Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

[bleep]

Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

The thing is, is there are going to be SE's. And if you go quickly, there will be more SE's. You also get to the end quicker, and not have the SE's for as long, so there is a positive trade off.

Something very important to hold on to is what Ne points out - you are safe. The SE's are mostly annoying more than anything, and they'll pass. The sleep is more than annoying though. It can be debilitating. The best way I found around it is to take naps as and when you can, although it's usually the most impractical solution. It can soul destroying to be wide awake at 3 in the morning, and then bone crushingly tired all day, but it will pass as well.

I disagree with Ne's advice about going down, but only you can really decide if the SE's are bearable. Going up will give you different ones probably, no one can say whether they will be better or worse. The only sure thing here is that you are going to have to go up at some point anyway.

Maybe try this? Sit where you are for a few days, and try and adjust. Then, instead of going up 10, go up 30, and sit for a while. If you are constantly increasing 10 every couple of days, you aren't adjusting to a level, ever, and maybe doing it this way will help? I don't know, really, I'm just trying to think of something different for you to try.

[RudyB]

Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

hey there stoppage!

sorry the going is so rough for you! and 23 guests, my goodness! you're a powerful woman, i think.

i have been reading a lot about depression, and you may have heard of 5htp. it's a supplement that's from an amino acid that acts like or is seratonin, which 80 percent or somesuch of people on a western diet are deficient in. reports show that people can have a total turnaround in their mood within 24 hours! get yourself some. you'll find it in a health food store for less than 20 bucks.

i think you'll be fine at 120. i agree that it would suck to go down. se's DO diminish. they really do. and i know how unbearable they can be. i've gone through ALL of what you describe. every last bit of it. (have you checked out my apnea thread? i bumped it and it may still be on page 1.) maybe you sleep better after 6 am because the night is over and the apnea is so terrifying and the night darkness just makes it more so? or maybe by then you're so wiped out that you can't help but sleep? hard to know for sure. but if you can get away w sleeping during the day, do it! is there someone there supporting you through this? can you get help w the children (you do have them, right?) so you can rest when you can rest? reach out if you need to. this is tough times, but temporary, and you need to be supported. we will certainly do all that we can here at mwo. while you're awake at night, why not make use of the time to get stuff done? if you've given up on sleep, that is. then, come nap time, you won't have a whit to feel guilty about (not that you should in any case!).

and, obvious: it's always good to focus on the positive. that's GRRREAT that you're not drinking or thinking about it! take heart in that. and i, too, have at times wondered if i'm not drinking cause the se's make me feel so effed up that why would i need to?! you can cross that bridge when you come to it; when your se's diminish, if you want to drink, you'll figure that out. but i'd say it's pretty darn promising that you already don't crave. think of the future unfolding like a lotus flower, or whatever metaphor is apt for you.

i know it must be so scary to be heading for new classes to teach, long and demanding days, and having all of this going on. but have faith. you'll pull through. se's diminish, or disappear. they will in your case, too.

i'm cheering you on, woman!
xo rudy b

[bottlestopper]

Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

Thank you so much Ne, Beatle and RudyB, you are so supportive, RudyB your last post actually made me cry. It is so lovely to have so much empathy and to kinow people are there that understand what I am going through.

As far as having support goes, I sort of have. My hubbie knows I am doing this and is fully supportive in that, but he thinks that all of my SE's are down to the cold thing I had. I know that that has excacerbated things but it is definitely down to the bac. If I told him I thought it was that he would tell me to stop the tablets immediately. I can tell that he would prefer to have me drinking, at the moment I am so irritable, I hardly hear him when he talks to me, I have no interest in him, it is really sad. Therefore, I cant tell him it is the tablets.

The thing is, I have a huge dilemma going on here. If I go down, I will have to go back up again, and I dont have very long here before I go back to work. I CANNOT work like this, absolutely no way at all. So if I go down I think I will have to stay there until I get a very long break of work again, I dont know how long that will be.

If I go up, do I have time to complete this process and be back down to a manageable level before I go back to work in 3 weeks. IN the middle of the night the SEs are terrible, but in the cold light of day I can manage them, as long as I can have a nap.

the awful thing is I have so much prep work to do for work, but I just cant get any of it done. I cant concentrate for long enough, I keep reading things over and over again and I am falling asleep whilst doing it. It just isnt going in, my days are totally unproductive and time is running out. If I go back to work without doing this prep, my anxiety will be off the chart because I wont know what I am doing. I would love to do some of this during the night when i get the apnea thing, thing is, it isnt insomnia, I could fall asleep on a 5p piece, its just that every time I do I wake up with a start feeling like I am choking and dying. This is happening every 3 minutes or so for up to 4 hours. I tried getting up to do some work last night, but I am so god tired I cant do anything. Bloody frustrating this.

You all talk about it getting better, even though you had terrible side effects. Ne your experiences sound even worse than mine, How did you find the strength to carry on? I am digging deep but I am so scared of not getting this process done in time and not being able to work,. Its hardly like I can go off sick with baclofen side efffects lol. My doc doesnt even know I am doing this, likely I would lose my job if they did, catch 22.

How long should I expect these side efffects to carrry on, if I could have an idea of how long then maybe I can sort it in my head and see if it feels doable.

Oh I dont know I am bac confused again.

thanks to you all for listening, you really are truly remarkable people.

[RudyB]

Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

i'd say, dear, don't go down. just sit through this. you'll pull through. the side effects will calm. you'll figure it out. you'll get what you need to get into your head for your new school year. you will. you might be compromised by the bac, but less so than by the booze, in the long run. i promise. i know, girl, this is so VERY hard! i am a teacher, too, you may remember. when i was having the se's that you describe, i was at teh end of my school year, and i could sneak into the library closet for a nap, or the corner of my classroom where nobody could see me thru the door. but you're up against a different time of year. and it's scary. and you'll pull through, i bet you will. trust that, as hard as it is at the moment. don't tell hubby that it's the tablets. good call. just ask him to be sure your get your naps. and when, at the least-expected times, your mind suggests altertness, take that time to ingest all you can about your coming year. and trust that you'll know enough to get the job done. remember, you'll always know more than your students do, if even only a little bit.

keep heart, bottlestopper. you WILL be fine. post like crazy here. reach out for support in your 3D world. ask for what you need. the se's part of your exprerience is most likely temporary. it has been as you describe for most of us. take naps. trust that this, too, shall pass. don't go down too much, if at all. slow and steady wins the race. se's are dose dependent. once your mind gets used to the change, your body will begin to cooperate. you've made such great progress! don't lose sight of that. and keep your eyes on the prize.

xoxo lots of kudos to you, m'dear.
xoxo rudy b

[bleep]

Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

It can be done in three weeks. You'd have to go pretty fast though. I know from personal experience that you can do it quickly, but you'll probably have more SE's than if you do it slowly.

What you can do is this, perhaps: Go up as fast as you are able, and then a week before you have to go back to work, just stop going up, and stay at the level you are on at the time. You should find that as soon as you stop titrating, you'll adjust to whatever dose you happen to be on, and the SE's will calm down. then you can titrate up slowly through the term, taking it gently so that it doesn't screw your brain up too much!

Have you tried a nootropic like Piracetam yet? That should help considerably.

Keep your eyes on the goal, and you'll get there. It's the titrating that makes it so hard, as soon as you can rest at a level, you'll be okay. Take heart.

[bottlestopper]

Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

It can be done in three weeks. You'd have to go pretty fast though. I know from personal experience that you can do it quickly, but you'll probably have more SE's than if you do it slowly.

Bleep, can you tell me how fast. How much should I go up and how often.

Thanks Bleep

[bleep]

Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

Well, it's all up to you. You've seen how powerful this stuff is. People will probably disagree, and vehemently so, but there's nothing stopping you going up 50 at a time instead of 10. I'd bring hubby into the game though, and ask for his help. Explain what you are doing, and why. Be prepared for increased SE's, but not necessarily worse ones.

I'd really feel more comfortable if a couple of people chimed in, rather than just listening to me!

[SlipperyPete]

Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

I'd recommend powering through it while you have time off. I had a (quite enjoyable) few days on my last push up where I felt stoned outta my mind, and then it went away and I haven't felt foggy since.

[bleep]

Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

And as Slippery points out, they need not necessarily be bad. For the most part, I had a party titrating up! Admittedly that's not common, but there are several really good SE's that often get ignored.

[Murphyx]

Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

Hi Bottle

I've just read through your thread; sorry I've not chimed in before.

It's great that you're AF and no surprise it coincided with a deepening depression. Many people find themselves depressed when they stop the booze because they were using it to self medicate. Have you been to your GP for depression in the past? Were you prescribed an AD? If not, maybe you should go, or if you'd rather not, then take Rudy's advice about 5-HTP, you can buy it at Holland and Barratt and it really does seem to work.

Bleep's right, in that you can power through with the bac and reach indifference sooner but the SEs will be utterly debilitating and you won't have a chance of completing the prep for the new term. Plus there's no reason to assume the SEs will diminish in a week before school starts.

I wouldn't recommend you go down either, that's just going to make this thing drag on for far too long.

I think you just need to get back to basics:
20mg increases every 5 to 7 days
Split the bac up into as many small doses as you can eg every 2 hours from when you wake, ending some 5 hours before bedtime to help prevent sleep disruptions.
Treat the symptoms that won't be helped by the above. For depression - ADs or 5-HTP. For foggy head - piracetam. For sugar cravings - L-glutamine.
Exercise. I don't mean sprints round the park followed by one handed push-ups. Just getting out and about on foot. Fast-walking. Soaking up lots of vitamin D. It'll help you feel better about yourself.

I like your name btw. But I particularly like the first part, because it really does take bottle to do what you're doing and I know you've got that in spades.

We're here with you Bottle.:l

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

Murphyx;1163250 wrote: H
I think you just need to get back to basics:
20mg increases every 5 to 7 days
Split the bac up into as many small doses as you can eg every 2 hours from when you wake, ending some 5 hours before bedtime to help prevent sleep disruptions.
Treat the symptoms that won't be helped by the above. For depression - ADs or 5-HTP. For foggy head - piracetam. For sugar cravings - L-glutamine.
Exercise. I don't mean sprints round the park followed by one handed push-ups. Just getting out and about on foot. Fast-walking. Soaking up lots of vitamin D. It'll help you feel better about yourself.

I like your name btw. But I particularly like the first part, because it really does take bottle to do what you're doing and I know you've got that in spades.

We're here with you Bottle.:l

All of the above. And bleep's input stands, too.

If you can manage your anxiety/thoughts and your cold is truly gone, shooting for the moon might work. It might also mean you just give up. That is very, very likely.

Otherwise, I'd stick with Murph's advice. I'd get some xanax and take it as Dr. L prescribes, .25 in the morning, .25 before bed. I hate that I sound like a drug pusher when for the entire time I resisted anything other than bac. I didn't even take benadryl because I was scared it might interfere with the bac. What a knucklehead I was. (But also smart. Playing chemist can really backfire.)
And I'd go up 10mg every three or four days.

The way I got through it, Stopper, was that I powered through the awful ones, remembering each and every night that the exact same side effect made bleep amused! Really. He liked 'em for the most part. He's right. They can be fun. (eg. The light show. It completely freaked me out that I would see a light show or hear humming (?) sounds when I closed my eyes. He considered it his own little fireworks thing, I think. Much more fun to embrace that perspective!)
And then they simply disappear. Poof! Gone. Really. Sometimes it takes a couple of days to realize that your fingers don't tingle or that your head doesn't hurt. It's weird like that.
Plus, you'll get to the libido one soon, I suspect. And sister, that one is so much fun it's ...well, I'll leave it to you to find out. :H And there are many other good ones too.

bacinabit!

[bottlestopper]

Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

HI guys. Well today is another day. I feel sooooo much better. it is amazing, i slept relatively well, a little apnea but manageable and I can actually function a little bit too which is so good.

I have just had a very long skype call with bleep (he is an amazing guy, thanks bleep) and he has sort of suggested that I try and get up quite quickly before I go back to work and then if I havent hit the swtich go up very slowly from then on. Gives me a fighting chance of getting this done before xmas lol

He thinks that maybe I should go up in bigger doses now, says that at these levels it might be easier. So I am going to try going up to 180 today, and stick with that for about 5 days, then go up 40 again. Now that I know that the SE's are definitely dose dependant and that they do subside with a change of dose I am not so scared to go up. When I was on 120 I stayed there for 8 days trying to wait for the se's to dissappear, but they didnt until I went up to 140 (go figure!!).

anyhow wish me luck I will keep you all posted.

How will I know I have hit the switch if I am not drinking?

[RudyB]

Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

hey stopper! that's great news! phew.

i think you'll know you've hit the switch if, when you think about booze, you don't hear a siren call. maybe you already experience that? if so, maybe you've already switched. maybe 180 will be your magic number?! maybe you won't need to add the next 40 mg. food for thought. lots of 'maybes' in this process, huh?!

[bleep]

Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

Hey Stopper,

I'm glad other people are chiming in as well, so at least you have some different perspectives on the issue. Mine will always be clouded by my attitude to the SE's.

That said, I still stand by what we discussed!

[Sammi33]

Here goes - Bottlestopper's Baclofen journal

Hi Bottlestopper,

I can't offer any advice because I'm very new to this, but just wanted to say hi and let you know that I am following your story and thinking of you. I think you are amazing and incredibly brave.

Love Sammi