Sweet success! (with baclofen)

[Bruunhilde]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

Inspiring Thread

Great going Ne, many people will benefit from reading all of these stories. It's inspiring to me too! Also great to revisit the ones I've seen happen and I want to congratulate all of you all over again! :wave:

[Murphyx]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

It won't be that long before we're all congratulating you Bruun. You'll have your story on this thread too. I have no doubt of that.

[Bruunhilde]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

Thanks Murph, that's a wonderful thing to say, and I will strive for it!!!!!!!!

[help4me]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

You are well on your way, Bruuun! As Ig told me, Just keep taking the pills

[Isolde]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

help4me;1063731 wrote:
God, if I"m able to do that at all events, then by all means, bring it on! Right now, I'm just going with what my body is telling me and, so far it doesn't have any desire for anything alcohol (!!!!) .... or coffee for that matter. At the same time I lost my desire for wine, I also lost all desire for coffee (which I normally drank all morning).

Has this adversion to coffee also happened to anyone else?

Yup, the coffee thing has happened with me too, though I wouldn't call it an aversion! I was drinking more of it at higher doses of bac to take the edge off the daytime somnolence. But now that I've been titrating down, I'm naturally more alert/awake during the day and don't need as much coffee. For the longest time, I've had 2 cups of coffee in the morning. Lately though, after I have the first, I don't want a second. My brain just says, "I'm good. Why bother?" Neat stuff.

[Full English]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

NE, I just wanted to say congrats on reaching indifference.
That is fantastic news. I am so glad you have had success.
You have been very loyal to this site - logging your own progress and helping others along as well. I am so happy for you.

In terms of my own switch - I had difficulty initially knowing whether I had hit it. I was Al Free 19 days before I called it. I was hesitant calling it because I was white knuckling rather than indifferent for the beginning part of being Al Free. On 8th Dec 2010 in a Moroccan Belly-Dancing Restaurant on 210MG, I knew I had hit my switch. People were drinking all around me and I could not give a shit. (Figures and dates are in my signature).

Full English;1025428 wrote: Ha Ha Ig. OK I'll say it 'Switch, Switch, Switch' and yes, I think I've hit it. I know - I'm ever cautious.
I have been travelling, so haven't posted for a couple of weeks.
While travelling, I am going to call it. I hit the switch at 210MG. I was pretty BACed out, and still am in some respects, but have titrated back down to 180MG and still no real cravings.
I still have my occasional day where I could drink, but I choose not to. I do not know who said it on this forum, but when they said BAC is not the Pariah or the magic pill. I agree. There are some days when some will power is required. Not much, like before when I had to white knuckle to stop me drinking, but some. It goes pretty quickly without much effort.
Today is 1 month I have been sober ? so for those reasons I am very grateful and thankful.
All the other stuff why I drank is surfacing ? loneliness, depression and emptiness are all there. Some days are really tough, but hey, I am not drinking. And I am also not substituting like I have always done before when I have stopped drinking.
So thanks Ig and Sunny for posting here and for your support. Congrats on your 11 months Sunny.
Ig, my first Al free night was 19th November.
SE's are still here - Insomnia, ringing in the ears, putting on weight, blood shot eyes, vagueness - but as I said I am not drinking. One SE I noticed in the higher doses (for me) was that I was really isolating and being anti-social. I didn't want to be around anyone. But I suppose that is what I did when I drank on my own.
Full English

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

So glad you added yours to the mix, FE. Good stuff. Love the signature, too. And thanks.

Bruun, HOPE!

Hope, thanks to you too!
Love this thread, hope it grows exponentially. Think it will.

[Road to Recovery]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

bump

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

Baclofen works!


:H:wd::happy::yay:


:l

[bleep]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

Hahahahahaha!

All your icons apply! Nice post Ne.

[Chi]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

Ne/Neva Eva;1095949 wrote: Baclofen works!


:H:wd::happy::yay:


:l

Yes, it does! :yes2:

[Full English]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

It certainly does. Thanks Ne.
FE

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

Full English;1064166 wrote:
On 8th Dec 2010 in a Moroccan Belly-Dancing Restaurant on 210MG, I knew I had hit my switch. People were drinking all around me and I could not give a shit. (Figures and dates are in my signature).

THAT is a great story in the making. I'd forgotten about it because this thread has been languishing. Despite the entirely new wave, the next generation, of bac-ers that have reached indifference. I am not above cutting and pasting, peeps.

[tiptronic_ct]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

Exactly two years ago today, I placed my first order for (I think it was 400mg) of baclofen through 4RX. That was also the day I joined MWO, having lurked obsessively for a month or two before I worked up the courage to post. Believe it or not, I was shy back then :H


I had stumbled across My Way Out and the first mention of baclofen by accident. It was the best thing that could ever have happened to me. I was a hopeless alcoholic, drinking to the point of blackout each and every day of my life. I was headed for a very early death. My liver was so swollen and sore that I couldn?t sleep on my right side. Even a t-shirt rubbing against my side was sensitive. I couldn?t sign my name or fill out a form with someone else watching ? my hands shook too much. I suffered from panic attacks. Phew ? it?s good to think back on these things. It reminds me of much I?ve gained.

Anyhow, back to bac?

The world of baclofen looked very different back in 2009 (it feels like aeons ago). Zenstyle and Bill.P were the resident gurus, having been some of the 1st to reach the magical switch. She was a proponent of a slow, measured titration. He was more gung-ho and advocated a fast titration.

My own experience was somewhere in between. I started out slow and steady (same schedule as Ameisen) but soon realised I wasn?t experiencing any serious SEs. I upped the pace but quickly ran out. Had to taper down and start over again, this time ensuring that I had a proper supply line set up.

It was easy to go up quickly to 160 / 180mg, but then a combination of daytime somnolence and night-time insomnia struck. I stayed on a steady dose during the week and titrated up in 10 ? 20mg increments on Friday afternoons so that I could try and adjust by the time I had to go back to work.

I initially took 3 evenly divided doses three times a day but gradually went to 4 differing doses a day, with my last dose no later than 7.00 p.m. and the 1st around 6.00 a.m. The two daytime doses were typically 50% larger than the others. The timing was an attempt at alleviating insomnia and to ensure that I was bacced-up by the time witching hour came around. In hindsight, it probably made no difference whatsoever. Just take it regularly and consistently.

It took me just about 8 weeks from start to finish, when I had my first alcohol-free day in over 15 years on the 21st of August 2009, taking a dose of 270mg. I realised I was getting close around 240mg ? I didn?t notice alcohol around me as much, there was no urgency to have a drink. I even started forgetting to buy it. That evening I thought about pouring a glass of wine with my dinner, but the idea held no sway ? I wanted a cold drink instead. Indifference has lots of other qualities as well, but for me the feeling I?ll remember best is an incredible sense of lightness. The rest, as they say, is history.

As with the 1st titration exercise, my initial attempt at tapering was a balls-up. I went down too fast. I had managed to stay at my switch dose for just over two weeks, when the SEs (by then I had several) became debilitating. I never managed to adjust to them. Again, with the wisdom of hindsight and looking at what others did, I should have increased my dose right there and then.

I tapered down at a rate of 15 ? 20mg per week per week for three weeks, then by 10mg. When I was down to around 160 / 170mg, cravings returned. I titrated back up very quickly, this time spending just a few days at 320mg before I started lowering my dose by only 5 ? 10mg per week, allowing for a 3 ? 4 day lag between adjustments. It takes a while for dose adjustments to make themselves felt.

I eventually settled at 120mg for a while, then managed to go down to 80mg. Contrary to what others have reported, cravings returned when I started taking Wellbutrin. I?m not entirely sure, because the Wellbutrin screwed with my head a bit ? they might not have been cravings as such, but a return of some of the things which used to be drinking triggers for me. It could all have been in my head. I went back up to 120mg, ceased taking the AD after 8 weeks and was able to return to 80mg.

I?ve taken as little as 40mg per day and was recently limited to a (hugely expensive) maximum of 70mg due to supply issues. I?ve been able to source baclofen again and am at 80mg. It seems to be a level at which I operate extremely well. I don?t experience any of the anxiety issues I used to be prone to, I sleep well (I need about 6 hours on weeknights and stretch that to 8 ? 9 over weekends) and I have a general sense of wellbeing. Any higher than that, and I experience a return of some of the unwelcome SEs. Any lower than that, and I start feeling antsy.

I?ve told myself that I?d give it two years of sobriety and then see if I can taper off baclofen completely. Mmmmmmmmmmm? Now that my self-imposed deadline looms in the near future, I must admit to having some doubts. Can I stand on my own two feet without bac? Or do I accept it as part of my life and keep on taking it? Decisions, decisions?

That?s my baclofen journey (and almost 20 000 posts along the way), in a nutshell.

:new:

[tiptronic_ct]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

Happy now, NE?