Bac post switch stories and titrating back down

[Chi]

Bac post switch stories and titrating back down

Thank you coalfire, your post really spoke to me

With bac and a little resolve to change dysfunctional thinking patterns I feel like I can really make it for the long haul. I remember I heard a quote one time from a famous actress, I think it might have been Jamie Lee Curtis... she said getting sober at midlife is like being reborn. That always stuck with me and now days I often think about that.

[bleep]

Bac post switch stories and titrating back down

coalfire;1093326 wrote: It makes perfect sense Chi. I get you. This was a huge issue for me in the early weeks. I wasn't craving as such but I just wanted to "check out" for a while. I felt that there was way too much reality and sobriety in my life and it was unsettling(ouch..don't like the way that looks written down) It does get easier. For a month it scared the crap out of me. It just felt like this big vast empty sober landscape and I needed to cut it down. I remember going through this intense massage stage because Indian head massages blisses you out and maybe softens all that reality a bit. I remember doing a ton of family visits too. It was as if I couldn't handle all my own reality so I was visiting their reality for the evening. I lived on MWO.
It is getting easier and I can truthfully promise people that. Around day 50 I finally learnt how to handle an evening. 5-10 pm now on most days is just an evening. I have had the occasional flare up of fear/panic/craving/permission thoughts especially when I am on my own but for the most part I have calmed down. I have had many days now where I wonder what the heck was so scary or unsettling about an evening that I had to medicate and get drunk just to pass the time. I haven't started a hobby or anything. I have just learnt to stay in my own skin or headspace and simply be. Just learning to deal with my emotions has taken me 10 weeks and truthfully I think I would need another 6-8 weeks to cement the process. I have started to read a lot again. I used to read to escape instead of drink and its obviously better for you.Slowly slowly you adjust to all the sober time and things gradually creep in to fill the blanks.You become more open and available to other people and other ideas/interests/things and gradually life closes over the drinking spaces the way grass slowly grows over a new patch of uncovered soil. This takes a few months though and in my opinion/experience even one single relapse sets the process back a lot. In fact it destroyed it completely for me in the past. I just didnt stay AF for long enough and I can see that now. I had to completely deny myself that urge to "check out" and it was only by doing that week in week out that it eventually started to wither and die. Its as if your brain says"ok so its not happening" and eventually gives up looking for it. If I had allowed myself the odd check out from reality then I would have kept the hopes of my addicted brain alive and kept reinforcing the idea that check out time was an option which just allows this whole flipping nightmare to continue.Thats where I realise I have been going wrong in the past now. You can actually train your brain to stop bugging you and looking for it every time 5pm comes round but it only worked when I starved it to death.

Coalfire, if you had only put a paragraph or two in that post, I would have nominated for post of the year. Great post, thanks.

[Chi]

Bac post switch stories and titrating back down

This is from braveheart on a different thread. I wanted to copy it here to keep this kind of info in one place for easy access. (I hope that's okay with you BH- if not let me know and I will delete).

I tirated up slowly to apporx 120mg a day in the summer of09 it worked a treat he cravings disappered and all was well. So I slowly tirated down but I now realise I went down to low to 50mg a day I am a female about nine and a half stone. Things slowly strated to slip and I was soonback to where I was before baclofen. I am planning to start taking it again soon

For me baclofen as a maintaince dose is not effective below 75mg a day (3 x 25mg).
I am curious why you are not keen to take a higher dose ?

BH

[coalfire]

Bac post switch stories and titrating back down

I know Bleep-I am so busy thinking that I forget about layout. Note to self-use bloody paragraphs.
Self-ok.

[craving]

Bac post switch stories and titrating back down

I have hit my switch in the 250-300mg/day area beginning of Feb 2010.
I started to titrating down the dose and experienced panic attacks which I considered at this time to be from Bupropion that I was taking. Looking back I was titrating down way too fast and was not careful enough with the dosage. A lot of the side effects on titrating down could have been avoid when titrating down slower.

I titrated down to 75mg by End of March 2010 on the suggestion of my shrink (and again was way too fast going down) which made feel quite uncomfortable.

From 75mg I was not able to go lower. I noticed myself experiencing increased fear and in general feeling uncomfortable when reducing the dose further.

In March this year I was seeing a specialist for eating who prescribed me Topamax. Once I took Topamax I could feel the GABA-eric effect that I knew of Baclofen and I noticed that it increased the effect of Baclofen, so I decided to reduce the dose. I wanted to get off Baclofen as fast as possible, as I did not know how long my body would need to adjust to Topamax (and once it adjusted to it, then the withdrawal of Baclofen would be just the same as without Topamax). So I reduced the dose step by step and went totally off Baclofen on 14 March 2011 and I am off it since then. I had irritability for 1-2 weeks which I sorted with taking L-Theanine sublingual - that worked like a charm reducing the emotional pressure I felt.

Baclofen has helped me a lot and I would fully do everything again the same way. Baclofen like many other medicine can not be stopped right away and can have tappering off effects (like antidepressives for example).

Baclofen itself is not addictive as I never felt the urge to take Baclofen.

I am just on 25mg/day Topamax which I hardly notice by now. No urge to drink. Less fear and anxiety than on my maintenance dose of Baclofen and cleaning up my life with lots of energy.

I am very happy for Baclofen - it fixed my life. It was a difficult good-bye for me to my helper. I feel I do not need it anymore.

I think I would not have gone off Baclofen if my doctor would not have prescribed me Topamax for another thing. And I am happy it went that way. I can stand on my own 2 feet again without the help and all thanks to Baclofen!

[bleep]

Bac post switch stories and titrating back down

I find it interesting that you experienced SE's related to reduction on so small a reduction. I live in a place where my supply is very erratic and have often had to reduce my dose, sometimes by as much as 100mg's per day. I've not noticed an effect from this, although I was able to titrate up very quickly, so maybe I just tolerate baclofen well?

Saying that, I have been uncomfortable on the reduced doses, but have always attributed that to taking too little baclofen, rather than reducing quickly.

However, as you say, thank you baclofen! It saved my life too.

[craving]

Bac post switch stories and titrating back down

bleep, how long have you been on a reduced dose?

the last time I titrated down 100mg was one of 2 times I had cravings the AF time on Bac. 100mg is a really huge jump, I could notice the difference right away, and my body reacted with huge cravings to alcohol.

The thing with Baclofen is that it does not work instantly. Usually I noticed the difference of a dose in min. 24 hours, but on titrating down slowly I usually noticed the difference within 3-4 days only.

[bleep]

Bac post switch stories and titrating back down

The reduced dose is forced by circumstances - there just isn't any baclofen around where I am. The decreases though were often voluntarily, as strange as that may sound.

When I've dropped like that, I too have noticed craving creeping in, o rushing in as the case may be. The first time was just a foolhardy experiment after I reached indifference, the second was necessitated by a baclofen shortage.

I'm sitting on 220mg's at the moment, which is too low for me. Originally it was okay, but as time goes on, I am drinking more and more, so clearly it's not enough. It doesn't worry me though - I know when I get my supply sorted out and consequently my dose, I'll be fine.

[JOANIEJEWEL]

Bac post switch stories and titrating back down

DONT TITRATE DOWN!

ACCORDING TO DR L, DR A NOW HAS CHANGED THE PROGRAM TO:

STAY ON THE SAME DOSE YOU WERE ON WHEN YOU GOT THE SWITCH. DO NOT ITRATE DOWN AT ALL & DO NOT QUIT IT. YOU WILL NEED TO TAKE THIS FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. BY TIRATING DOWN YOU ARE TAKING A STEP BACKWARD AND MAY RELAPSE & HAVE TO START ALL OVER AGAIN.

[ignominious]

Bac post switch stories and titrating back down

Joanie, this is old news. The program is constantly being modified and the last I heard was that could taper off at a slow rate.

Did you speak to Dr L personally about this, if you did then more detail would be appreciated.

[LadyLush]

Bac post switch stories and titrating back down

Joanie,

What I understand is it also takes mind-set and willpower. You can not change your life on a pill alone. But my God, it does set the road for freedom you never thought existed. TRUST ME on this! I believe you CAN go down once you have seen and know you can change and are changed.

Yes, I'm there my friends, could care less (about the drink)..

Hanging at 120 mg...

Lady

[ignominious]

Bac post switch stories and titrating back down

That"s fantastic news Lush. Seems an unusual place for me to read it , have you announced it elsewhere?

I'm sure we'd all like to hear more, how many days now and how do you know you've reached the switch?

[Evey]

Bac post switch stories and titrating back down

Lady!!!

Yay!!!! That's great!!

So happy for you :l

[Murphyx]

Bac post switch stories and titrating back down

Lushy, give us the details on your thread when you're ready; it'd be good to be able to keep it on there for prosperity. :l:h

[bleep]

Bac post switch stories and titrating back down

Absolutely Lush - please let us know what's going on when you get a moment. Glad to hear it is going well!