Baclofen and Exercise / Gym

[Guest]

Baclofen and Exercise / Gym

I'm using Nal Alexan having reduced my dose of Baclofen. Now heres the interesting bit, I too thought you had to take it an hour or two before drinking. Well after discussing my drinking, craving pattern etc the Dr has told me to take it in the morning because sometimes it does help with cravings. He says Nal acts in your system for around 10 hours, so I'm taking 50mg with breakfast. I usually have cravings around late morning, and late afternoon so it'll be prime in my system. Of course I asked him what if I do have a drink later in the evening - say 8pm when the nal is fading. I think he did say you can then take another 50mg prior to drinking as per TSM.

Hope this helps somewhat. Currently I'm down to 25 mgs baclofen and have taken 50 mgs Nal yesterday morning as well as this morning. No problems so far, and no side effects from the Nal.

[alexan]

Baclofen and Exercise / Gym

Lo0p;1101125 wrote: And finally...just because I've had this post saved since yesterday (it was really easy to compose because it's more of a joke and I don't actually care about it):

How, exactly, do you get into the line of work that you're in?

Because I think I've got most of my bases covered...



Shower Curtain - WalMart - $12.88
Wrangler Jeans - WalMart - $17.88
Woven Faux Brass Mirror - Targ?t - $24
Towel Bar - Lowes - $5.99
Sexy Medical Alert Necklace - Some Internet Company that stole my debit card # - $8.95 + a new debit card
Goofy Face - Yours Truly ? - Free this time
"O" Face - Yours Truly ? - Priceless (edit: On second thought...you could probably buy it but it is NOT available in stores)

Good Job, Loop!

In response to your question, when I was about 18-19 my girlfriend was a model and one day I happened to be with her at her agency and they approached me to sign up with their men's division too.

[alexan]

Baclofen and Exercise / Gym

Ukblonde;1102914 wrote: I'm using Nal Alexan having reduced my dose of Baclofen. Now heres the interesting bit, I too thought you had to take it an hour or two before drinking. Well after discussing my drinking, craving pattern etc the Dr has told me to take it in the morning because sometimes it does help with cravings. He says Nal acts in your system for around 10 hours, so I'm taking 50mg with breakfast. I usually have cravings around late morning, and late afternoon so it'll be prime in my system. Of course I asked him what if I do have a drink later in the evening - say 8pm when the nal is fading. I think he did say you can then take another 50mg prior to drinking as per TSM.

Hope this helps somewhat. Currently I'm down to 25 mgs baclofen and have taken 50 mgs Nal yesterday morning as well as this morning. No problems so far, and no side effects from the Nal.

UKB, I'm going to be honest, I have looked a lot into this and I have not heard of anyone having their cravings reduced because of Nal. I have, however, heard of people getting disappointed because of this expectation.
I say take it mid-morning and if you get the craving then drink, because I assure you you won't be drinking much. Like people say "the bac works you, if you work the bac", its the same with Nal, don't force yourself to drink more... but I have to say, moderate drinking just becomes... how can I say it, "effortless".

As a side-note, I also found I didn't want to have the one single cigarette I'm sometimes tempted to have when I drink out on weekends.

[alexan]

Baclofen and Exercise / Gym

UKB, Did your hair and skin ever get back to normal? My scalp has completely dried out and my hair is like straw so I'm hoping I can revert that?

[Guest]

Baclofen and Exercise / Gym

Thanks for that. I'm actually beyond any expectation from anything. I just hope something works for me at some point! Moderation isn't my goal because I just don't enjoy drinking, I drank for effect. So maybe it will work, maybe not. I've other tools to use but perhaps Nal can give me that edge.

[Guest]

Baclofen and Exercise / Gym

Well to start off with mine was dry but only for the first 2 weeks, then it went the other way - extremely oily. I've only been tapering for a couple of days yet with no improvement and remember skin and hair can take a while to respond to changes within the body.

[Cinders]

Baclofen and Exercise / Gym

Take Biotin, most supplements are sadly lacking in that amino. If you read the labels, Biotin is about 10%.

Because it is expensive.

However, not that expensive.

I took it after my GB when my hair started thinning and it helped.

My SIL took it after radiation and chemo for a brain tumor and it helped her. She was very grateful for the advice.

HTH,
Cindi

[Isolde]

Baclofen and Exercise / Gym

Alex, if you decide to give bac another go, you should try supplementing with piracetam for the mental fogginess. You can always PM me if you want more info about it. By the way, the mental fog DOES get better. I still think a somewhat slower steady titration might help with that, even if you are still experiencing it at 20mgs now. Seems like you totally missed out on the great SEs of increased mental alertness, well being and euphoria. I felt that on my way up around 80mgs. Even though I'm indifferent now, I actually play with titrating up and down just to get those good SEs.

Glad to hear that Nal is working so well for you!

[Murphyx]

Baclofen and Exercise / Gym

alexan;1102864 wrote: And what are you expecting to convey to me by offering me such a sardonic, sarcastic, and borderline partronizing response? Piss me off? My question was very specific in that is this brain fog and reduction in mental acuity something that ever goes away with time. As usual, Murph, you have done nothing to answer or put out food for thought in response to what I believe is a very well-written post highlighting what I have been going through and instead you are waving caustic rhetoric?

I have not really had any side-effects after the initial 0 - 140mg period except that brain fog, which has never gone away even at very low dosages.



No I am not looking for "Kicks"!! This is not a joke to me and I have been taking this very seriously. I had stopped all other activities and devoted my time and trying very hard to acclimate my body to this drug. I just don't think that if this brain fog is never going to go away, that I am better off continuing to take Bac. Because like I said, all other activities in my life, even the mundane ones, have ceased to exist.



Its pretty simple, like I said I was a binge drinker for the last 8 years with many a bender thrown in, usually instigated by a night of hard-drinking that led to a "hair-of-the-dog" and so on and so forth.



I will say that this is very true. All my fears were mostly unfounded, no matter what SE I felt usually subsided very quickly upon tapering down and/or discontinuing.



FINALLY!! A real answer. Thanks Isolde. While this wasn't a half-assed run; like I was trying to explain, for whatever reason and I don't why, I have not had any physical SEs per se past the initial 140mg titration period where I didn't know enough and was a little freaked out. But the brain fog was always omni-present... So since I was mentally in a funk anyways, once I got the hang of things and had a grasp on my body I started titrating up and I don't regret it at all -- the only problem is this mental fog that doesn't go away even whether I take 20mg or 140mg or what have you. It renders me COMPLETELY useless, I can't do anything other than sit on my couch and wait for the next day.



The only side effect that has never stopped bothering me is mental acuity. That's it. Its never gone away. This absent-mindedness, leaving things and coming back to get them and leaving them again (I know this is something Bleep went through as well), lack of concentration, inability to read anything, just not mentally present...or present somewhere else on another planet. I have stopped all outside activities, gained about 10 pounds and quite a nice mid-section, and do not feel well in general. Its like even the days when I wasn't drinking, I couldn't do anything else. There's like this cloud and feeling of "blah". Now like I articulated in my previous post which Ne made fun of, I can understand how for the daily-drinker, trading the daily alcohol haze for this "Bac-Cloud" may be a better option, but I'm not sure how it benefits people who are NOT daily-drinkers because this "Bac-Cloud" ruins those AF days completely.



Murph, once again, no factual answers or even anecdotes from experience... Just more mindless, empty and abrasive rhetoric.

###

Alex, when I read this post this morning I was concerned that no one had been helping you, there are a lot of newbies arriving all the time and I can't remember who all of them are, so I looked at some of your earlier posts to see whether you had been given any advice. You have and you've ignored it. You were advised to contact a doctor experienced in baclofen for alcoholism, to titrate slowly and consistently and that baclofen was a powerful drug, not to be messed with. Yes, you suffered unwanted side effects. If you had taken the advice, you may not have done.

There's no point my offering any further advice "or even anecdotes from experience" if it's just going to be ignored.

I wish you all the best and hope you find a solution to your drinking. If you do try baclofen again, please do so sensibly. Your previous attempt was not only dangerous to yourself but off-putting for newbies.

Good luck

Murph

[alexan]

Baclofen and Exercise / Gym

Murphyx;1103079 wrote: Your previous attempt was not only dangerous to yourself but off-putting for newbies.


You have got to be kidding me. This is not a recruitment effort. This is not some cult. And I have been anything but off-putting. I felt like my body could handle it so I did it. I don't want to argue about this but I am not able to handle long-term usage like you -- I have certain activities that I need to keep doing to maintain my life -- all of which I am unable to do on Bac. Since I was not a daily drinker, taking bac hinders everything else I could be doing if I am not drinking. You have to consider that perhaps our age and lifestyles may be a little different as well.

Murphyx;1103079 wrote:
Alex, when I read this post this morning I was concerned that no one had been helping you, there are a lot of newbies arriving all the time and I can't remember who all of them are, so I looked at some of your earlier posts to see whether you had been given any advice.

Murph, you know who I am. That's not gonna fly here... your remarks were downright insulting.

Murphyx;1103079 wrote: You have and you've ignored it. You were advised to contact a doctor experienced in baclofen for alcoholism, to titrate slowly and consistently and that baclofen was a powerful drug, not to be messed with. Yes, you suffered unwanted side effects. If you had taken the advice, you may not have done.

There's no point my offering any further advice "or even anecdotes from experience" if it's just going to be ignored.

I did not suffer unwanted side effects. Whatever I suffered was to be expected along the way -- the first time I was somewhat jittered by the electric shocks and I did not find out soon enough that this was normal -- and seeing that I have previously fallen down the stairs and hit my head, which led to herniated discs and some nerve damage in my arm I got scared; but once I found out this was normal I persevered on. Again, there are no side-effects on a physical level I was unable to tolerate. The only side-effects are the mental cloud which has not gone away on any dosage, whether its 40 or 340.

I asked a very specific question. ...And rather than bother to proffer possible solutions you were instead condescending.
...there was no need for that.

[Lo0p]

Baclofen and Exercise / Gym

Why is it that you're always awake at like 3, 4 or 5 in the morning?

I should talk...:H

[alexan]

Baclofen and Exercise / Gym

Hey UKB,

I got your PM -- I will write back tomorrow... but I did want to say do try to read the book on TSM; there are excerpts from it over here:
thesinclairmethod.com • View topic - Excerpts from The Cure for Alcoholism

Like I was saying to Brun, it does start off like quite a thrilling knocker...so at least the first 70 pages you might find your self glued...
You UKBlonde with your penchant for factual information might actually like it because it is not so much anyone's personal story but mostly research-oriented and objective.

I reserve my opinion on various portions towards the middle which I found to be a bit rah-rah and somewhat needlessly over-the-top but then I like to stay nonpartisan like that on most such literature.

[alexan]

Baclofen and Exercise / Gym

Ironically I found out about about all of this stuff when after one binge a few weeks ago, I very very wryly googled "Alcoholism Cure" -- and I suddenly discovered about the TSM book -- that led me to the TSM forums, where I stumbled across "Baclofen" because some of the members there were talking about it; and upon further Googling about that, I was led to this MWO forum in all its glory :H

How funny life is.

[Lo0p]

Baclofen and Exercise / Gym

I've got a good 700+ posts over on the TSM board too. I was the research nut over there, or "resident geek" if I recall. I am sold on the theory and I believe it to this day.

What I wholeheartedly disagree with is Eskapa's book. Too many studies taken out of context and too many loose ends. I tore that book and theory and all those studies apart. The actual research does not come anywhere close to supporting the conclusions (mostly the statistics) reported in the book.

That being said I'm fortunate to consider quite a few people who's disease has been cured and who's lives have been saved by TSM as friends. And I still may consider it a necessary final component of my own treatment...it's a looooong story though.

I swear to this day I used selective extinction and opioid receptor upregulation to addict myself to the gym. Who was it that was asking me about that recently?

[Lo0p]

Baclofen and Exercise / Gym

alexan;1103134 wrote: I was led to this MWO forum in all its glory :H

You can say that again. :H I have to try to remain lighthearted about a lot of this stuff, otherwise I'd just have to leave.