Baclofen Dreams

[Scuba]

Hi - I have been on baclofen for a while now and thanks to that and a strong AA group, I am alcohol free.

One thing I have noticed is that on baclofen I have had the most intense and vidid dreams imaginable. I seems every morning I wake up it takes me a while to figure out where I am. My dreams are not bad and for the most part aren't sexual (alas) but involve "other worlds" with respect to how my life might have been the past 8 years without a severe alcohol addiction and all the usual consequences. As an example last night:

I was hopelessly lost on skid row in Los Angles having left my motorcycle, unlocked, somewhere up the hill near the museum. I was desperate to it get back before it was stolen. I was looking at a bus sign and map, and, while I glanced up, my backpack disappeared.

A guy came up and asked me if I wanted it back for $5. I gave him the money and he returned my backpack that was now loaded with bottles of vodka and cash and some cryptic notes which I knew I did not write.

I woke up before finding my motorcycle.

[Evey]

Baclofen Dreams

Hi Scuba,

If you ever want the dreams to be less intense, try taking melatonin.

It works really well.

[bleep]

Baclofen Dreams

I want more intense dreams! I've only had a couple of baclofen dreams, and I loved them. Vivid dreams are amazing. For the most part, I don't remember my dreams, so suddenly having these bizarre experiences was a thing of true beauty.

Scuba, good to see you around. What dose are you on at the moment? Are you indifferent?

I keep meaning to get my Rescue license, but haven't got that far yet. I am put off by watching what happens to all the poor rescue divers who are forced to lurk at the back of every group I dive with!

[RudyB]

Baclofen Dreams

Hi Scuba,

I'd love this thread to continue. My dreams are vivid and I need an excuse to record them...

Last night I dreamed that my ex boyfriend was driving us in his jeep over boulders across a steep ledge. He'd go up over one and I was sure we'd topple over into our deaths (my sis and bro were w us), but we didn't. He navigated like a magician. Do I interpret this to mean I should get back together with him? Nope. He doesn't want to have sex, in real life, imagine that! ...not good for a girl while on bac. I take it simply as an exciting bac dream, give thanks!

The other night, as I posted elsewhere, I dreamed there was an intruder about to break into my house. I thought to myself, 'I bet he wants all my beer bottle empties!' They probably valued close to twelve bucks!

Yes, the bac is fun for dreaming, tho sometimes it takes me a minute's orientation to distinguish REM from reality. Could be worse. (And this is happening since 30 mg; I'm now at 50.)

Sweet dreams all!

...oh, but I woke in the middle of the night, afraid. Granted, I heard a noise in my closet. Probably a mouse. But I couldn't shake the fear. Anyone else had night terrors, or scaredies?

[Bill.P.]

Baclofen Dreams

Yeah, I watched this amazing movie last night. It was called "There it"

I was like wow, Hollywood made a great movie. And it was in 3d and I didnt have to wear glasses. I was like this brilliant.

Anyways, then I woke up, so vivid and I thought I was actually in a theatre watching it. And it was quite good, I had to hand it to myself. I created an amazing movie.
Too bad I cant remember any of the plot now so I can write it down.
But I do have vivid dreams at times

[Scuba]

Baclofen Dreams

I'm taking 120 mg/day as a maintenance dose. Still not indifferent, but getting there.

[Scuba]

Baclofen Dreams

I had a similar dream a few nights ago, but my father was driving. It was an Indiana Jones type adventure. I don't know what Freud would have said, but common themes in my dreams are anxiety, frustration (going someplace and getting nowhere) and looking for love in all the wrong places --- there's no place like home!

[redhead77]

Baclofen Dreams

Hi Scuba.

I have intense and vivid dreams too. It has never gone away. In the early days, it would sometimes be about a certain coworker. I would wake up and think geez, Freud would have field day with this one. They are mostly benign dreams. Sometimes, I dream that I posted weird stuff on MWO (not the kind of thing that used to happen when I was drinking. I would think I might have drunk posted something, and have to wake up and check :H). I did have my first horrible nightmare two nights ago maybe. I dreamt I was murdered. I was inside my body before it happened, but at the time of the murder, I was watching it happen. It was horrible and very vivid. I woke up shaking and in a panic. I thought immediately to go downstairs and check everything in the house. It turns out my back door was left unlocked (one of the kids must have done it). It makes me wonder a couple of things. One, if for some of us, the vivid dreams will remain while we are on baclofen. Secondly, if dreams really are a way to gain insight.

I'm not insinuating that you will end up on skid row Scuba.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Baclofen Dreams

My bac dreams freaked me out a bit. (no shocker there, so much did! ha!)
Some of them were scary, like when I was sure there was someone hovering outside the bedroom window. And when there was someone in my bedroom, lurking right >there. Fortunately I have a big hairy mutt. She's a scaredy cat but she barks. So I knew immediately that those were dreams.

The best one, though, was the night I dreamed about Lo0p. (I often, very often, dreamed that I posted here, or read something here, on MWO. It was a HUGE part of my life, more so then, lol!) Anyway, I woke up and continued (I thought) our whole exchange, in pm's and elsewhere offline. It wasn't until the mid-afternoon of the next day that I realized my mistake! He'd never pm'd me. (that night I mean.) We'd never had the initial exchange! And I sent him, I don't remember now, several messages that morning! :blush: It's only funny NOW. Now it's actually very funny.
Glad you didn't freak out, lo0p, and decide I was completely nuts. (oh, but I was! High dose bac was not my friend in the beginning.)
Now he's my friend, so it's all okay. :l

Point is though, that for a little while I couldn't trust what I remembered! That was weird. When I finally figured it all out, though, is when I REALLY started to guard my sleep. I realized that it was in the state between sleeping and waking, especially when I had just titrated up, exacerbated by drinking, that I got confused. If I stayed in bed I could suss out that I was dreaming and then not carry it into my real life!

Your dreams sound fun, but my favorite is still Redthread's. She dreamt that she was at the Playboy mansion cavorting with Hugh and Kendra and some of the other playmates. She's a woman who doesn't, um, well, she said herself that she shaved for her 50th birthday. Or maybe that was when she wore heels? Or was that for the Leonard Cohen concert? Anyway, you get the point.
Whenever I got scared after I read that I would think of HER dream. And I stopped dreaming! :H (god knows, Kendra is enough to give a woman nightmares, not to mention Hugh!)

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Baclofen Dreams

Oh, and I really posted to say that if I dream it, now, I know it's not true. It's pretty amazing, actually. I have these vivid dreams (still) and used to think, hmmm. Maybe that's prescient? Never, not once, have they reflected anything in reality. Thank goodness!

[Scuba]

Baclofen Dreams

To me, dreams are two things. 1) a way of resolving the day to day neuroses that we all have during the waking hours (anxiety, fear, anger, regret ....) and 2) an insight into what we are in parallel universes. By this I mean that maybe we are living multiple lives. I know this seems weird, but dreams can be very useful to growth --- especially for someone in recovery.

I used to have a hard time remembering my dreams. Not so on baclofen! They are incredibly vivid and memorable. I don't even have to write them down, but I have been doing so the next day out of interest as I get more days of sobriety under my belt. I'm going to start recording them into my iPhone when I wake up in the middle of the night. Baclofen does disrupt my sleep, but in a good way.

Keep on dreamin'!