starting over- IMHO, baclofen should be monitored by an MD and not taken upon oneself

[bleep]

starting over- IMHO, baclofen should be monitored by an MD and not taken upon oneself

Not sure how I missed that last post of yours coffee, sorry about that.

It seems like you may well have hit the switch in there. I can see how a scary incident might make you want to not drink, but not how it would affect the cravings. Hopefully it lasts forever, as Tracy says, you definitely earned it!

I think a lot of what happened was baclofen withdrawal. From all I've read, it seems to fit. Bear in mind I have the same medical training as my rat though. The good, the bad and the ugly all need to be posted - people need to know the consequences.

[ignominious]

starting over- IMHO, baclofen should be monitored by an MD and not taken upon oneself

So glad to hear about the lack of desire to drink.

Baclofen has given you the power to think straight again and the situation prompted you to use that new ability?

Let us know what Dr L says.

[Guest]

starting over- IMHO, baclofen should be monitored by an MD and not taken upon oneself

C0ffee

Perhaps there aren't any bad reports because those who have bad experiences aren't on here, or simply don't want to report them. I've had a not so great time myself at times, but have been told to simply get on with it.

[Murphyx]

starting over- IMHO, baclofen should be monitored by an MD and not taken upon oneself

Ukblonde;1069152 wrote:

Perhaps there aren't any bad reports because those who have bad experiences aren't on here,

Well, clearly that's not true.

[Bill Gorton]

starting over- IMHO, baclofen should be monitored by an MD and not taken upon oneself

c0ffee;1061530 wrote: I flatlined a few times in that coma.

I assumed that by "flatlined", he meant that he was in cardiac arrest. Maybe he was misusing the term. My point is that you could certainly die from bac WD if you're taking a very high dose for long enough and suddenly stop. Having said that, I'm on high dose bac (175 mg/day), because I think it's worth the risk. But please don't downplay the risks.

[I-want-to-be-sober]

starting over- IMHO, baclofen should be monitored by an MD and not taken upon oneself

@Paul: I'm very sorry you had such an awful experience.

c0ffee;1061530 wrote: ...he said my withdrawal was probably enhanced by baclofen withdrawal as well but the valium i was being given should have covered it eventhough they target different GABA receptors.

Unluckily that's not true and this is the main problem with severe baclofen & GHB withdrawal. Drugs acting on GABA-A (eg. benzos) can not stop those symptoms in case of DT resulting from W/D of GABA-B agonists and antipsychotics like haloperidol lower the seizure threshold.

In case of Bac withdrawal the brain goes into overdrive because of too much dopamine, serotonin, norephinephrine and glutamate acting on upregulated (very sensitive) receptors.

[Otter]

starting over- IMHO, baclofen should be monitored by an MD and not taken upon oneself

I-want-to-be-sober;1070685 wrote: @Paul: I'm very sorry you had such an awful experience.


Unluckily that's not true and this is the main problem with severe baclofen & GHB withdrawal. Drugs acting on GABA-A (eg. benzos) can not stop those symptoms in case of DT resulting from W/D of GABA-B agonists and antipsychotics like haloperidol lower the seizure threshold.

In case of Bac withdrawal the brain goes into overdrive because of too much dopamine, serotonin, norephinephrine and glutamate acting on upregulated (very sensitive) receptors.

I am not sure what you mean by haloperidol lowering the seizure threshold. I take it that is not a good thing. I thought that haloperidol was used in treating Baclofen withdrawal along with reinstatement of Baclofen.

[gotta stop]

starting over- IMHO, baclofen should be monitored by an MD and not taken upon oneself

Bump for NE

[Otter]

starting over- IMHO, baclofen should be monitored by an MD and not taken upon oneself

A complete fabrication

According to Bluto, he wrote this account, and it is a complete fabrication which he wrote while drunk. In looking back, I have to say I think that is right. Whoever wrote it was not on Baclofen for long enough for those side effects to take place. The medical literature only shows severe symptoms for people who have been on high dose baclofen for a long time. The use of Benzodiazapines should arrest most of the symptoms and is mentioned in papers on the subject as one treatment for Baclofen withdrawal, along with antipsychotic medicines and reinstatement of Baclofen. Baclofen is a well known and widely used drug and it is unlikely that doctor in a major hospital in New York would not be able to find out how to treat withdrawal from it fairly quickly and just reinstate the dose. Except, of course, that Coffee was not on a regular HDB so none of it makes any sense.

[terryk]

starting over- IMHO, baclofen should be monitored by an MD and not taken upon oneself

Otter;1211975 wrote:
The medical literature only shows severe symptoms for people who have been on high dose baclofen for a long time.

Just to clarify: Baclofen withdrawal and neuropsychi... [Compr Psychiatry. 1986 Jul-Aug] - PubMed - NCBI mentions serious withdrawal symptoms from abrupt cessation of doses (no duration given) of 40mg/d, 60mg/d, 80mg/d, 90mg/d that include anxiety, agitation, confusion, audio/visual hallucinations, and seizures, etc.

Delirium associated with baclofen wit... [Psychosomatics. 2005 Nov-Dec] - PubMed - NCBI mentions similar symptoms with abupt cessation of oral doses of 10-160mg/d (mean 70mg/d) for a duration range of 5 months to 5 years. This study mentions that withdrawal took between 1-4 days to set in after baclofen was discontinued.

And from that article:
"Other supportive interventions are likely to be required
to reduce the complications of delirium until symptoms resolve.
For example, use of antipyretics may be warranted.34
If resumption of baclofen fails to remit spasticity, use of
dantrolene or other antispasmodics and/or benzodiazepines
may be helpful.4,16 In addition, benzodiazepines and/or anticonvulsants
may suppress or attenuate withdrawal seizures.
4,11,12,14,18,19,25 Antipsychotic medications may be
required to control hallucinations and psychomotoric restlessness
and to prevent the possibility of inadvertent selfharm.
10,14,24 However, in light of concerns about risk of seizures,
caution should be exercised in using antipsychotic
medications; concomitant benzodiazepine use may mitigate
this risk. The aforementioned supplemental agents are not
required for long periods, as withdrawal symptoms are time
limited, especially if the baclofen is resumed."

-tk

[spacebebe01]

starting over- IMHO, baclofen should be monitored by an MD and not taken upon oneself

Hi Coffee, thank you so much for sharing that with us, it strengthens my desire to take it slowly with baclofen and also how important it is not to drink with it. I don treally want to say this in case it is misinterpreted but I have to, I cannot believe you are trying again, expecially after that first doctor told you never to take baclofen again, did you ask him why he said this, is there damage been caused by what you went through that would make it more dangerous for you? Does Dr L know he said this and why? I do admire your determination to conquor your alcohol addiction but also worry for you. I also agree that baclofen and any other prescription drug should only be taken under medical advice, and in a perfect world this would happen, but unfortunatley that is not the case here and now and to my knowledge there are no NHS doctors prescribing baclofen for allcohol addiction in the UK, if there are I wouldnt be able to see them as I dont live in the right area, so I have to buy my meds on-line and be very careful, also get my bood tests done regularly to hope that anything is amiss it will show up sooner rather than later. I wish you the best of luck in your continued fight with this b@stard of an illness.