Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

[bottlestopper]

Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

Tex - great to hear from you. Sounds like you are having fantastic success on really low doses. 16 days, That is fantastic.

Getting there - fantastic too - 18 days. Whopee! being able to say no to that bottle of wine. That is what i am really looking forward to.

The tiredness sucks I know and the mental fog, I have just had to re-read this post 3 times to find out how many days you have done. Shit!! Can you imagine being like that in a classroom full of moody teenagers, whose main purpose in life is to trip the teacher up at any possible moment. Help! Having said that I started taking the nootropic today and it seems to have helped lift the brain fog a little bit. I am hoping it will get better each day now.

Tiny - check in chick. We are waiting to hear ffrom you.

Anyone else who wants to join us feel free.

Just been for a nice long walk in the countryside with my two lovely dogs, and life is feeling better. Still feel quite low though and the cold/bac symptoms are slightly relieved with the medication, but not a lot.

Thanks to Ne, Bleep, Rudy B and other wiser and senior members for all your support, help and encouragement. It truly is appreciated.

[bleep]

Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

Good to hear you are seeing results! It always makes the SE's much more bearable when there's a visible pay-off. If you're battling at a particular level, surprisingly going up often works. The SE's are very level dependent, and not necessarily worse the higher up you go. Try it and see, if it proves to be worse, you can always reduce again.

The tiredness is a bummer, and I've yet to find a way around it, other than naps. Unfortunately, these are seldom convenient.

I also developed a cough and a sore throat. I didn't think to medicate it away, and iirc, it lasted 2 or 3 weeks, then quietly left of it's own accord.

[bottlestopper]

Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

Help 0 really scarey SE

It is 3.38am here and I have just had to get up.

I have had the most awful experience, which I can only believe is down to the bac.

I am sooo tired, I have been sleeping so well whilst on bac in fact i find it hard to keep my eyes open to go to the loo if i wake up during the night. I am literally falling asleep as I type this.

However, tonight I keep waking up abruptly wiht some sort of non breathing thing. It is like I am not taking a breath and then I wake up abruptly due to lack of oxygen or something. It is so scarey, it keeps happening every time I shut my eyes, so much so that I had to get up because I was scared i was going to die.

I know this sounds a bit melodramatic, but I seriously did think I was going to die, it was awful.

Still strugginng so hard to keep my eyes open.

Was going to go up tomorrrow as bleep suggested, now I am scared to do anything. Do I go up, or do I go down. One thing I do know is I cant stay like this. If I do go up or down, what is the biggest jump I can do (to try and stop the SE) in one go.

Please help quickly.

[Sammi33]

Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

Hi Bottlestopper,

I am only on my first week of bac so i am by no means an expert, but i just wanted to say hi and tell you i know exactly what you are going through. I had the exact same experience a few years back from a very high dose of anti depressants.

I understand it is the most terrifying experience and just wanted to say i feel for you. At the time i had it i went for sleeping tests etc and was diagnosed with sleep onset central sleep apnea. Eventually it just passed on its own, which i hope it will do for you, but i had it for a couple of months sometimes 50-100 times a night before i would get to sleep.

One thing i learned is that exercise within a couple of hours of trying to go to sleep made it a lot worse, and having a hangover always made it much worse as well. I guess what i can tell you from my experience is that it didn't kill me, although every single time it felt like i was never going to take another breath.

Hang in there, words can't express how terrifying it is so i wish there was more i could do or say.

:l :h xx

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

Hi, Bottlestopper. I, and many others, have had that experience. It is absolutely terrifying. Rest assured that it passes. I am sure that it has a lot to do with your cold. I am also sure it will stop!

You are absolutely NOT going to stop breathing, okay? I'll write more, but want to get this to you!

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

It wasn't as bad for me as it was for some with other breathing difficulties. (apnea or something, for instance.)

I mean this seriously, so I'm sorry if it sounds flippant, I talked to myself a lot during the really bad sleep disruptions. I reminded myself that I was safe, for instance. I thought of some of the funny stories people shared about their SEs. (I never found mine very funny. At all.)

And I got online and found support when I got really scared!

I don't know that there is a 'level' that you can go to to find immediate alleviation. I would strongly recommend that you go down in moderation, if that's what you decide to do. Big jumps will not help anything, most likely. (And then if you decide to continue, you'll just have to go up again!) So take a little less tomorrow. If you want to take a lot less, well, I understand. I've done it. Always regretted it, but I did it repeatedly!

Sleep sitting up. Take a hot shower and clean it all out if you're congested.

I'm really sorry. It's a really shitty thing to go through. :l

Hang in there. (You are NOT going to stop breathing. I've neva eva read about that happening. NEVER. And I've read about all I could find when it comes to lousy SEs.)

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

You okay?

[bottlestopper]

Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

Thanks guys. Yes I am OK, very tired, but OK. There is no scarier place in the world than a darkened room and sleep disturbances. I went back to bed for a while and had to get up again.

I really dont want to go down to have to go back up again. If you think it will pass Ne, maybe I try going up by 20 tomorrow? Some people say side effects reduce when they go up, although I instinctively think it is the muscle relaxant properties that are causing this so I cant see how an increased dose could stop it. Maybe I am wrong.

oN the ohter hand i am having such good succcess at this level that going down a little bit wont harm. Although tonight I started having a few cravings again.

Oh I dont know I am so bloody confused, and tired, and fed up. My anxiety has been so much reduced by the bac and for that I am so grateful, but tonight I was having full blown panic attacks as well. Not a good feeling.

I soooo want this to work, but at the moment it is such a hard road for me.

[SlipperyPete]

Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

Bottlestopper,

I never had the breathing problem, but I had panic attack isues at night. They were terrifying and freaked me out, but if you're like me, then it's a good sign. Bac took me from my alcoholic fairy tale land and thrust me back into this world, and the panic attacks for me were sort of a rebirth, like a violent re-awakening. Hang in there, it'll get better.

[bleep]

Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

It's a shit feeling, there's no doubt. It will pass, and you won't die from it. I'd really not suggest going down, as you'll just have to go back up again anyway. If anything, go up and see if it disappears at a higher dose. How going up could possibly remove some of the SE's is a conundrum, but it's true.

Stick through it. It doesn't last long.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

bottlestopper;1161087 wrote:

Oh I dont know I am so bloody confused, and tired, and fed up. My anxiety has been so much reduced by the bac and for that I am so grateful, but tonight I was having full blown panic attacks as well. Not a good feeling.

I soooo want this to work, but at the moment it is such a hard road for me.

FWIW, I think you could go up too. Just as likely you'll find relief at a higher dose as at a lower dose. However, you've got to deal with the cold and the breathing issue in general.

I had my first, and worst, panic attacks on bac. I would suggest that it's up to you to manage your anxiety, because for me that late night panic was in great part due to anxiety I wasn't managing. It's hard to explain, but makes perfect sense to me now.

I'm very glad you're okay and feeling a bit better. It does get easier. (though it's not a smooth ride for some of us.) When do you go bac to school?

[bottlestopper]

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Well yesterday I went up to 130mg, just a 10mg increase, and today I am going to go up to 120. Side effects still quite bad, really groggy and memory is shocking, keep walking in an out of rooms forgetting what I am doing. I also feel very low and sort of depressed, cant really feel anything (if that makes sense), dont feel emotions, even a coldish shower this morning didnt make me feel ANYTHING. Very strange, I am quite subdued and quiet (very unlike me). Hoping this will pass.

The cold is almost gone, still a bit of a chesty cough, but much improved. The sleep apnea thing was with me again last night for about 2 hours, waking up between every 3 and 10 minutes. Very disconcerting and scary, but I did manage to get back to sleep. Woke up very late this morning, feeling very groggy and definitely hard to get up and going, even after the coldish shower, I was definitely on very go slow.

All these SE's are fine whilst I am on holidays, but I really do not think I would be able to work like this at all. I have 24 days until I have to go back to work. I really need to crack this and get down to a level where I have manageable side effects.

Is this possible? If so, anyone suggest a titration schedule?

Where are the other guys, How are you doing?

day 9AF
wheat and sugar gone completely belly up for now
130mg bac
15 stone 9lb

[bleep]

Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

I think you mean 140?

If you're going to go up quickly, a better method might be to get used to 140 for a few days, then maybe go to 180 for a few days, and up like that. Going up by 10 every other day just means new and exciting SE's the whole time, with no rest, which may be harder to cope with.

And all the SE's will eventually pass, except this weird lack of desire for booze.

I'm not sure if it has been mentioned in this thread, and I don't have time to go back and check, but have you tried Piracetam?

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

Bottlestopper,
SEs come and they go.

The really good news is that 24 days is plenty of time. I wouldn't rush it. 140mg is a good place for many people, so I would definitely head there. I regretted it almost every time I pushed toward the goal...Except at the very end. I went from 260mg or 280mg to 340mg in a matter of days. I had few SEs at the really high doses, other than just being completely out of it, and I stopped drinking, and stopped caring about not drinking. THAT was a bump that was worth it! I mention it because it might happen that you decide to go the same route, and really, who is to say?

When the rest of the cough/cold is gone, so will the waking up without breath. In all seriousness, taking a hot shower before bed is a good idea.

The anhedonia (not feeling anything) will also dissipate and quickly. I had it and it's weird but for me it wasn't entirely unpleasant. I was exhausted by being hyper-sensitive to my emotions all the time. What followed was a sense of calm, and that was a lovely SE. I think it was soon after that that I fell in love (again) with exercising.

24 days is plenty of time to find a comfortable place at which you can stay AF. It's also plenty of time to shoot for the goal and come back down to a comfortable place. I had a cessation of SEs almost immediately after coming down from 340mg. Except the sleep ones, if I remember correctly.

I hope that helps. Has RudyB stopped by here yet? She went through some of this stuff, too, and much more recently.
:l
Ne

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

Also, there are quite a few options in terms of supplements and meds that you can take to address specific SEs should you decide to go that route...