setting in, you simply take a 10mg p.r.n. dose and give it an 1 1/2 hours to kick in.

[tiptronic_ct]

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bleep69;1043805 wrote:
I can also see that I have been thinking baclofen would be a silver bullet. I don't think it is anymore. Some of this has to come from me, so I'm looking forward to a couple of days alcohol free.

Hallelujah!!!!!!!!!

:goodjob:

[Grommet]

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Bleep,

Those SE's suck. You seem to have a good attitude about it :goodjob:. Just keep pushing though - don't lose heart!

I went to taking fewer doses further apart about a month ago and it helped for me. Granted, this is a data point of one :H. I think Tip's point about the half-lives is something to consider. (I am currently taking 45 mg at 7 am, 45 mg at noon, 50 mg at 6 pm and 10 mg at 10 pm). Also, I have skipped a dose once or twice due to an important meeting and picked back up without any problems.

Keep after it!

[bleep69]

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Well, it's witching hour, and so far so good!

Tip, thank you again for your helpful post! Life saving suggestions, not advice!

Grommet, it's interesting that you are seeing better results at fewer, higher doses. I may try that after tomorrow's meeting. I'll let you know if I have any success... The side effects do suck, but after my last dose I had a euphoric feeling, so they are evening out!

It's interesting about the half life that Tip posted. I have been feeling an almost immediate effect from my doses, now I realise it's the previous dose kicking in and not the current one.

[Guest]

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Interesting about modding. I have plenty of "boozy" opportunities, I do enjoy meals out and have commitments where it would be so very easy to join in, but I let others do the boozing since I'm not willing to risk becoming a liability. Same with nightclubs which I do visit occasionally, I go for music and dancing. Booze would spoil it and I just wouldn't enjoy it as much under the influence.