Using Baclofen prn

[coalfire]

Hi folks. I have been sober since January. I had a great(almost astonishing) response to Lithium orotate so Im sittting nicely in the middle of an AF run. Lithium orotate took away about 90% -95% of my cravings-I believe now that they were all related to mood instability. Anyway 6 weeks on and the dust has settled and Im now trying to work out how to deal with the remaining 5%-10% cravings or antsy feeling that lithium orotate didnt remove. It seems I have about 2-3 risky craving evenings a month now which is so low compared to what it was that it is almost laughable BUT it only takes 1 bad evening to shatter a good AF run so I am taking them fairly seriously and Im trying to make a plan now to deal with them. I ordered some antabuse and a small supply of Baclofen into Ireland and miracle of miracles they got through this morning so Im now the proud owner of some meds.

Firstly the antabuse. Im fairly clear in my mind about how Im going to use that. Its a half or quarter of a tablet if Im heading out into a high risk situation.So Im ok with that.

Its the idea of using Baclofen prn that interests me. I saw this post by Greg which started the idea off in my head.

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#36 (permalink)
08-18-2010, 10:43 AM
Greg
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"I've been taking baclofen at a fairly low dose, 12.5 to 25 mg, once a day late in the afternoon. I have been taking it since becoming sober rather than to get sober and it may be helping me ward off alcohol cravings. I was an evening-only drinker so bac would be in my system in the hours leading up to when I drank. I take a couple of other medications however so can't be sure that it's only the bac cutting my cravings, but I think it is helping.

I agree that trying baclofen is a good idea even if you have been sober without it. Most people seem to be able to tolerate it ok if they gradually increase their dose, and maybe you could also need a smaller dose than if you were still drinking. I'd say give it a try anyway."



Now unlike greg I wasnt planning to take a daily dose-however small. I was thinking of taking it when I had a bad day. I got the impression from some posts that you could feel low doses of Baclofen about an hour after you took it and I was hoping to use it to soften the antsy/cravings that plague me about 2-3 evenings a month. I havent researched that approach though hence this post. What do you think of the idea of using 5 or 10 mg Baclofen in an almost "painkiller" type of way to deal with moderate cravings a few times a month in a person who is already sober? Or do you think you would have to follow Gregs approach and take a low dose every day which wouldnt be my first preference by any means but which I wouldnt entirely rule out if that was the only way.

[Seethepony]

Using Baclofen prn

Wow,I've never even heard of "Lithium orotate" - where and how did you hear about that?

Your 95% zero cravings status is pretty much what I get from Baclofen... I'm wondering about addressing the remaining 5%, cos the few times each month I do drink, I feel like crap.

I don't think chugging tiny doses of baclofen every now and then will help you much. Obviously you can't chug huge quantities out of the blue because the side effects would be freaky (and more alarming than getting drunk.) But you could make a guinea-pig of yourself (as we're all doing) and try it out the infrequent tiny doses. Can't really hurt, and maybe you'll make a joyous discovery! In which case let us know....
Good luck!

[coalfire]

Using Baclofen prn

Thanks seethepony. Yes I have no problem making a guinea pig out of myself. After all I had no problem making a general pig of myself on booze all these years! There is a thread on the holistic healing section (1st page) called lithium orotate again and that is mine. I have tried to set up an electronic paper trail for those coming behind me so there is loads on there. It seems to be a funny old supplement. It seems to divide people into 2 camps. 1 those who love it and 2 what a waste of money. I have noticed a slight pattern over the whole internet and some of its biggest fans seem to already have sneaky suspicions of some underlying soft bipolar type thing. However I DO NOT KNOW THAT and the last thing I want to do is spread some "you have to have bipolar for lithium orotate to work " type of message. The reviews from the sites that sell the drug have all sorts of people saying that they got a good response from it and what the hell is soft bipolar anyway. To quote another MWO member nobody even knows exactly how they define it. So I try to strike a balance between telling people about my miracle response to it and in the same breath warning them that for most people its no miracle. I think I might be a lithium orotate weirdo! Anyway its dirt cheap and there is loads of info on my thread about how to order it and I would say to anyone give it a go. Its a 6-8 week experiment but all that is on my thread. Ok I will try my little Baclofen prn thing and come back and let you know. It would take very little now to keep me sober but I still need one more thing I think.... Its interesting that we are in the identical place and are now heading off to think about each others drugs to take down that remaining 5%.

[beatle]

Using Baclofen prn

Lithium orotate

I had been writing about it on the Holistic Healing threads for years. Only stopped after I came over here to baclofen. Not sure why.

I got the idea from the Seven Weeks to Sobriety book (it is mostly about balancing the body not just to get to sobriety, but to keep it. It is an amazing book, lots of divergent thinking, stuff you may not find anywhere else and recommend it highly to everyone. It was far more important to me than the MWO book. That's just me, though. It explains every supplement and why it is important.)

Lith Oro is an integral part of the Seven Week sleep routine (which also includes melatonin and l-trptophan). These helped me sleep very well when getting/staying sober (except for l-tryp, which gave me horrific dreams).

I found out about the AD effect later. Not sure why I never used it for that. I guess because I was more a bipolar type -- although one of the two poles is depression. Anyway, I think it is well-documented as an AD, with some studies showing it to be more effective than medical ADs.

If you feel for it, you can search my posts in Holistic Healing with "Lithum orotate" in them. I've posted much more info and links to studies there. Just never made a thread of it, I suppose. EDIT: Read coalfire's thread, don't search for mine.

https://www.mywayout.org/community/f6...ain-47687.html

You can buy it on the internet a few places. I used to buy it from Bio-Recovery (The rehab and supplements company spawned from the book -- or vice-versa, not sure, whatever) but I now buy Pure Encapsulations because their capsules are vegetarian (not gelatin). There is one more company that I know of that is reputable but very high priced (no idea why -- marketing and lack of competition, I guess).

[Seethepony]

Using Baclofen prn

That explains it! I've never once set foot in the land of Holistic Healing...I'll take a look! Muchas gracias!

[beatle]

Using Baclofen prn

Sorry, coalfire, I wrote and sent my post before seeing your last post. I think your thread on Holistic gives the answers to all the questions that are being/will be asked here (re: dosing, where to get it, etc.) so I would direct people to that thread first.

https://www.mywayout.org/community/f6...ain-47687.html

[beatle]

Using Baclofen prn

I can't answer from experience on the prn dosing, but I'm sure others will.

My general impression from what others have written is that the prn strategy works well. Even the great doctor himself said he ups his dose in anticipation of risky situations. Others have definitely done so, as well.

Also, bac seems to have the greatest one-shot impact at the commencement of treatment at very low levels. Perhaps this will be an advantage for you at you current 95% craving-free level?

[tiptronic_ct]

Using Baclofen prn

Hiya, coal

P.r.n. doses of bac are mostly used when people already take it on a continuous basis. It also only really applies after one has already become indifferent to AL (the magical "switch") and have tapered down to a maintenance dose.

You can view it as an insurance policy and I used it to good effect during the early days of sobriety. Whenever I went into a drinking situation, I took an extra 10 - 20mg about 1 - 2 hours before the time.

Thinking back on it now, I think the benefits might very well have been more psychological. I was indifferent to the stuff in any event. The more difficult aspect of it was anxiety / social akwardness - I hadn't learned how to deal with not drinking in a social situation and didn't know how people would react.

Back to answering your question: go through the earlier studies that had been done on low-dose baclofen. I recall some (preliminary?) findings that showed quite a low success rate in siutations like yours. I can't for the life of me remember which one (must be the bac ), unfortunately.

I also think that in many cases bac needs to build up in people's systems over time to be effective. Certainly, in my own case, I only started experiencing diminishing cravings at a level of 180mg and higher.

[tiptronic_ct]

Using Baclofen prn

I almost forgot my manners...

:goodjob: on your sobriety! Keep it up!

[beatle]

Using Baclofen prn

Note from customer product review on Amazon...

Note: take lithium apart from any source of magnesium (I usually take it in the morning before I eat). Magnesium competes with lithium for absorption.

[tiptronic_ct]

Using Baclofen prn

beatle;1071790 wrote: Magnesium competes with lithium for absorption.

Like AL and bac?

[coalfire]

Using Baclofen prn

Thanks for all your replies to date. Yeah Tiptronic I probably do need to go through the earlier studies. I will trawl through the earliest Baclofen posts and see what I can find.

Beatle most of what is in my Lithium orotate thread was gleaned from your posts so it wouldnt matter much which posts someone clicked on! I am going to copy your info on magnesium and paste it into my thread so thanks for that.

One more question for all you Baclofen babies. If I was to go ahead with my experiment how much would it be safe to swallow at a single sitting. I was thinking of experimenting with doses of 5-25mg used 2-3 times a month in the "painkiller" type way I described above. I will try 5 once then 10 once then 15 once etc and let you know what if anything it did for me.I realise from your replies that the only way Im going to see if this would work is to try it and Im happy enough with that but I just want to make sure that Im not making any big Baclofen safety blunders. If I had a bad evening and swallowed 25mg of Baclofen just out of the blue one week there should be no nasty suprises for me should there? My hair wont go green and my teeth go curly will they?

[tiptronic_ct]

Using Baclofen prn

coalfire;1071895 wrote: Thanks for all your replies to date. Yeah Tiptronic I probably do need to go through the earlier studies. I will trawl through the earliest Baclofen posts and see what I can find.

Beatle most of what is in my Lithium orotate thread was gleaned from your posts so it wouldnt matter much which posts someone clicked on!

One more question for all you Baclofen babies. If I was to go ahead with my experiment how much would it be safe to swallow at a single sitting. I was thinking of experimenting with doses of 5-25mg used 2-3 times a month in the "painkiller" type way I described above. I will try 5 once then 10 once then 15 once etc and let you know what if anything it did for me.I realise from your replies that the only way Im going to see if this would work is to try it and Im happy enough with that but I just want to make sure that Im not making any big Baclofen safety blunders. If I had a bad evening and swallowed 25mg of Baclofen just out of the blue one week there should be no nasty suprises for me should there? My hair wont go green and my teeth go curly will they?

Just use the links Lo0p provided in the Consolidated Baclofen Information Thread... most of the studies are there.

You should be fine with the approach you described. Hey: I wouldn't mind green hair. At least I would have some then

[bleep]

Using Baclofen prn

coalfire;1071895 wrote: ...
If I was to go ahead with my experiment how much would it be safe to swallow at a single sitting.

...

I've read reports of people taking baclofen for kicks. They recommend 80mg's as the ideal dose for a trip (go figure). You aren't looking for a trip, but anything up to that dose is probably safe.

Quite strange it's so high - if I take 40mg's I get quite stoned, my usual dose at any one time is 30mg's. I know someone who has taken 30mg's casually, he reported a very minor buzz, and went on to get drunk, but abstinence was certainly not his goal at the time, given that he had taken the baclofen for social reasons!

[coalfire]

Using Baclofen prn

Thanks again tip. That saves me having to go cross eyed going over every old baclofen post.

" Hey: I wouldn't mind green hair. At least I would have some then "

Well you know what they say about baldness and virility! Maybe that explains the tiger avatar?:bigwink: Anyway if my hair is going to go green then it couldnt happen at a better time. Its only 10 days until st paddys day. I could say I was being patriotic.
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