Sassy's bac journey

[SassyLassy]

Sassy's bac journey

Does anyone know, how do you go about requesting such tests? I have a gynecologist, a dermatologist, and a shrink. They're all part of the local Mayo Clinic . I guess I can just call and request an overall physical. Just wondering what others have done.

[redhead77]

Sassy's bac journey

I'm writing from my phone. Call mayo and tell them you don't have a primary care physician. Ask whose accepting new patients. You'll have to take a chance and you may not find the perfect doc, but at least you can get a physical. Ask for the full blood work. Tell he/she you've never had any baseline tests. Ask for a CBC and complete metabolic panel. That would be a good start.

[bleep]

Sassy's bac journey

As Mog says, it's a good idea regardless, to go have a full test done. It will be great to come back to in 6 months and see what benefits have accrued from not drinking.

As to getting off baclofen - I don't see why you would choose that. You haven't reached indifference, although you sounded close. Maybe stay at your current level and have a little breather for a few days while you stock up on some more resolve, and then attack it with a big stick again?

You will find that you are able to go quicker the second time around, and won't have to delay so much at the various levels. The SE's may even have abated somewhat.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Sassy's bac journey

Hey, Sassy. All the stuff that Redhead mentioned is included in my annual physical. Meaning that it's just the normal routine stuff for a normal routine physical. I think if you share with them that you're experiencing water retention they'll be on the lookout for the things that might contribute to that. I spent a lot of time analyzing my results myself in order to cover my bases, before I told my doc about bac.

Then I gave up with trying to be a medico and told her and she ordered a liver and kidney test and called it a day when they came back normal! :H

Good luck. (btw, I envy you your access to the Mayo Clinic! Wow!)

[redhead77]

Sassy's bac journey

If you get a CMP (complete metabolic panel), it will show both renal function and two of the most important liver enzymes (AST and ALT). They could run a full liver panel on you, if they found either of these enzymes off. I'm not sure you want a full liver panel, unless needed. They would run something called a GGTP, which can be elevated if you are abusing alcohol. Life insurance companies use it to try to uncover the people who are abusing alcohol, but are lying about it. Even if their other enzymes are normal, they could have an elevated GGTP.

You will need more than the CMP if your liver enzymes are elevated. Don't worry about it too much. Mine have never been, and many others here, have had normal liver enzymes. Even after years of heavy alcohol abuse. They say, for your liver enzymes to be elevated, 80% of your liver needs to be damaged. You are still very young.

I do agree with Ne, you should tell them you're retaining water. They will certaintly do these tests as a baseline. Maybe more. You can always PM me if you are wondering about other tests, or results.

[SassyLassy]

Sassy's bac journey

From Bleep: "As to getting off baclofen - I don't see why you would choose that. You haven't reached indifference, although you sounded close. Maybe stay at your current level and have a little breather for a few days while you stock up on some more resolve, and then attack it with a big stick again?"

I don't think I made it very clear the level of SE's I was having. Couldn't settle in to sleep, felt like I had to keep moving, stretching, like a body yawn, but constant. Water retention, where I got as high as 10 lbs of water. Mental fuzziness/loopiness/what to call it, but I didn't feel safe driving home from work one day, and switched driving duties with my ex husband because again, I didn't feel safe to drive. That's when I started coming down. I was at 280, came down to 180, and now,I'm at 200. I'm going to try this again. But Red, Ne, others who have switched, do the side effects go away after the switch? I need more info on this. Thanks for any help/direction.

[bleep]

Sassy's bac journey

Yes, the SE's very much fade with time, regardless as to whether you reach indifference or not. Simply being at a level for a while will make the SE's more tolerable.

Are you noticing that 200mg's seems a little easier this time around than it did last time you were there?

[SassyLassy]

Sassy's bac journey

So, should I keep the BAC to myself? Not sure what to do, and really appreciate the insight from those who've "been there".

Sassy

[SassyLassy]

Sassy's bac journey

Prometa?

Anyone heard of Prometa? I was watching 60 minutes on CNBC - the program is about American Health and talked about a "therapy that may break addiction in a single treatment"

This caught my attention.

The drug is a mix of 3 or 4 other drugs, and sounds in many ways like Bac. Wondering if anyone has heard of it or if it's been discussed on these boards.

I'm still at 200 mg, but am due to go up - need to check my spreadsheet. Hubbie has not brought home booze for several nights. We each had a beer last night with dinner, and alas, I have taken to a private stash again, since he has taken to limiting the amount of A in the house.

Got a call late today, to switch my skin cancer "surgery" from next week to Friday...yikes. Hubbie and both sons will be out of town...probably not a big deal, but I'll ask if I need to have "backup" help before I agree to the change in dates.

Sass

[redhead77]

Sassy's bac journey

SassyLassy;1126566 wrote:
But Red, Ne, others who have switched, do the side effects go away after the switch? I need more info on this. Thanks for any help/direction.

Sass,
I tried to get on here and write a response to you last night, and I couldn't do it. I was too damn tired. I'll be back later to respond. Hugs.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Sassy's bac journey

Morning, Sass.

If you get a minute, check out some of the other threads. We're having rather in depth discussions of life after indifference all over the place.

I'm swamped myself, so my answer will have to be short. Yes. The SEs, the truly onerous ones, dissipate. Better not to rush bac down and then have to go up again. You'll find more info on other threads, and maybe have some insight to share, too...
We can't really help, as you pointed out, navigating the relationship.

As to the med you listed: I think that's the one they've been working on out of UVA. Very expensive. At a very well endowed school, led by VERY well known addiction specialist, funded by big pharma.
But maybe I'm wrong?
Bac worked for me. Hope it works for you, too.
:l
Ne
(Edit: I think I forgot to mention that my mother, also a professor/doctor/researcher in her own related field, at an even more well-endowed university, reached out to the people at UVA asking about the treatment they were investigating. She did not receive the courtesy of a reply.)

[redhead77]

Sassy's bac journey

Later, is much later. I worked yesterday. I don't know what to tell you about coming clean, in regards to the baclofen. I will say, you will have alcoholism on your medical record. Forever. You don't have an established physician. I'm not sure how supportive a physician will be, who is a stranger to your history. The people who tell their docs, usually are telling personal docs who know them well. Many of them already knew about their alcohol abuse. Some were seeking a script for it.

It is your choice. I could tell you what I would do. Maybe you can already tell? From hanging with the gang, I might guess, many wouldn't do what I would. We've had this discussion a few times, elsewhere. I can decipher the results of tests and determine if I need follow up. If I had something truly wrong with me (in relation to my drinking), I would divulge. I would tell about the drinking and the baclofen, if ever it became necessary.

The side effect question. My SEs did not get better on my switch dose. I stayed put for 4 weeks. Terryk, said it took 3 weeks for his SEs to peak, and then they got better. I waited 4, for good measure. I then went down, and way too fast. I knew I was coming down too fast. I was so very out of it. I couldn't take tests for work.

I'm fine now. I'm on a much lower dose than my switch dose. There's been some speculation, I should go higher.

We are all so individual. I would think for you, the SEs will resolve. I don't ever regret doing this. I've never heard anyone say they regret it. The ones who have found indifference.

I better finish this post in case I lose power again. We are having severe storms.

Keep us updated on your choices. :l

[SassyLassy]

Sassy's bac journey

Update

Had my skin cancer removed on Friday, have stitches on my cheek about 1 1/2" long. But they got it all, so yeah. They'd asked me to stop taking all multivitamins and supplements - not sure why - so I did for about 5 or 6 days, but I'm back at it again.

I've been waffling over the bac...the SE's are so yucky, I feel like crap, and I just want that to go away. I was convinced yesterday afternoon that I was done, was going to bac off. Constipation, edema, head "swimming", needing to move contantly when trying to sleep, etc etc. So today, I updated my bac dosing chart with a plan to go down. Then I came onto the site to see what a "safe" titration down is, saw that it needed to be S_L_O_W, and thought, really? After this long, that's what I'm going to do? I had 4 AF days, 2 consective, when I was at my highest dose of bac - about 280 - but I couldn't take it.

I moved down, got as low as 200 for a couple of days, but then reconsidered. (This is about a 10 days ago). So I was moving back up, and got to 240 on Monday. Like I said, by Tuesday afternoon, I was feeling like HELL, so finished the last 2 doses light, and ended yesterday with only 200.

OK. I need to be steady, and slow, and likely only increase by 10 mg/week. I re-updated my bac dosing chart, and will be at 220 today, then 230 for a week, 240 for a week, etc.

Kids are off school now, and have had a PRODUCTIVE few days! Mowing/weeding/laundry, even made dinner last night!

[bleep]

Sassy's bac journey

Hi Sassy,

One of the biggest causes of SE's is, I think, a fluctuating dose, so look out for that. The slow tapering down applies more if indifference has been reached, and people are trying to taper down without affecting it. If you are trying to get off you can go a little quicker than that. A generally safe tapering down regimen is about 20mg's every few days, but I would also drop a quick 50mg's off the top end to start the process.

Saying all that, I'm pleased for you that you decided to go for gold. It's worth it. If you have been to 280mg's recently, you might be able to go up a little quicker than that. Something to think about.

How's your drinking through all of this?

Good news about the cancer!