Starting baclofen / Alcoholic with few cravings but a desire to drink again

[Seethepony]

Starting baclofen / Alcoholic with few cravings but a desire to drink again

PS. When I talk about baclofen and alcohol being at odds in one's brain, I don't mean the baclofen messes with the booze and the buzz is ruined. I mean I have the feeling there's a real fight going on in there, bar stools flying, jaws getting broken - and brain cells getting ripped asunder in the struggle. I'm talking instant brain damage! That's why I'm so suspect about using baclofen as an easy trip to moderation.

[Bill Gorton]

Starting baclofen / Alcoholic with few cravings but a desire to drink again

Otter;1053170 wrote: There is a web site by that name. It involves taking naltrexone before you have a drink. Naltrexone is an agonist I think. It makes you feel like you have already had a drink so that when you do drink you don't get a hit from it. Over time you stop associating drinking with getting a sense of euphoria so I suppose you just drink for the taste or to be sociable or not
at all. It involves drinking as part of the treatment rather than abstinence. If you combine the two according to Lo0p you revert to the person you were before you drank. So the theory goes. Ameisen is able to drink without relapse. You up your dose of bac after you drink to stop the craving reemerging.
The problem with drinking on baclofen is if you relapse it is more difficult to get sober again. I don't know why. Also there is something called kindling which is drinking on bac which can lead to relapse. So I suggest you contact Lo0p before you start drinking on bac.

Actually, Naltrexone is an opiod antagonist. It's supposed to block some of the euphoria of alcohol. It doesn't produce any mood changes by itself. I took 50 mg/day for about 5 months. I didn't notice much difference in the feeling alcohol gave me, but I felt less of a crash afterward. I could actually have a few drinks and then stop. Which I eventually started doing every day.

[Sunnyvalenting]

Starting baclofen / Alcoholic with few cravings but a desire to drink again

Tbilisi,
I think of baclofen as a substitute for the alcohol to some extent. It occupies some of the same sites in neural pathway but without the risk of addiction.
Studies in rats which I think are pertinent to humans indicate 3 main reasons that "recovered rats" relapse:
1. Exposure to the addictive substance
2. Exposure to the places where the rats used the substance
3. Stress.
I have been successfully cured of my alcohol dependence for over a year now on baclofen. I see absolutely no up side of "testing" just how far I can take that for granted. I have already proven that I have the physical constitution of someone capable of alcohol dependence. Why push my luck. I took me 14 years, $25,000 and a marriage to get to abstinence. It just isn't worth it to do any more research on it. I would rather stay abstinent on this medicine for the rest of my life than live even one day more like I was living 13 months ago. I see very few examples of safe moderation after we have reached and stepped over a certain threshold. If you try it be very honest with yourself and have a secure plan B if your drinking becomes problematic in any way. BTW I agree with your assessment of AA. Not for me. I have other interests which enjoy with passion.
sunny

[Booktree]

Starting baclofen / Alcoholic with few cravings but a desire to drink again

Fantastic post, Sunny. Very well stated, and I couldn't agree more.

[tbilisi]

Starting baclofen / Alcoholic with few cravings but a desire to drink again

I started on the bac today at 10mg, with a plan to go to 30 fairly quickly, assuming SE are not a problem.

I appreciate the perspectives here. I ache for those who relapse -- this now includes some people I became close to in rehab. I do not know why I haven't and do not intend to play footsie with my sobriety, though as you read what I'm writing, you may wonder (because in the realm of ruthless honesty, I have to ask what I mean by that when I also say I want to drink like a normal person again).

At this point, all I'm looking to find is whether someone out there, in a similar situation to mine, is drinking normally again.

Using the one day at a time philosophy, first I'm going to see how I feel on the bac, period.

[bleep]

Starting baclofen / Alcoholic with few cravings but a desire to drink again

Mr A., one of the first baclofen case studies (link can be found in Lo0p's consolidated baclofen info thread) drinks normally on baclofen.

I do, too, but I wouldn't draw any conclusions, I think it's too early to tell.