Shotgun Opera Lock and Load

[Dosage0]

Shotgun Opera Lock and Load

Oh and...

Coldplay - Paradise.

Long live the elephant!

[spacebebe01]

Shotgun Opera Lock and Load

Hi Dose, it could be the beer thats affecting your sleep, could you try a few nights without a drink and see if it gets any better, one might wont do cos youll probably feel worse without the beer at first but after about 3 night without al you should find you start sleeping better, and also the se's should become less as well. I am not on HDB still at fairly low dose and am AF with antabuse and campral thrown in, I every other night take zopiclone for sleep and am now sleeping all night, last night 8 hours! No idea about the sleep apnea but I know when I was drinking I used to snore terribly Im assuming that had something to do with the way AL effects the muscles or whatever in the throat so the beer could well be making it worse.

[RudyB]

Shotgun Opera Lock and Load

so sorry to hear that the apnea continues, dose. (you recently mentioned that you have given up signing off as anything else. would you really rather be called greg? i am sure we'd all be happy to oblige, as irresistible as 'dose' is for a nickname on such a forum!) god, apnea SUCKED! i can't imagine how i'd fare if it lasted more than its 4 day duration in my life. so sorry to hear about the shitty sleep! sounds like it's mostly the apnea that is bugging you, right?

...but, in case not...

how often are you excercising, and how late? running puts me into a very speedy state, such that it is risky to my sleep if i do it in the aft/eve. what time of day are you lifting?

could the beer be doing that alcohol thing of tranquilizing you early, and then costing you sleep when it's out of your system?

but it sounds like it's just apnea (i repeat). have you consulted the pro's (using your excellent health insurance tee hee) about it? here's to hoping it goes away, and wishing you the best.

rudy

[Cassander]

Shotgun Opera Lock and Load

RudyB;1220064 wrote: so sorry to hear that the apnea continues, dose. (you recently mentioned that you have given up signing off as anything else. would you really rather be called greg? i am sure we'd all be happy to oblige, as irresistible as 'dose' is for a nickname on such a forum!) ...

Hey Rude! Please explain why Rob who has given up on being called Rob here and now accepts being called Dose should rather be called Greg? Inquiring minds would love to know!



Your friend,

Cass

[Dosage0]

Shotgun Opera Lock and Load

Actually.. I prefer Ted.


Nah... my name is Rob but after signing Rob so many times it gets pointless. Anyway, Dose doesn't bother me at all. Actually it came from a time when I was much younger and thought I had taken way to much of something unmentionable . I saw wayyy too many colors and it was at a hardcore rave which was insane. This DJ named DJ Tron came up and I guess everyone had been waiting for him? It was not my scene at all and people started going crazy for this DJ that sounded just like everyone else.

I finally hit indifference at 300mg. It was the strangest feeling. I kept opening Tilts or Beer and just ended up pouring them out. I have zombie face so badly though it is really hard to continue at that amount. Today I just couldn't do it... I wimped out this evening and took 60 for my last dose. I am going to go back to 300 but I just wanted to sleep. Unfortunately, that doesnt seem to be helping me at all.

Also, for me, xanax sucks as a sleep aid.

I only lifted that one day and then I haven't been back since.

Space: I gotta get something different. This OTC and Xanax isn't doing much for me. I have been awake for 33 hours now.

Dose

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Shotgun Opera Lock and Load

Dosage0;1220121 wrote:
I finally hit indifference at 300mg. It was the strangest feeling.
WOOP! Congratulations, Ned! I am so glad I tuned in today!!! I know you're probably not "feeling" it as the ultimate woooooooohoooooooo just yet, given the lack-of-sleep thing, and the brain on 300mg of bac thing. Ah, but you will! I am so very excited for that post.

Dosage0;1220121 wrote: I have zombie face so badly though it is really hard to continue at that amount. Today I just couldn't do it... I wimped out this evening and took 60 for my last dose. I am going to go back to 300 but I just wanted to sleep. Unfortunately, that doesnt seem to be helping me at all.

Also, for me, xanax sucks as a sleep aid.

I was a zombie, too. I don't know if I looked like a zombie, but I felt and acted like one. I think I stayed at 340mg for a day, maybe three. I'm not saying you should go down, how much or how soon, or even if. I am saying that I DID go down, and have lived to tell about it, without suffering a horrific relapse, or anything worse. (Not that there is anything worse in my book.)

Lots of reccs around here for sleep aids, and you've got to get one, I think. I didn't use any and wish I had, so if you can't get one, you will also live through that. I did use CBT and meditation techniques, and I was exercising like a whirling dervish.
Xanax does suck as a sleep aid if you've been using it for a while. Contact Isolde and Redthread for other suggestions and hang in there. It is absolutely the worst side effect I had. (Well, other than thinking I was losing my mind, body and health. But that's a whole 'nother story. )

Many hugs and cheers for you Dose. I hope you're feeling good about your accomplishment. It's a hard challenge.

[Cassander]

Shotgun Opera Lock and Load

Hey Dose

Great news. Way to go! Way to hang in there over all these months. Having felt it (indifference) you are now on the home stretch.

I feel like we bonded a bit back in the days of the Cr**chy/ Dork/Zork fiasco and I've been rooting for you ever since. Seems like a long time ago, doesn't it?

I am pretty confident that your sleep will improve dramatically when the alcohol intake is zeroed out...and then there's still the exercise and weight loss approach to apnea to be tried if all else fails...

In fact, you may find yourself losing some weight just due to not drinking. There's plenty of calories to be saved in going off AL. I dropped 10 very stubborn lbs in less than a month after quitting AL.

Are you still w Dr L? If so, have you been candid about the sleep issue? He too may be able to help.

(By the way, pls let Dr L know about your indifference. I feel certain that in some way his growing and comprehensive experience with the ins and outs of the miracle of bac is going to help us all.)

Cass

[Dosage0]

Shotgun Opera Lock and Load

Hey all sorry about the long pause between updates:

I am at 320 mgs of baclofen per day and am doing 100-100-120 at around 0800, 1400, 2000. I called Dr. L and got rozerem 8mg as a sleep aid. It doesn't work like a fast acting sleep medication which pissed me off until about the 3rd night. Now I take it and I feel like melting into bed. It seems to be helpful at this point.

I still feel pretty zombie like, but I have just started sleeping a little bit better so I'll wait at 320 for now. I was told by Dr. L that I should stick out this dosage and see if the side effects start to subside. Right now I just feel out of it, but it isn't all that bad.

Edit: Oh sorry... I forgot... my drinking is next to nothing. I'll have a beer or two if I really feel like it, but it has no power over me any longer. It feels so strange, but I could care less about it -- my life used to revolve around it.

Take care!

Dose

[Lo0p]

Shotgun Opera Lock and Load

:goodjob: Can't wait till your body adjusts and your feeling a bit more normal. It'll happen, you'll find your zone.

[Bruunhilde]

Shotgun Opera Lock and Load

Dosage, great news, thanks for the update. It sounds like indifference, right? How long until you titrate down, did the doc say? Did he say you need to be on a maintenance dose forever or does he vary his recommendation by individual. THAT would be great, since we're all so different. I still hope someday to be able to try HDB.

[Dosage0]

Shotgun Opera Lock and Load

I am still at 320 divided at 100-100-120. I am chewing a lot -- far too much, but I am drinking less. I have found that the chew makes me feel like crap, but I cant seem to kick it as easily as drinking on Bac. The SEs are noticeable, but they don't bother me too much. I don't think I can stay at this level forever, but Dr. L seems to think I should stay here for a while if not indefinitely. I don't think I can have much of a life at 320 and I could not work. I'll stick it out here for now and see how it goes from here.

A lot of my sleep problems are from the chewing tobacco -- I know that is a major issue as I am chewing up to 2 cans a day. This is way higher than it used to be.

Edit:

I take my dosage at 0800, 1400, and 2000. Or at 0900 1500 2100. My side effects are zombie face, tiredness, increased nicotine intake. I do not have any sexual side effects. I also get relief from alcohol usage, a noticeable drop in anxiety, a feeling of calm

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Shotgun Opera Lock and Load

Egad. I cannot believe how much more I smoke now. I have never smoked more than a pack a day. And I've been smoking a pack a day for years and years. I smoke twice that much now.

However, and this is a big but, I was unable to comfortably smoke last week (increased family pressure related to the fact that my uncle was actively dying from lung cancer! and it was cold in Southern California! Smoking outside sucked.) Anyway, I used nicotine patches--1/2 the maximum dose (10.5mg) and lozenges/gum when I felt I wanted a smoke. I did not crave. Not once. Weird, huh? I figured I'd quit when I got home, but didn't. I'm going to start next week with that plan in place...Nicotine substitution and some other tricks and tools.

I can't sleep when I've got too much nicotine in my system either. Don't know what to tell you, but if you find a solution, please share! It's a big downside to nicotine substitution.

[Dosage0]

Shotgun Opera Lock and Load

So today I am going up to 340. It is working at 320, but not to the point where I have no craving. I can go a few days without drinking, but hard alcohol seems to still get me.

[Cassander]

Shotgun Opera Lock and Load

You're on the 5 yard line, Dose. Punch it in.

How's the sleep? Exercise?

Best,

Cass

[penelope67]

Shotgun Opera Lock and Load

hey there, whenever I drink Jager I always have blackouts. Any chance you can drink something else? anything else? it may have to do with the amount of sugar in jager..it's just a guess. But it sounds like the bac is really working miracles for you!! Very happy to hear that. I am still on a low dose. i moved up to 50mgs today. I had to titrate down a few weeks ago bkz my asthma got really bad and i also had hallucinations!! They were really freaky!!