Joes Baclofen Journal! (started 21/06/2011)

[AverageJoe]

Joes Baclofen Journal! (started 21/06/2011)

Yeah my missus let me have a nap yesterday afternoon which helped, but I took two sleeping tablets at around 9pm last night - and didnt wake up until baba woke up at 5am

[BacloTim]

Joes Baclofen Journal! (started 21/06/2011)

I've found out that taking the smallest amount possible throughout the day is pretty much eliminating any crazy side effects. I'm actually getting good ones now like it's working better, I think i'm a really fast metabolizer(tall skinny white guy).

Sucks that your getting side effect issues and actually thought about quiting the Baclofen, if you cold turkey it your guaranteed to drink if you don't get something to counteract that, it sounds like alcohol withdrawal x10.

I used to take celexa(citraprolam) and it just made me feel weird. I guess a bit different but weird, not sure it is the best trade off for me hehe. Maybe without that in the mix it'll work out better for ya. I noticed my first few weeks of Bac I got into a deep depression though. I didn't notice that until I just came out of it and looked back at where I've been the last few weeks. It seems after breaking the pills down more as Bleep suggested and going up that the depression has lifted. Anyway the month seems the roughest. I'd play around with your titration and dosing schedule it seems to make a HUGE difference for me anyway.

[AverageJoe]

Joes Baclofen Journal! (started 21/06/2011)

Hey Tim Yeah the side effects were definitley just from mixing the Citalopram with the Baclofen. They've almost completely dissapeared now the Citalopram is out of the equation! Had a bit of somnolence today, but it was the light headed / dizziness that really got to me beforehand.

I guess it was a combination of things though. I just couldn't sleep, and I had no sleeping pills so I was walking around like a tweaked-up zombie!

Good to hear from you

[polaropposite]

Joes Baclofen Journal! (started 21/06/2011)

I got up to 25 mgs on monday morning and thought I was going to die....literally....I had been on 20, three times a day for a few days so took the 25 mg in the morning and was nauseous, twitchy, sweaty and had chest pain..... really scared. I am now on my way back down. Disappointed this didn't work for me but I need my thoughts to be cognicant and they were NOT...I could not even write without it looking like I was 109 years old. I did find some relief at 20 x 3 per day but not enough to feel no cravings.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Joes Baclofen Journal! (started 21/06/2011)

polaropposite;1150899 wrote: I got up to 25 mgs on monday morning and thought I was going to die....literally....I had been on 20, three times a day for a few days so took the 25 mg in the morning and was nauseous, twitchy, sweaty and had chest pain..... really scared. I am now on my way back down. Disappointed this didn't work for me but I need my thoughts to be cognicant and they were NOT...I could not even write without it looking like I was 109 years old. I did find some relief at 20 x 3 per day but not enough to feel no cravings.

Hey, Polar. I'm not sure why you'd give up the whole process? You were feeling improvement at 60mg/day, right? Took an extra 5mg with your first dose the next day...
It is really scary, but if it wasn't really scary at 60mg it makes sense to me that the next level doesn't have to be traumatic, either.

You could stay on 60mg/day for several more days and try again.
You could try again at night, on a full belly.
If you're drinking, you could completely abstain the night before any increase.

I always increase or decrease at night, because it seems less wonky when I do that. Especially when I was hungover! I also make sure I eat before I take it.

I make these suggestions because I know that every increase does not result in a lot of discomfort, especially something scary. It doesn't have to be that way. For me, even though I didn't know it at the time, it was still worth it. But that's only in retrospect! I'm glad I stuck it out, though. Very glad.
Hang in there whatever decision you make, Polar!

Ne

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Joes Baclofen Journal! (started 21/06/2011)

AverageJoe;1150715 wrote: Hey Tim Yeah the side effects were definitley just from mixing the Citalopram with the Baclofen. They've almost completely dissapeared now the Citalopram is out of the equation! Had a bit of somnolence today, but it was the light headed / dizziness that really got to me beforehand.

I guess it was a combination of things though. I just couldn't sleep, and I had no sleeping pills so I was walking around like a tweaked-up zombie!

Good to hear from you

Despite the post I quoted, it sounds like you are doing really, really well. That's so great Joe! Congrats.
Good to know about your reaction to citalopram. Glad you got off it.

Hope it smooths out and continues to be so promising!

Ne

[AverageJoe]

Joes Baclofen Journal! (started 21/06/2011)

polaropposite, sorry to hear you had a bad experience! If I were you I'd break the dosages down much more than 3 times per day though! and not worry as much about hitting daily dosages.

Try taking 5mg every 3 hours.

e.g (taken from my routine):

6am - 5mg
9am - 5mg
12am - 5mg
3pm - 5mg
6pm - 5mg

then when you want to increase the dose, throw a 10mg in at your 'danger' times. For me it was early afternoon, so I increased the 12am and 3pm dosages to 10mg for a couple of days. Then increase all your dosages to 10mg! Rinse and repeat for 15mg, 20mg and finally (for me) 25mg Then if you feel like you need an increase with 25mg, try shaving half an hour off between doses (every 2 and a half hours) before trying to throw an extra 5mg into your danger zones The spacing dosages out at set times by set amounts helped me much more than faffing about with specific daily targets. An it also gives your body time to adjust to your dosing schedule.

Are you taking any other medications at the same time?
Still drinking quite a lot?

Day 18

Btw, Always lovely to hear from you Ne

[bleep]

Joes Baclofen Journal! (started 21/06/2011)

That's a good schedule Joe. When you get to higher numbers, you can even throw in a couple of extra times as well. I've definitely found that taking smaller, more frequent doses helps.

Polar, why not try it? Take your 60 in 6 lots of 10, then just add in a seventh later at night one day. I reckon you'll not even notice the increase.

[AverageJoe]

Joes Baclofen Journal! (started 21/06/2011)

Three weeks today! :h

I actually managed three weeks at the start of this year, as I didn't want to be drunk / hungover for the birth of our daughter. That means (for me at least) abstinence starts here!

Its been five days since I restarted Baclofen after a two day break, and I'm seeing the return of some side effects if I take an extra dose / take a dose earlier than usual.

Returned side effects after extra dose

Extreme somnolence / urge to close eyes. Though if I do nap I tend to wake up dizzy!
Yawning. Eyes stick closed for a few seconds after yawning.
Buzz. Get a really warm fuzzy buzz when latest dose is kicking in!
Thundery noise in ears. When my latest dose is kicking in I get a strange loud thunder-type noise in my ears
Hornies!
Slightly delayed climax. Not half as bad as with the Citalopram though!
Sweating / Urinating Baclofen. It seems to be coming out of my pores! Urine smells strong too.

I plan to start tapering off the Baclofen as I really can't afford it, and replacing it within the week with Antabuse instead. Hopefully I can manage the cravings and start the Antabuse whilst I'm tapering down the Baclofen.

Any thoughts on this?

[SlipperyPete]

Joes Baclofen Journal! (started 21/06/2011)

Awesome you hit 3 weeks, but I don't like the idea of replacing bac with antabuse at all. I don't think that will lead to anything good.

[AverageJoe]

Joes Baclofen Journal! (started 21/06/2011)

If Baclofen were cheaper there'd be no discussion on the topic Due to the way we get money, and the shipping costs it's actually costing more than my old alcohol consumption per week!

[bleep]

Joes Baclofen Journal! (started 21/06/2011)

Congratulations on the 3 weeks, that's great Joe!

Not sure it's a route I'd personally take. Baclofen is a definite way out of this. Maybe give it a bit more thought? The SE's you mention are all pretty normal, it is looking good on that front.

[Guest]

Joes Baclofen Journal! (started 21/06/2011)

AJ

Antabuse will not combat your cravings. Have you considered Naltexone?Now a lot of people say it's expensive, well at ?2 a pill (bought online) it does sound it however you only need take one pill per day. Only problem is that it's a high initial outlay and it doesn't work for everyone - plus you do drink on it from day one. For me the cost-benefit was tipped by the fact I was no longer missing time off work, followed later by reduced AL consumption. I suppose it depends upon whether or not you drink less than ?14 a week!

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Joes Baclofen Journal! (started 21/06/2011)

Joe, given the good start you've got going on, I really hope you find a way to keep up with what you're doing. It's expensive, I know. (we all do!) but it seems to be working...
What're the chances that you can get into the system and start getting it through your renowned health care system? Not so good, initially, but maybe with some creativity?

Take good care, Joe!

Ne

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Joes Baclofen Journal! (started 21/06/2011)

The SEs? Not sure about the last one. I've never had the experience of smelling it. Are you drinking enough water?