Baclofen bollocks?! WTF!!!

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Baclofen bollocks?! WTF!!!

please just order it. You are likely withdrawing from AL/coke abuse, Charlie, not from bac abuse.
Just order it. You've come so far. It alarms me that you (and I) can so easily doubt the proven efficacy.

Gotta go channel my new freedom to the 'real' world.
Really, lots of love!
Ne

[Charlieboy]

Baclofen bollocks?! WTF!!!

!

not withdrawing from any abuse...! this is two weeks of 24/7 chronic top of the skull headaches, which gets so severe at certain points that I genuinely feel like I am gonna blow up, so u gotta see why I am a little questioning right now!!....nah, my al and coke abuse has been waaay down. thats awesome. Look, after weighing it all up, I am NOT doubting the efficacy of Bac, I f*ckin luv the stuff, just doubting my supply chain!
Cheers

[redhead77]

Baclofen bollocks?! WTF!!!

The docs that prescribe it aren't all the same. Some are prescribing to patients on these forums the high dose for the first time. They recognize that nothing else is working, which is frequently the case in alkie treatment. There is no way they are getting a bonus from a pharmaceutical company for prescribing. It's a generic. People who get scripts aren't ordering over the internet either.

Maybe you should consider checking you blood pressure. Just to be safe. If it's not high, then rest assured your headache isn't caused from that. There have been a number of people on this forum who have developed hypertension. That does increase the risk of stroke and aneurysm. I'm not sure what blood clots have to do with it, unless the lethargy some of us experience causes a temporary couch potato syndrome. :H

EDIT: Prime example of why we need to protect our doctors!

[redhead77]

Baclofen bollocks?! WTF!!!

Oh and Charlie, I was just thinking of this. Don't you have a sinus infection, and you just got an big adjustment yesterday? Both of these can cause headaches, sometimes severe. I'm not downplaying that it could be bac, but maybe have someone or a machine check your bp and then consider.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Baclofen bollocks?! WTF!!!

redhead77;1087198 wrote: There have been a number of people on this forum who have developed hypertension.

I think this might be a bit of a kerfuffle. Bac increases blood pressure, at times, yes. That's true. It raised mine from very low, to about normal, in self-administered tests. Same with Grommet. In both cases, our blood pressure was found to be normal/low in doctor's offices. I think the medicos around here would agree that in order to get a good BP reading the tests have to be done properly and at regular intervals over a span of time in order to accurately reflect whether a person has hypo- or hypertension.

The other cases had pre-existing conditions. And Tracy suspects that she may have had very low blood pressure.

Ne

[redhead77]

Baclofen bollocks?! WTF!!!

If it's borderline high then yes, it should be checked in a few different scenarios. If it's through the roof high, then it might be something to consider. Sounds like he's been to the doc alot lately, so I'm sure he knows what he's been running. White coat syndrome and all.

It doesn't hurt to check. It could be comforting when it turns out fine.

[Guest]

Baclofen bollocks?! WTF!!!

My GP who I will add is open to this, just needs some proper guidance before prescribing, did ask me if I'd had any seizures. She mentioned something about it increasing the risk. I just told her that I was aware I shouldn't stop taking it, and that's all. Anyway she's off looking for a whole host of information, so she can advise me properly.

[beatle]

Baclofen bollocks?! WTF!!!

Lioresal is real

I agree with what has been said here. And the headaches certainly could be caused by something else. How many times have I attributed a negative health issue to baclofen only to figure out later it originated from something else?

Try to think of all the possibilities, both what you consume -- medications, food, drink... lots of coffee now that you are not drinking?.. just rack your brains for other possibilites... even that there is something very separate going on, unrelated to bac, but needs serious attention-- good thing you are going to the doc... hopefully it will put your head at rest about it.

What I really wrote to tell you is that I believe Lioresal is the real thing. I was prescribed Baclofen (that's what it says on my prescription) and the only kind of baclofen they have in this country is Lioresal.

This is a very very restrictive country. Even vitamins ordered overseas are restricted. All for the common good, which pisses me off no end... l-glutamine,for example, is only available in 200mg capsules, at $2/capsule. That means I would have to take 25 caps 3 time a day to get my 3 doses of 5 gram daily. Needless to say, I have the tubs of powder brought in to me: 500 grams for about $35.00.

Anyway, my point is that no bad stuff would ever get in here. They have chosen one brand that passes snuff and it is Lioresal.

From my own experience, Lioresal works better than the three other brands I have used:

Bacmax, from 4rx
Upton (something like that), from an American pharmacy
Qualitest, from an American pharmacy.

I researched all and they are all completely legit.

Now, what I can't vouch for is that you are getting the "real" Lioresal. If it comes from Hong Kong, who knows about the BacMax from India, as well?

My Lioresal comes in thin, rectangular foil push-through packs. On the back of the foil packs it say Lioresal 25mg in yellow letters diagonally over and over (so you can read it even after pushing most of the pills out). The 10mgs are the same, but in blue writing. The 10mgs are a little smaller than the 25mg, which is confusing. I wish they make them more visibly different.

The box the Lioresal foil sheets are packed in are small rectangular boxes, half-white/half baby blue and its says Lioresal on the white side and Novartis on the baby blue side.

And mine DO come with with inserts with all the indications, warnings, etc.

If yours do not come with inserts, that might be reason for suspicion.

[Lo0p]

Baclofen bollocks?! WTF!!!

beatle;1087249 wrote:
Bacmax, from 4rx
Upton (something like that), from an American pharmacy [Bold mine]
Qualitest, from an American pharmacy.

My experience with that one is horrible, I've described it here: https://www.mywayout.org/community/f2...fen-46174.html TracyA will concur.

I haven't ever taken lioresal as my mainstay, but I do have some. I don't like it, it gives me strange SE's (I can't really describe them)

[beatle]

Baclofen bollocks?! WTF!!!

Well, the Upton one might explain why I had such awful SEs for a long period in the middle there, and may account for why I titrated up so slowly. (I should put this on my thread... I'm in the middle of an update there.) I just thought it was the bac in general. Before that, I was using BacMax, without a problem, but that was at lower doses. After that, I was using the qualitest as I tapered up, and still bad SEs, but not as bad, I think. Now I am using Lioresal, and I can tell it is much stronger than the qualitest. Here's how: My standard dose is 35mg. I take it with one 25mg Lioresal and one 10mg lioeresal OR qualitest (I'm trying to use them up, but maybe I should just dump them?). The doses when I use only Lioresal hit me much more noticeably. Just from 10mg out of 35.

[Sunnyvalenting]

Baclofen bollocks?! WTF!!!

I believe your doctor friend is just closed minded and misinformed. He should consult with my doctor. Tommy Richardson in the Atlanta area. The medicine seems to be safe if used correctly. It does lower seizure threshold and should be avoided in seizure prone people (as should alcohol BTW!).
I have been abstinent on baclofen manufactured by Qualitest for over 14 months. I initially had the typical side effects but none now on my maintenance dose of 20 at bedtime. It is the generic form of Lioresal which they sent me. It costs less than the brand name but has the same active ingredient.
My biggest problem with those on this forum is the tendency for the people to quickly titrate up to high doses. It should be done more gradually. We should also not suggest people wait for the switch but rather also use whatever other tools they have to get abstinent ASAP so they can get relief at lower doses and feel better, faster, safer.
All the best,
Sunny

[gratitude]

Baclofen bollocks?! WTF!!!

Charlie,
just to eliminate one more variable... make sure you are drinking a lot of water. alkies are notoriously dehydrated. this can cause headaches and joint pain,etc. easiest way is to carry a water bottle and sip all day. you should drink several quarts a day.

[Sunnyvalenting]

Baclofen bollocks?! WTF!!!

BTW white coat syndrome is when you get afraid of the doctor so much that your blood pressure rises and you feel sick when you see the doctor. I believe your friend is referring to "placebo effect". All meds and treatments have an aspect of that. Ask him how effective his non medical approach to alcohol dependence is and if it is higher than placebo effect.
S

[spacebebe01]

Baclofen bollocks?! WTF!!!

Charlie just an observation as I havent yet started bac but there are also plenty more scary stories about what happens when people continue abusing alcohol. I think on here and a growing number of other groups and individuals we are definatley going against the established use AA and dont drink its killing you method have has definately failed me for many years and I often get family, doctors and other professionals, and in fact most people thinking its ok to criticise me and any methods I use. Stick with it and learn to trust yourself, ask questions from anyone who is offering advice until you are happy with the anser. good Luck

[Bruunhilde]

Baclofen bollocks?! WTF!!!

ignominious;1087153 wrote: Maybe he's got a job with big pharma or been indoctrinated too much by AA. Maybe he's just a ranting contrary alcoholic.

Agreed, seems doctors (in the US at least) rely heavily on Pharma reps for their drug knowledge. It's a shame that they don't realize they're receiving slanted information - I think they think they know, but if they've never been in sales, they can't know how some people/companies twist information to sell sell sell. For example, I'm on Avapro, and have been for 12 years. Got a notice from my healthcare insurance co that I should have my kidneys tested. My doctor had told me this was an "excellent" medicine. It was the only one of all the meds I've been on for hypertension that I got a warning for. Doesn't seem so EXCELLENT to me. I'm going to try to get off it.