Sweet success! (with baclofen)

[redhead77]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

Bump.

[spacebebe01]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

I have enjoyed reading through this thread, theres lots of info for me on here, Im still waiting for my bac to arrive, it seems to be taking forever, but Im still taking the antabuse so I remain AF and am also taking Campral, just a thought does anyone know about taking campral when my bac arrives? Im not sure whether to take both with the bac maybe in lower doses or stop taking campral and just bac, any ideas on this?

[spacebebe01]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

Sorry NeI forgot to say well done to you and thanks for sharing your progress with me!

[Doggygirl]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

Redhead I don't know how I missed your 11/1 post before! But what a fabulous place you are in. I am so happy for you!

DG

[redhead77]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

DG, thank you. I really, really am! When I posted this, I was still suffering miserably from SEs. They are finally starting to calm down, and I can't even express to you how I feel. I feel joy, hope, and excitement for the possibilities in my future. I'm also trying to adjust to life without a crutch, but I won't go into that too much here. When I'm ready to talk about everything I think and feel, I'll post about it on my thread.

What I do want to convey now, is that there's hope. With all the despair and darkness we feel while battling this disease, there can be another side filled with light. I won't claim it's easy to get there, but the other side is so beautiful, it's hard to express in words. I often wonder about all the people who give up on bac. I'm not talking about the people who have tried so hard, and have been at MWO longer than I have. I'm not so arrogant as to tell people what their bodies can withstand. I'm talking of the others who drop in here for a few weeks and then quit. They may take it erratically or a million other things. If only they stayed...

http://youtu.be/w_DKWlrA24k[/video]]OFFICIAL - Somewhere Over the Rainbow 2011 - Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwo'ole - YouTube

[RudyB]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

red, seeing your name brought me -finally- over to this thread. i am glad to read a few words from you my friend, whom i miss. i'm going to try to piece together a quick (i'm fading fast) nutshell version of my success with baclofen, here and now, but for any newcomers who want loads and loads of details of what success with bac feels like, well, naturally, they're all over my thread.

very uncharacteristically briefly: i was headed down a very dangerous road with my vodka in tow. i am a single mother of a young boy (he's now five), whose father would probably do anything to squish me. one false move while drinking and i'd've been fair game for major attack. regardless of the ex, one mistaken trip to the store for more, thinking i was sober enough, would've meant the end of my world as i knew it, and, even with the drinking, my world was fair. a cavalier trip that resulted in an arrest would've meant mandatory jail and forfeitting my son, had he been in the car, which he most likely would've, since i seem to be the only parent around here.

that arrest that never happened is what i always come back to in my moments of deepest gratitude to baclofen and its pioneers for saving my life, and then for making it infinitely much better. that arrest never happened because, in a matter of a few short months of starting titration, i lost interest in vodka, and soon thereafter, i lost interest in nice, prickery, bitter ale.

today, well-shy of a year after taking my first 5 mg of bac, i live a pretty great life. i go to work without bending my head in shame from the night before, ashamed of how red my face is, covered in makeup because i can't stand myself, my drunk self. i no longer pass the day in impatient anticipation of escaping again into the numb blur of alcoholic buzz. i live fully, expansively, and with great hope. i live life from the inside out, at long last! and it's because of baclofen that i do. and, of course, the generous souls who populate mwo, who held my hand as i jumped across the unknown into the wonderful world of sobriety.

if you haven't yet: try it, you'll like it~!

[redhead77]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

Ru, this was really beautiful! There's so much to say about everything you've kicked in your life. :l

[bobsd]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

Rudy,

You are an inspiration to me!! You are doing it for a lucky young girl... Thanks for telling your story!

[bobsd]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

Sorry... Young boy is what I meant.

[spacebebe01]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

Yippee for everyone reading this wonderful thread and site

[Bminor]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

At the urging of Ne- I?m going to attempt to add to this success thread. I guess at this point I consider myself a success, at stopping drinking at least. I know some of you may be following my thread about tapering off of baclofen and wondering why in the holy hell I would want to do that when it seems to be working. Well, for one thing it leaves me unable to function sexually. This can of course be circumvented somewhat by drugs like Cialis and Viagra, and I?ve tried them with some success, but for someone in their early 30?s the thought of having to use such drugs long term is terrifying, and just not something I am interested in doing. And then there?s this: I feel like a cheat for taking a drug to fix a personal problem. That?s simply how I?m wired I guess. I?m not convinced that I have any sort of disease called ?alcoholism?. It?s clear, to me at least that I used alcohol as a medication for social anxiety in the beginning and that prolonged use triggered my dependence and emotional attachment to alcohol. I think prolonged exposure to high doses of any poisons like alcohol can alter our brain chemistry? which makes it so fucking hard to stop. It just becomes part of your life and I realize now that my biggest problem was the FEAR of not being able to rely on it as my crutch. Nearly every emotional experience I ever had between the ages of 17-30 was done pretty much under the influence of alcohol. First dates, sex, family events, anything that involved me having to meet new people or be in a crowd of peers was only attempted after being sufficiently sauced up.

Just over two years ago now, I was in such bad shape that I had been hospitalized for detox 4 times? each time refusing to go to any sort of rehab or AA meetings, convinced that someday I would figure out how to do it on my own. I flirted with the Sinclair method using Naltrexone for several months with absolutely no positive results. I eventually decided to quit my job and move in with my parents in the middle of nowhere until I had it figured out. The last two weeks at that job was one long solid bender? I don?t know how no one noticed but each day I would have Gatorade bottles on my desk mixed half and half with 100 proof vodka to sip on throughout the day just so I didn?t go into full on withdrawal (which had happened before? several times at home). One weekend at the very end of this bender, I downed 15 ativan with as much vodka as I could pour down my throat. I just remember waking up in the hospital staring at two people who I really care about who were very, very angry and worried about me. I went on medical leave from the job and eventually just told them I wasn?t coming back. While living with my parents I had a few more benders but was getting closer and closer to fighting off the urges when they came and my attitude was changing towards alcohol. Part of me still wanted to find a way to become a ?social drinker? and part of me just wished I could stop thinking about it? which is what led me to reading OA?s book and discovering baclofen. I had been sober for about one month when I ordered my first baclofen, I can?t even remember from what site it was from now but I remember just wanting to see what all the fuss was about after seeing some of the success stories on this forum (especially you Lo0p). I was conflicted because the stubborn me wanted to do it on my own and I was also at my wits end and didn?t fully trust myself. I figured I didn?t have a damn thing to lose in trying. I took one hundred mg on my first day and stayed there for a few months; I got a new job in August of 2010 and moved to a new city away from anyone I knew. I got in touch with Dr L and got a script and continued to taper up and up and up waiting for this magical ?switch? to happen. There were a few times that I?d go buy some beer just to test myself and to see if I noticed anything different. I can honestly say that drinking while on baclofen was very different than while not on baclofen. It?s as if it didn?t have near the intoxicating effect on me. I got as high as 300mg?s? all of this while not really drinking mind you, mostly just to find this ?switch?. Well, there never was a switch for me and I realized that there probably wouldn?t be. Nothing noticeable anyway. I dropped back to 200mg and decided to just sit there until June of 2011 when I tapered down to about 120mg. Between august 2010 and today I?ve probably had a total of a case of beer give or take a few, and nothing at all since January 1st 2011. Not a damn drop. Did baclofen help me stay sober all this time? Probably. The stubborn me wants to say hell no, you fought and won this thing all on your own. The logical me looks at my history and realizes that Baclofen had to play a role in fighting off the cravings and keeping my head right enough to think things through and not have alcohol on my mind 24/7. I think (and hope) that I?ve had enough time now though to go ahead and try this on my own. I?m down to 40mg per day and still not drinking.
I apologize for my writing style lol? I know I kind of skip around and that?s because I find it horribly difficult to write about myself. So, moral of the story is this: I was a drunk, one of the absolute binge drinking worst ? nearly dead drunk. But by sticking with it and doing research and not listening to the quacks like Dr. Drew, trying different things? I was able to kick it. Baclofen played a part in my journey and so did the people on this board. You all are amazing for coming here and sharing the ups and downs of your lives. I?m grateful to you all.

Cheers!

B.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

Thanks, B!
I think it rocks.
:l

[spacebebe01]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

:thanks:

[RudyB]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

bminor, i've been reading your input on bleep's new thread, and i was so interested to read about your journey to freedom. (btw, there's nothing wrong with your writing style, silly!)

this is the first time i've been back here since i posted my own story, and i wanna say thanks to red and bobsled for your generous and loving words. they go right into my heart.

xo rudy

[Cassander]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

another New Year's bump for newbies and lurkers.
these stories are the real deal. Baclofen works!