Sweet success! (with baclofen)

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

bump because I sorely needed to reread this thread this morning, and others may want the reminder, too!

Peace out to all of you!

(Redt are you in here yet? How 'bout a little serenity thingy right about now?)

[Nutshell]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

Hello. Thanks for your info and welcoming personality.

[Cassander]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

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

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

Nutshell;1235327 wrote: Hello. Thanks for your info and welcoming personality.

Hey, Thanks, Nutshell! I missed that, somehow!
:l

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

It is often to our detriment that most of us only spend time here in the meds threads. I happen to be following a thread in the Just Starting Out. It's full of people who are struggling to overcome this disease without the benefit of medication. It is almost unbearable to read. And yet, it helps me a great deal. It is the same story, every single day.
"I'm back on day one."
"I did it again."
"It's the weekend. Wish me luck."
Or they just disappear. The lucky ones reappear a couple of weeks later with a woeful tale.

That is not to say that we don't have the same struggles. We do. But I am now, and will be forever, grateful that I didn't have to count my days. At least not the ones related to abstinence. I was a miserable failure at remaining abstinent, in spite of the fact that it was the single most important goal I had for years. Countless hours at the gym, reading about our disease, in therapy, in rehab, in the rooms of AA and on my knees praying for deliverance. I simply couldn't stop drinking. It's been almost a year since I stopped caring about drinking booze.

The success stories should be shouted, imo. Because if you take the pills, with your eyes on the goal, and manage the SEs, you will become indifferent to alcohol. What you do with that is up to you. I think it rocks!

[Cassander]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

You are so right, Ne.

The failure of physicians and the medical community, the government health agencies, the rehab community and AA, as well as the media, to accept and promote baclofen and other medical treatments, together with and not to the exclusion of nutrition, exercise, therapy and support as cures for our disease, is grossly negligent, if not criminal.

There are ways out and yet lives are still being lost. As you say, we need only look at the threads placed above ours in mwo.

[spacebebe01]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

Well said:goodjob:

[Emcee]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

Ne/Neva Eva;1252429 wrote:
The success stories should be shouted, imo. Because if you take the pills, with your eyes on the goal, and manage the SEs, you will become indifferent to alcohol. What you do with that is up to you. I think it rocks!

Your posts are just so full of common sense. I can't wait until the day I come on here and say I'm almost a year of being indifferent. Thanks for sharing so much of your story, makes the trip so worth while.

Em

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

Thanks, Em. I can't wait for that to happen for you, too. The trip is definitely worthwhile!
:l

[Bruunhilde]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

Ne/Neva Eva;1252429 wrote: It is often to our detriment that most of us only spend time here in the meds threads. I happen to be following a thread in the Just Starting Out. It's full of people who are struggling to overcome this disease without the benefit of medication. It is almost unbearable to read. And yet, it helps me a great deal. It is the same story, every single day.
"I'm back on day one."
"I did it again."
"It's the weekend. Wish me luck."
Or they just disappear. The lucky ones reappear a couple of weeks later with a woeful tale.

That is not to say that we don't have the same struggles. We do. But I am now, and will be forever, grateful that I didn't have to count my days. At least not the ones related to abstinence. I was a miserable failure at remaining abstinent, in spite of the fact that it was the single most important goal I had for years. Countless hours at the gym, reading about our disease, in therapy, in rehab, in the rooms of AA and on my knees praying for deliverance. I simply couldn't stop drinking. It's been almost a year since I stopped caring about drinking booze.

The success stories should be shouted, imo. Because if you take the pills, with your eyes on the goal, and manage the SEs, you will become indifferent to alcohol. What you do with that is up to you. I think it rocks!

Yep, baclofen was a hard road but you did it. You were lucky to be able to do it, not everyone can do baclofen as you know. Some of us not "cured" still suck at abstinence. Are you still AF?

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

Bruunhilde;1253539 wrote: Yep, baclofen was a hard road but you did it. You were lucky to be able to do it, not everyone can do baclofen as you know. Some of us not "cured" still suck at abstinence. Are you still AF?

I know, Bruun. And I'm sorry. It occurs to me that I had not that much to lose, you know? So no matter how much it sucked (and it was terrible) I was just willing to push through.

Yes. I'm still AF. I wanted a glass of wine a couple of weeks ago, and decided to make a favorite dish that called for red wine. So I bought a bottle.*** I ran out of time and couldn't make the dish and completely forgot about the wine. For several days. Finally made the dish, and had a glass, and it was good. (Which always makes me nervous.) But I was tired and didn't want another glass, and there the bottle remains, half full. (Ed had a glass too.)

I guess I'm not abstinent, because I drink ~6oz of alcohol/month. (A beer on NYE. Nothing else in December. A glass of wine in November.) But I am sober. And don't crave or want alcohol, or even think about it. I would not drink regularly, no matter what. And I will not drink at all, ever, when I taper down again.

I know you'll get there Bruun.

***(This will seem a very silly decision, and perhaps it is. I have found that it is much less threatening to simply have a glass than obsess about what it means to want a glass for weeks on end. BUT I don't recommend it, and I'm still taking 200mg/bac.)

[spacebebe01]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

Hi Ne, Im not sure what you meant, do you mean that if you dont have a glass of wine you obsess about it?

[Emcee]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

Ne/Neva Eva;1253798 wrote: I'm still taking 200mg/bac.)

Do you mind me asking if you plan on sticking to this amount and if you are experiencing any SE's at this level?

Thanks,
Em
(currently on day 6, 10mg)

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

I meant to follow up here! Sorry for the delay.

spacebebe01;1253808 wrote: Hi Ne, Im not sure what you meant, do you mean that if you dont have a glass of wine you obsess about it?
Not in the way you might think, Bebe. I obsess in that I worry what it means to want a glass of wine. As in, "OMG! Am I getting sick again? Why is this happening? Do I really want it, or do I just sort-of want it? Or am I just thinking that a glass of wine might be a nice thing to have? WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?" :H

Turns out that if I have a glass of wine, I have a glass of wine. And then it's over. No more drama-creation. No more kerfuffling thoughts. The last time I wanted a glass of wine it was because I was looking through recipes and saw one that called for red wine. A lentil stew, I think. And yum! A thick lentil stew and a glass of good wine. Sounds good, right? So I spent a couple of days thinking about it and went through the whole soap-opera scenario and finally bought all the ingredients and told my husband that we were going to have wine in and with dinner. Then we made something else and forgot about the wine and the stew. The unopened bottle sat on the counter for several days. We finally made the dish, had a glass, and it was good. (Too good. It made me nervous! again! ) But I didn't have more than a glass. I didn't want more than a glass. I woke up the next day not thinking about booze, not wanting/craving/wishing. That was about a month ago. And last week I poured the rest of the bottle into the mushroom soup.

Emcee;1254416 wrote: Do you mind me asking if you plan on sticking to this amount and if you are experiencing any SE's at this level?

Thanks,
Em
(currently on day 6, 10mg)

Hiya, Em! I don't mind and I'm really sorry it took me so long to get bac(k) to you. I was taking 200mg, I've gone down 20mg since then. (10mg/week is my plan)
I am going down because I want to be able to manage my ADD with adderall and I can't take adderall on this much bac. (Bac does the same thing for amphetamines--or similar, or something--that it does for booze. Adderall simply stopped working for me.) I don't know how far I'll go down, or if I'll stay at a lower dose or go back up. I've gone up and down a lot in the last year and a half. This is the first time I've done it with a plan and a goal, though.

I don't have any SEs, I don't think. If I do, it's a bit of somnolence. But I don't really know because I am in school full time and I get to take naps whenever I want. (This is not very productive or conducive...I'm working on it! )

How are you?

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Sweet success! (with baclofen)

Bump!