Sprat's baclofun journey

[Sprat]

Hi everyone,

I hope my journey will be quick and successful, this site is bookmarked. I've been here awhile, trying to absorb everything. I heard about Dr. Ameison on a podcast while running at the gym a year ago (sweating it out). I'm in Asia so I was very concerned about ordering meds. But I was desperate so I ordered the bac late one nite, put a lawyer's number in my cell and memorized my home phone because my 'one call' couldn't be to a cell phone. Scary.

Miraculously the bac came 2 weeks ago without incident. Except I ordered 100 x 25m and 100 x 10 came. I contacted India and they sent 60 x 25 to cover the order. I started with 30 mg a day and am now at 100 mg a day. After 2 weeks the totals are 2 AF days and the rest 8+ drinks in. Hangovers aren't bad but i blackout more.

Questions about dosage: I dont usually drink in the morning, so should i start at 8 or 9 am everyday? If i know i won't drink at night should i continue to take my bac to make my 100 or 150 mg total? Will it carry over to the next day? Is it a daily intake or a continual thing? I've been taking 10 mg every hour. Or today 20 mg the first time then 10 mg. I'm thinking of going to 20 x 5 or 25 x 5. I dont know. Any advice would be welcome.

Thanks! I'm looking forward to great life changes.

Sprat

[bleep]

Sprat's baclofun journey

Hi Sprat, and welcome.

Regarding the dosages, you want to mimic how your brain would secrete the chemical, so small doses often would, to me, be the best way to take it. Try and spread your dosage as evenly as possible throughout the day, regardless of when and if you plan to drink. It's a continual, daily thing, certainly whilst titrating up. The key is consistency in your daily dose, other than going up, obviously.

Once you reach indifference, nobody is really sure what to do. Dr Ameisen was able to reduce his dose over time from 270mg's to 80mg's. I tried something similar, but wasn't so fortunate, and 300mg's seems to a workable number for me. Hopefully, over time, that number will reduce, but even if it doesn't, I'm happy to continue taking it.

I didn't really chart my drinking whilst titrating up, but I know it both increased and decreased at the various levels. It didn't really concern me - once indifference is reached, it all falls away.

Best of luck!

[libmit]

Sprat's baclofun journey

Hi Sprat,
I second what Bleep said. I was all over the place initially, taking different amounts at different times, and Bleep recommended what he recommended to you. I went with that (eventually) and it's worked out. I wouldn't mess around with the timing too much - just take even doses evenly thoughout the day. I went up approximately 10 mg every third day. Also, it's recommended that if you're uncomfortable at a dose, try going up as going up might make you feel better instead of worse - that's also worked for me, although hard to do logically.

Good luck - bac works!

Libby

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Sprat's baclofun journey

Sprat;1108362 wrote: Questions about dosage: I dont usually drink in the morning, so should i start at 8 or 9 am everyday? If i know i won't drink at night should i continue to take my bac to make my 100 or 150 mg total? Will it carry over to the next day? Is it a daily intake or a continual thing? I've been taking 10 mg every hour. Or today 20 mg the first time then 10 mg. I'm thinking of going to 20 x 5 or 25 x 5. I dont know. Any advice would be welcome.

Hiya, Sprat. Welcome!
Wish I could channel a little Murphy-style humor for you but I'm sadly lacking in that department! Maybe Seethepony will stop by...

That's a lot of bac, Sprat!

It doesn't matter when, how or what you drink. It's continual, it builds up, but it's not like naltrexone in that it doesn't seem like it's particularly effective to take it related to when you're going to drink. IF your goal is to find indifference. (Some are taking low doses for the anti-anxiety aspects and to help curb the impulse to drink.)

There is some (a very little) debate about dosing schedule. The tried and true and seemed to work for most of us is that you oughta take it regularly, relatively evenly spaced. Dr. OA weighted his doses toward the early evening, taking less in the morning, and more in his last two doses. If you're interested and don't have the book, I'll look up the specifics for you.

I find that if I take it every three hours I am more comfortable. Dr. L says 6-8 hours though.

Start off slow and build up. The people who have recently tried it the other way, or have gone up too quickly because they didn't have SEs have suffered some pretty profound SEs and quit or looked to other options.
The great exception, that I can think of, is Murphy himself! :H And bleep was all over the place but found indifference.

Let us know how you get on!
Ne

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Sprat's baclofun journey

Just an aside:

Dr. OA reduced his dose to 120mg from 270mg in the book. In the last radio interview I heard, in October 2010, he said that he was taking 120mg.

He was completely abstinent, though. I'm not sure if that makes a difference, but it's worth noting.

Ne

[bleep]

Sprat's baclofun journey

Ne/Neva Eva;1108796 wrote: ...
And bleep was all over the place but found indifference.

...

Hey! I wasn't all over the place! I just went up. And up. And up.

[Sprat]

Sprat's baclofun journey

Thanks Ne, Bleep and Libby for your kind words and suggestions.

Today makes 2 weeks on the bac and I took 20mgs every 2 hours from 9:30 to 5:30 for a total of 100mg. Is that alot of bac Ne? I was leaning on Murphy's posted titrating (that's the word, right?) but he was up to 120 after 1 week so I'm not even going up 1/2 that fast. I don't have the book, I learned everything from MWO.

As for SEs its 8:30 in the evening now and I'm tired and been kinda spaced out all day but that's it. I was looking forward to a decrease in anxiety but i haven't noticed much.

Both Ne and Bleep are at 300mg? And the SEs faded away? I can't imagine taking 3X what i'm on now.

Not much else to report, if I left anything out just ask me. Time to get on my bike and ride down the hill to return my DVDs by the deadline!

Sprat

[bleep]

Sprat's baclofun journey

I'm on 300mg's now, I've taken as much as 500mg's. I think indifference was somewhere around the 400mg's mark, but because I was going up so fast, I went straight past it. The thing with baclofen, is that 300mg's isn't 3 times as hectic as 100mg's, just different. Some levels are very confusing and difficult to work through, others are downright pleasant. Everyone is different. While taking baclofen was a really hard thing to do, I enjoyed it, for the most part, and actually miss all the SE's. They have all faded away now, except I need less sleep.

Titrating up and tapering down are indeed the correct words to use. Your pace is fine. Murph's was particularly fast, so don't feel bad about lagging behind. It isn't a race! Yours is actually still quicker than most, and it seems to be working, so keep at it.

I noticed my anxiety disappeared at around 120mg's. Others, a little earlier. It will come. To go up from where you are, I would start taking 30mg's every few doses, adding 20mg's to your daily dose in this fashion, until eventually all your doses are 30mg's. I would keep the dosing the schedule you have now - it's pretty much what I used, and it worked well for me.

It was also around this level that strange things started to happen to my sleep. Not insomnia, but just needing less. That's lasted until now, and I love it, so don't be too surprised if something starts happening there. The thing with SE's is not to look out for them. If they come, they come. Some of them are fantastic, best of luck there!

[Murphyx]

Sprat's baclofun journey

Sprat, everyone seems to react differently to baclofen, the quantity and the spacing of doses. Also the side effects, although similar for most but with a variation in severity (or perception of severity), appear to be substantially different for some. We don't know why. Don't listen to the people who try to explain it all with scientific bullshit. They're just fooling themselves. Personally I think it's magic. But don't tell anyone I said so or I'll look like an idiot.

You can't pick one titration schedule and assume it's going to work for you. Mine worked for me, but I was a fool for doing that. I went too fast and I was seriously worried for a while that I might have damaged my brain, but thankfully the voices in my head tell me I'm fine and I just need to bide my time before I start to kill, kill, kill! But that's beside the point.

Softly, softly catchee monkey! A stupid sounding fucking proverb, but it's a truth based on the experience of reading a shit-load of other people's experiences with baclofen. You're on 100mg/day now? That's a good head start but there's no need to push it any more. I would suggest a 20 to 30mg increase every 5 days from here on in. IM (not so) HO, it's not just a matter of dealing with SEs, but you must MUST leave 5 days between increases for your brain to catch up.

But then again, what the fuck do I know?

I'm glad you decided to look at this as a fun thing. It needn't be anything else. You're well on your way to defeating this disgusting illness. Good man!

[Sprat]

Sprat's baclofun journey

I will do that Murphy, stay at 100 mgs for 5 days or so. Maybe I shouldn't have singled you out in my original post but I did so not only because you switched so early and at a low dose (everyone's goal) but also your thread was the most succinct. This forum has amazing info but it is overwhelming when you first come on, threads that say 'My bac journey' that go for 30+ pages. It is awesome that people get so much support and advice but it can be hard to track progress over so many pages, so when I saw

Day 1, 25mg, 4 evenly spaced doses
Day 2 as above
Day 3 50mg, 5 evenly spaced doses
Day 4 as above
Day 5 80mg, 8 evenly spaced doses
Day 6 as above

etc, I really appealed to my statistical side. Simplistic side. I'm not even matching that schedule but it gave me a framework. I think this site could use a "What worked for me" sticky where all you switchers post a chart like this, if you got'em, with age and weight if that help,s where newbies can quickly see the range of successful dosings. Or unsuccessful ones. I'm keeping my chart!

btw, 2 nights ago i had a pleasant AF night followed by a great day (despite 5 hours sleep) but last night I had a b-day gathering to attend at a restaurant/ bar. I thought I'd show up a bit late to let the guys get started but when I got there they said, "Finally, we were waiting for you to get the 2 hour 'all you can drink' plan!" And when the drinks are $7 and the AYCD plan is $20 it just makes economical sense to get it! Ugh, feeling it today.

But i'm off from work, its a beautiful day and I'm just gonna keep taking the damn pills and go out to the park.

Keep on keepin on. And thanks!

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Sprat's baclofun journey

Hiya Sprat. Love the av. Nice...

I missed your post yesterday. Don't know how the hell that happened!

Anyway, I can't attest to a lot or a little.

I wouldn't pay attention to anything that either of those two say, btw. They're both nutters.

Kidding, of course. I agree with both posts, with an exception. (of course!) In my case 300mgs was about 5x as much as 100mgs. In terms of SEs and the other 'nonsense.' Bleep is simply inhuman. (he's not around to defend himself so I can say whatever I'd like with impunity! mwahahaha.)

Don't worry about the heights to which you may (or probably won't) have to go. I'd go up with a plan that you can tweak. 20mgs every 3 days is what OA used and it's a decent starting place. As is every 5 days or week or so.

Hope you enjoyed the park and the lovely day. It was miserable here. :-( But it's springtime, which means that all that blustery rain will just make everything brighter and greener and happier... (I know. My unbridled optimism and cheeriness irritates even me at times. )

Sounds like it's going really well! yay! KOKO. (nice one, Sprat.)

[Sprat]

Sprat's baclofun journey

Well I think your cheeriness is simply infectious. You're on the East Coast? I'm listening to the Giants/ Mets game now and they say its cold and miserable. Its a sunny morning here, still have to eat breakfast and shower off last night before the park, so I've got that to look forward to. :baaah: (Damn I've never seen so many smilies, i go to pick one and spend 10 minutes in there, the jump roping sheep will have to do)

One thing about dosage, the pills from India are not perforated, they are strangely unmarked in any way. i just finished my 10s and now have 25s. Guess i'll be moving up to 25 at a time.

[Sprat]

Sprat's baclofun journey

Thanks Ne! Today was my 3rd day at 100, 20 mgs every 2.5 hours or so. Everything was fine. I got a good head rush in the morning where I had to do some deep breathing and after that it was just a long mellow day at the park throwing the frisbee around in bare feet on a 70 degree day. :rays:

This is alot easier to deal with when you're not disposing doctors or holding board meetings. I felt really relaxed and no drinking tonight. Woo hoo.

I was going to titrate up more but I calculated i need to stay at 100 to get me through til my next order comes in about 10 days. Bummer but what am i gonna do? Just maintain and softly softly shockee the monkey... and then blow him to smithereens.

April showers bring blustery rain leading to the best damn greenest loveliest spring. Your positive vibe will never irritate me. KOKO!

Sprat

[Lo0p]

Sprat's baclofun journey

I haven't read you're thread and I seriously wish you all the best and all that good stuff. I apologize but this is gonna sound a little harsh.

Sprat;1110153 wrote: I was going to titrate up more but I calculated i need to stay at 100 to get me through til my next order comes in about 10 days.

Are you fucking kidding me? You're at 100 mgs and you're relying on an international shipment to come through to the day? Those things can be 30 days late sometimes, or not show up at all! You could end up in withdrawal!

I hope I've missed something here (and I hope I have) but if I haven't you could potentially have a SERIOUS problem on your hands. Even if it comes through when it's supposed or early like they sometimes do, don't you dare ever let this happen again!

If this is the case then you should probably consider making arrangements with one of us. Sooner rather than later.

Have you titrated up slowly as per the conventional wisdom here? Have you been taking it for more than a month?

[Lo0p]

Sprat's baclofun journey

Sprat;1108362 wrote: Hi everyone,

Title pays respects to Murph. I hope my journey will be as quick and successful, his thread is bookmarked. I've been here awhile, trying to absorb everything. I heard about Dr. Ameison on a podcast while running at the gym a year ago (sweating it out). I'm in Asia so I was very concerned about ordering meds. But I was desperate so I ordered the bac late one nite, put a lawyer's number in my cell and memorized my home phone because my 'one call' couldn't be to a cell phone. Scary.

Miraculously the bac came 2 weeks ago without incident. Except I ordered 100 x 25m and 100 x 10 came. I contacted India and they sent 60 x 25 to cover the order. I started with 30 mg a day and am now at 100 mg a day. After 2 weeks the totals are 2 AF days and the rest 8+ drinks in. Hangovers aren't bad but i blackout more.

Questions about dosage: I dont usually drink in the morning, so should i start at 8 or 9 am everyday? If i know i won't drink at night should i continue to take my bac to make my 100 or 150 mg total? Will it carry over to the next day? Is it a daily intake or a continual thing? I've been taking 10 mg every hour. Or today 20 mg the first time then 10 mg. I'm thinking of going to 20 x 5 or 25 x 5. I dont know. Any advice would be welcome.

Thanks! I'm looking forward to great life changes.

Sprat

Okay so you're in Asia and you've been on it for 17 days. I don't know what shipping is like over there but I'd still hesitate to trust it at all. Arrangements with one of us would would be pointless as they'd be international as well.

The only medical literature I've found that states when withdrawal is a concern says that it is so "after several months". I wouldn't trust that either.