Baclofen doc in Austin, TX?

[heather70]

Anyone know of one? Will call Levin eventually if we can't get someone local, but it'd be nice to have face-to-face time with a doc.

[gratitude]

Baclofen doc in Austin, TX?

heather70,
just thought I'd say welcome. my hometown, Austin. love it. unfortunately, don't know docs there.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Baclofen doc in Austin, TX?

:welcome: heather!

I don't know of any doctors in your area, but it may be worth a couple of phone calls as this doesn't seem to be as obscure as it was a few short months ago!
Dr. L is of course available. But I completely understand your desire to find someone locally. I'm still working on that, and hope that a couple of others who have had success will weigh in on their experience sometime soon.

Let us know how you get on!

[heather70]

Baclofen doc in Austin, TX?

here in Austin, my bf asked his psychiatrist for baclofen yesterday and was denied AND fired with a severance of 30 days worth of current anti-anxiety meds. i'm a consumer protection atty and i'm more angry about it than my bf. his MD dropped him 1) knowing he will continue to self-medicate his anxiety with alcohol; and 2) cutting him off of his current anti-anxiety meds after 30 days, thereby ensuring he will increase his alcohol consumption. WTF! and the MD's concerned about liability in prescribing the baclofen?!? i'm seeing a slightly different scenario. da bastad. anyway, i've got some emails out to other resources. if i get any leads, i'll find the thread re:baclofen-friendly docs and add to the list.
and btw, the only MD to be disciplined for prescribing Baclofen in Texas in the last 5 years (I could only search that far back) prescribed it along with Methadone and Klonopin to a patient with a history of overdoses.

[heather70]

Baclofen doc in Austin, TX?

and thanks y'all for the warm welcome. i'm so glad i found y'all.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Baclofen doc in Austin, TX?

That is really un-effin-believable. I'm so sorry, Heather.
You can for sure get some from Dr. L, today, probably, certainly sooner rather than later.
I hope at some point we can follow up with all the bastards who jeopardize our health and well-being. But maybe by then they won't be worth our time? We'll all be too serene to bother. :H
We're glad you found your way here, too. I'll be grateful for MWO for the rest of my healthy, AF life.
I have a couple of threads to post for you, but will have to follow up later today.
:l to you and your bf. The ride is just starting for you.
Karen

[PbarE]

Baclofen doc in Austin, TX?

Heather, I have the names of three Texas doctors (two in SA, one in Austin) and I am approaching them all in the next two days. I have been told they are at least open-minded enough to consider it. I will keep you posted.

[coverto]

Baclofen doc in Austin, TX?

Hi all,

I'm Heather's bf - signed up here after seeing the goldmine of Baclofen information to be found on this forum. I'm fortunate indeed for Heather's support and research, the many posters on this forum, and to those posting in this thread!

PbarE - Heather and I will be watching this thread for any info you come up with. I'd be very grateful if you can share any info!

I've obtained Baclofen and intend to follow Dr. L's titration protocol as found on this forum. I would much prefer to do this under a doctor's direct supervision - especially because I am also faced with discontinuing my psych meds after being fired by my psychiatrist, as Heather mentioned.

I know it's a topic for another thread, but being fired by my psychiatrist upon volunteering information about my alcohol use is downright abhorrent. I was seeking help, and knew the doc would likely prescribe a more established anti-craving med like Naltrexone. He was mockingly dismissive when I mentioned Dr. Ameisen and the limited-but-positive studies that have been conducted thusfar.

The doc "fired" me under the pretense of me declining to immediately schedule a weeklong residential detox... he expressed (ahem) concern about acute withdrawal symptoms. He was uninterested in my argument that I'd tapered myself to abstinence on many previous occasions with no adverse events. Never mind my concerns expressed about the career-jepoardizing explanations I'd have to make for a week off work. And who in his or her right mind would think acute detox would be tantamount to continued abstinence, anyhow?

I can only conclude he's hyper-sensitive to liability issues I don't understand. I received a "termination of treatment" letter by certified mail, which confirms in my mind that he's more interested in covering his ass than his patients' well-being.

He's also being quite cavalier about my discontinuation from Pristiq (AKA Effexor) - a medicine renowned for its "discontinuation syndrome" (i.e., withdrawal, by any other name).

Anyhow, [/rant] for now, but here's to solidarity with this community of people who are legitimately seeking treatment for their alcoholism, only to be confronted with cold and rigid dogmatic response from medical professionals. Though I've sensed more genuine altruism from members of the AA community than any medical professional, I have to say that if the medical community's BEST solution to our condition lies in a homespun treatment model (i.e., 12-step) concocted in the 1930's, which relies on a belief in god or some self-concocted "higher power" ...then we have a genuine crisis in the treatment of alcoholism.

With gratitude to Dr. Ameisen and all who are here,
M

[PbarE]

Baclofen doc in Austin, TX?

coverto;1061305 wrote: I would much prefer to do this under a doctor's direct supervision - especially because I am also faced with discontinuing my psych meds after being fired by my psychiatrist, as Heather mentioned.M

My man, I may be overly optimistic, but I believe we will have a doc by this time next week. I am sending you my e-mail in a PM.

[bleep]

Baclofen doc in Austin, TX?

Man, what a response from your "doctor". Screw him. It will be satisfying to walk in to his rooms a while from now and tell him of your cure, but I don't know if I could be bothered. What an asshole.

Good luck to both of you.

[Otter]

Baclofen doc in Austin, TX?

heather70;1056079 wrote: Anyone know of one? Will call Levin eventually if we can't get someone local, but it'd be nice to have face-to-face time with a doc.

Hello and welcome,

I know someone in Norman, OK, who has a doctor who prescribes high dose Baclofen for substance abuse and would likely prescribe for alcoholism if that is any help. Let me know and I can at least put you in touch with him if only to discuss approaching a doctor in your area and how to go about it. If you find a doctor in your area it might at least give him someone to talk to about prescribing.

[bleep]

Baclofen doc in Austin, TX?

I've been thinking about this...

You should send a letter to this psychiatrist of yours that makes it look like you are planning a lawsuit. Lay all the groundwork out nicely, going into detail about how being cut off from your prescription is affecting you, etc... Give him a sleepless night for a change. Someone as sensitive as he is to lawsuits will surely panic!

No need to follow through, just make him shit himself. Might make you feel a bit better when you get all sorts of responses as he tries to further cover his ass!

[coverto]

Baclofen doc in Austin, TX?

Hey bleep...

Great minds must think alike. My intention is to write a letter of complaint to the state medical board of examiners. I've been collecting scholarly sources to back up my contentions that his pretense for firing me is a ruse, that supervised discontinuation from my meds should be his responsibility, and how his actions directly violate the Hippocratic oath. As I've put it to others, I'm grateful my dad's cardiologists, surgeons and other doctors did not drop him as a patient because he didn't meet their quotas for healthy levels of salt and saturated fats.

I don't expect the complaint to get any official traction, nor do I have much interest in singling out this doctor for practices that are apparently widespread and which represent the norm. Going this route simply assures that the doctor and someone else will actually READ the effing thing. I'm sure I won't singlehandedly change how the medical community gives such short shrift to those suffering from alcoholism, but I'm gonna be heard!

[Otter]

Baclofen doc in Austin, TX?

I think it is part of the right to "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" which is somewhat central to the US constitution. Why don't you find a no win no fee lawyer and ask him to write a letter threatening a law suit?

Baclofen has been around for a couple of years now. Why did your psychiatrist not know about it? Does he not do the most basic research into your illness, keep abreast of medical changes, look up your condition on the internet?

It is about time someone went to a lawyer and just pursued the negligent, ignorant attitude of these useless people parading as "doctors". Across the board they don't give a f..k about their patients and they deserve everything you/we can throw at them. They need to have their "hypocritrical" oath shoved up their backsides.

The discrimination against alcoholics and the mentally ill goes back centuries and was brought to its zenith under Hitler who had them rounded up and taken to three member panels who decided if they were alcoholic or mentally ill and then killed. Now it is just done by refusing entry to hospitals, prosecuting people through the courts and ignoring modern developments in medicine so that patients die from their illness while doctors return to their comfy homes safe in the knowledge that it has nothing to do with them. No compassion, no conscience and no brains.

And...he treated you with medications which had no effect. Why did he use those? How did he do his research to find out about those? Baclofen is all over the net, TV, newspapers etc. How come my wife found out about it by watching morning TV but a doctor treating alcoholics knows nothing about it? Because he is NEGLIGENT!!!!!!!

It may be that he has refused to treat you because he knows he is negligent. If he now were to start treating you he would have to admit he has heard about Baclofen. So...he must have done some research. He is stuck. If he says he has now found out about it and that, for instance, it has side effects and that he would not want to prescribe because of that, you have to ask him, when did he find out about it and how? Why did he wait so long to do this research? Why has he sat on his back side for so long giving you useless meds? If he says he thinks you are just being awkward and asking him to do something crazy that he has never heard of you really have to ask yourself what kind of idiot he is. He could not possibly have taken such a serious decision without making some investigation.

Imagine, you find a live saving cure for a deadly disease, you go to your doctor and he doesn't Google it, ask a colleague, look it up in a book? That is inconceivable in this day and age. Instead he just kicks you out to become ill and possibly die. He is condemning you do death and he should get what he deserves.

Suppose a car manufacturer was told by someone that there was something wrong with their new car which might result in them having a fatal car accident. What would be the response? If your doctor's approach were legal and ethical then the car manufacturer would just write a letter telling you that they were not prepared to allow any of their suppliers to look at your car or provide you with a new part. Hey, and if you die in a car crash along with thousands of other folk who have bought the same car... so what. Ha ha ha. Or would they issue a recall notice? Think about it.

Sadly, I spoke to a relative who is a nurse in a medical practice and when I told her about Baclofen she said it was unlikely that her doctors would take it up because treating with Baclofen would be "hard" for them. I just about hung up on her.

I saw a TV program in which someone sued a hairdresser for giving them a bad hair cut. You can get a couple of grand for falling over a crack in a sidewalk and skinning your knee.
/>I can see lawyers starting to sue doctors for failing to take up Baclofen. There is a legal term called "local practice". It meant that a doctor could defend himself against negligence claims by saying that he only did what other doctors in the area did. That defence has been rejected by courts because it encouraged doctors not to keep up to date with medical developments. It is even less acceptable now with the internet.

Suppose you see a lawyer in a no win no fee practice. If he gets some money out of the doctors insurer then this could be a growth industry for lawyers and could spread like wildfire. Lawyers will advertise that they can make a claim against doctors and draw in alcoholics who have been mistreated. One successful claim would make insurers start telling their clients to start prescribing or face lawsuits. And if doctors refuse to see alcoholic patients they can be sued for refusing treatment.

You could be doing everyone a big favour by going to a lawyer, and you have nothing to lose. There is some legal information about the standard of care for doctors at Home - Baclofen UK on the Legal Aspects page. What it says, which is going to be the same law in Texas, is that doctors must look at treatments and weigh up the risks of prescribing them and it is not ok just to stick to practices that don't work just because that is what has been accepted in the past or by other members of the profession, or even reputable members of the profession. They have to look at new treatments and must use them if the benefit outweighs the risks.

I say, go for it, for you and for everyone.

[RedThread12]

Baclofen doc in Austin, TX?

You Go, Coverto!!

I've just been trying to explain to someone who desperately needs baclofen why he might not want to bring it up with his PCP. Your story is indicative that we truly are still in the Dark Ages when it comes to addiction treatment. You might just make more difference than you know!!!