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Hello, everyone - My Baclofen Experience

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    Hello, everyone - My Baclofen Experience

    Hello Everyone

    I started out with The Sinclair Method and in the first week I went from drinking 140 UK units a week, to drinking 50 units. After 10 weeks on TSM, I was back up to around 90 units a week. When I had a 130 unit week, I decided I would give Baclofen a try.

    I started off with 30mg of Bac to see how I would react to taking it as well as Nal and alcohol. The first day was ok, so I increased to 40mg baclofen and on the second day of taking this, I felt sick during the night. The third day of 40mg I felt so sick during the night that threw up three or four times. Was this the baclofen interacting with the alcohol?

    The following day, I decided that if I was to continue taking the Baclofen, I would have to try to stay AF (throwing up is a big fear for me).

    The beginning of this week marked four weeks without alcohol.

    I still want to drink, but my desire to avoid throwing up has always been greater than my desire to drink, so at the moment I am alcohol free.

    I am currently taking 130mg Baclofen daily, and I have not yet 'hit the switch', which people describe as experiencing indifference to alcohol, but there have been days where I have totally forgotten about alcohol. Perhaps this is just the way of the brain adjusting to a new routine.

    Since I stopped drinking on baclofen, I have experienced virtually no side effects. The only difference I feel is that if I lay down on my bed and watch TV at 10pm (two hours after my last dose), in about 30 minutes or so, I fall asleep in the manner of someone who is controlled like a light switch. I have also noticed that my sleep tends to be more restful, and I am less likely to wake up in the night. Overall I would describe sleep to be similar to the way I used to sleep as a child.

    #2
    Hello, everyone - My Baclofen Experience

    Oh, and I keep forgetting to mention, I lost 10lbs in four weeks. :rockon:

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      #3
      Hello, everyone - My Baclofen Experience

      :welcome: Persona!

      Congratulations on all your AF time. :goodjob:You must feel great and congratulations on your weight loss....obviously due to no AL.

      This is just my opinion, but I think the vomiting was not due to Baclofen, I think you might have been suffering from withdrawal symptoms. I don't know how long you had been consuming 130 units per week but if my division is any good, that is about 18.5 units per day. I've never suffered from withdrawal symptoms, but this sounds consistent with what other people have reported in drinking the same amount as you were drinking.

      Again, welcome and keep us posted. We love hearing success stories like yours!

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        #4
        Hello, everyone - My Baclofen Experience

        Thanks, Rusty.

        I was sick when I drank at the same time as using Baclofen. When I stopped drinking, but continued to take the Baclofen, I was no longer sick, so I definitely think it was the combination of alcohol and Baclofen.

        I'm not saying that everyone else will have the same experience though.

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          #5
          Hello, everyone - My Baclofen Experience

          Hi Persona,

          Yup, you might have been experiencing the hangover-whilst-drinking-on-Baclofen nightmare. My last hangover was May 28th...the first day I took Baclofen....30 mg. I threw up, too, and I thought "NEVER AGAIN." I hate hate hate throwing up and rarely did even when my drinking was at its worst, but that drinking on Bac experience was the last time for me. Thank God it was the last time....I wanted to DIE. As far as anyone else having the same experience you did as far as drinking while on Bac, yes, it's very similar.

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            #6
            Hello, everyone - My Baclofen Experience

            A place where hundreds of people experiencing the same things can come and talk about it. The internet is a beautiful thing.

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              #7
              Hello, everyone - My Baclofen Experience

              Hi Persona and Rusty, Have been reading this forum since the New Year but have not introduced myself yet. Just read Persona's thread and as I have more time tonight I thought I would share my experience. Have been on Baclofen since February, so it's going on 1 year. Started on 2x10mg a day and have not looked back since. Was completely indifferent to alcohol from the first tab. so guess I hit the switch at that time! However, I had suffered body aches from the start and although the good of being completely AF outweighed the bad, I reduced the doze to 15mg a day in November, '10 which resulted in the aches all but disappear. Never a good sleeper anyway, my sleep pattern is still not good as I don't seem to get very tired but have not felt sleepy as others have reported. No other SE's. Just wanted to let you and the others know that after over 30 years of drinking I am now completely AF and 100% indifferent to it and all due to Baclofen. I have alcohol in the house now since Xmas and it does not affect me at all - much rather a cup of tea. I wake up every morning thankful for being free of alcohol. I wish everyone the best and thank you all for being there to help others going through this experience - it means a lot to be able to tune in. K.

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                #8
                Hello, everyone - My Baclofen Experience

                Wow Katherine - you made my day :thanks: and :applaud: for you!

                And Persona, welcome and I too congratulate you on your AF time! :applaud: Glad to hear you are feeling better on the Bac. Before I started on Bac I read the hangovers are brutal - but you really cannot find words to describe them!
                Good judgment comes from experience; experience comes from bad judgment.

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                  #9
                  Hello, everyone - My Baclofen Experience

                  Welcome Katherine and Persona. This is a great place, and a wonderful source of information. You'll see near the top of the current post list a post made by Dr Ameisen, which is a great place to start. Congratulations on you AF time both. Wow Katherine, indifferent from the word go, lucky you! Consider starting your own thread.
                  Having hit the switch, I now post under the username "bleep". Look forward to seeing you on the other side...

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                    #10
                    Hello, everyone - My Baclofen Experience

                    Thanks, everyone.

                    Katherine - that is a dream reaction to Baclofen. The most annoying thing about Baclofen is having to take so many pills.

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                      #11
                      Hello, everyone - My Baclofen Experience

                      Hi and welcome Persona and Katherine! I'm really glad that you decided to chime in!

                      It sounds like you both have had a pretty amazing response to bac-treatment. I hope you'll continue to share your experience(s) with bac.
                      Dealing with sobriety also seems to be a theme here atm. Or maybe it seems that way, since I'm contemplating that for the near future? :H

                      I'll resist the temptation to inundate you with questions!
                      Agreed, Katherine, it's a gift to find others to connect with in this manner. It would've been a very lonely journey for me, without MWO.

                      :welcome:
                      Stick around!
                      ne

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                        #12
                        Hello, everyone - My Baclofen Experience

                        Thanks Persona. Yes, I have been most fortunate that it has worked out this way for me. Basically, Bac has taken away the anxiety and stress so I no longer self-medicate on alcohol (helped me I suppose, for many years, but then led to dependancy = more anxiety and panic attacks. It was a vicious circle and I hated being out of control - especially so, during the 3 years previous to starting on Bac. when the periods between drinking and not drinking became less and less. Must add, at this stage of my contribution to this forum, that I bought my Bac (Pacifen 10) from InhousePharmacy online and I live in the UK which I believe has some Drs in clinics now starting to prescribe this wonderful medicine and helping others in our devastating predicament - but my doctors offered no help - they just did not seem to believe how big a problem I had although they did know that I was desparate to do something about it. However, the way I did it was, I firstly read every book I could and then read Dr A's book. His book was the big turning point! I decided to look for Bac online. The first 100 came through the post. I then waited till a lull in my drinking, that is, during a stress, anxiety free period then started the Bac. The rest is an AF history without even thinking of alcohol...... it means nothing to me now. I have no objection to others drinking around me and can have alcohol in the house with no thoughts at all of taking any - it has no interest at all for me..... there is no need for it and no point taking it. I eat out often and sparkling water is the norm for me as alcohol is a non-entity - I have no need to self-medicate on it any more. I feel great every day but have put on a lot of weight. I think that this is mostly because I don't do any exercise in my new found happiness - doing something about this though so's to fit into my clothes again! I say all this in the I hope that it will be of benefit to others who read this forum. I've read that some people are still drinking and taking Bac. I think that trying to abstain or cut down to the bare minimum or even take librium to get over the first week or so, before starting Bac. may work well for them and maybe they won't need to take such a large amount of Bac. and get the same result as me. I started Bac. looking to cut down on my drinking; control my drinking; drinking socially etc. but became 100% teetotal after that first tab!!!! and loving it!!!!!This is what I wish for you all.... with all my heart. K. xx :h

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                          #13
                          Hello, everyone - My Baclofen Experience

                          I'm currently on 170mg, still with no side effects apart from the late night falling asleep while watching TV thing.

                          I have had a lot of days where it has not occurred to me that I might like to have a beer, and I had one day where I thought 'I would really like to go and buy a case of Heineken now', then I realised I had missed my morning dose that I was supposed to take six hours prior to that thought.

                          Today, I have not missed any doses, but I feel like I would really like a cold beer or seven. I suppose I haven't hit the magic dose yet...

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                            #14
                            Hello, everyone - My Baclofen Experience

                            Glad you're back! Sorry to hear that the craving is still there. bummer. Not sure what that means exactly... thinking about drinking vs. drinking thoughts or something?
                            Whatever the case is, hang in there. I look forward to hearing about the rest of the process for you.

                            :rockon: indeed!

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                              #15
                              Hello, everyone - My Baclofen Experience

                              Good to see you again. You are certainly having an easy ride with the SE's, is there a reason you aren't going up any quicker?

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