Next into the pool ...

[suneelca]

Next into the pool ...

Ne -- I keep wondering if some folks want to smack us around for being so high -- as it were -- on Bac. Hopefully this is coming off as a form of 12th Stepping (my Occupy AA! snark notwithstanding). Certainly you and many others helped pull me along through the ebbs and flows and peaks and valleys of the past four and a half months, and for that, I will be ever grateful.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

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suneelca;1261697 wrote: Ne -- I keep wondering if some folks want to smack us around for being so high -- as it were -- on Bac. Hopefully this is coming off as a form of 12th Stepping (my Occupy AA! snark notwithstanding). Certainly you and many others helped pull me along through the ebbs and flows and peaks and valleys of the past four and a half months, and for that, I will be ever grateful.

Yep.
But it's my truth right now. Because of your posts, though, and also because I know how much I get from the suggestions and thoughts of others here, I've decided to post on my own thread again. Getting sober with bac is a completely different thing than anything else. Completely different. But that doesn't mean that staying sober and content about it is a done deal, right? It is for some, I suppose. (Lo0p and RedThread come to mind) But for the vast majority...Well, there are more people who don't get to indifference. Or who, for a variety of reasons, end up back on square one, than those who achieve lasting sobriety and contented-ness.

So few, in fact, that it's hard to figure out what is the next right step. I hope I'm still around in another year (maybe, sort of. :H) with much less ambiguity about the whole thing.

What's news?

PS And , to the snark! OMG. I am so struggling with that right now. I want to go there. But I just. can't. make. myself. Still, I need a 3D support group. I am just having a really hard time, even knowing that I can 'take what I need and leave the rest behind.' As an example, going around the room for introductions... "I am Ne, and I'm ..." What? It's the ramifications of the phrase, "I'm an alcoholic" that send my mind into a tailspin. I'm not in denial. I just don't need to own that label in order to get past it. And don't even get me started about step 1. Because I am not powerless over anything. Anything related to me, that I have some discretion about. Especially over booze. I have proved, repeatedly, for a year, that I most definitely have power over booze. I just needed the right medicine. Which is NOT to say that I feel I can control everything. Or that I won't make bad decisions based on a lifetime of being ashamed and regretful and remorseful and resentful. I think too damn much. I know. But whatev. I'd rather think than...not think. Ya' know?

[suneelca]

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Still in the Pool - Hello, Peeps!

Five months-plus into this adventure and my life is like the stock market during the Clinton Administration. Up, up, up, we go! (Of course, we know how that ended ... ) Haven't posted in a few weeks, so wanted to check in.

First, to pick up on your last post on this thread. Ne / Neva -- I'm suneelca and I'm not an alcoholic. I am a recovering anxious wreck. I medicated that anxiety with booze and a bunch of other things. I am recovering because of Baclofen. It is not a Higher Power, but for me and my family, it is and has been a miracle.

Have continued to be in a good place since I last posted. To the degree that this is feeling like the new normal. Not sure what else to write, except ...

I saw what appeared to be a bit of a tennis match on Ne / Neva's thread between her and GingerDust and some other folks re the difficulties some people face in dealing with Bac SEs as they titrate up to get to the switch, and how some can't afford those SEs because their lives are happening. This is easy for me to say as I basically switched at a pretty low dose (200 mg or less). But the anxiety and related habits like drinking were a cancer on my life, and the first four months of being on Bac felt like a form of chemo.

(My wife finds that comparison off-putting because of what people with cancer suffer through, although I haven't reminded her of the toll that my anxiety and related behaviors were taking on our lives.)

In my case, the chemo worked. The road was hard, and sometimes remains hard, but it's o so very worth it. And now, my life is really happening.

To folks who are struggling -- hang in there. What else can one say? Other than -- I'm here to help and support as I can, in much the same way that people on this forum have helped and supported.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

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Rock on.

:H and WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!

https://www.mywayout.org/community/f2...fen-47958.html

just sayin'

[suneelca]

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Help getting off a sleep med

Hello, peeps. Going through Seroquel withdrawal hell. Had been at a low dose for sleep. The moral of the story is -- ask a lot of really hard questions about the withdrawal process before getting on any of these drugs, especially if sustained use can entail health risks.

The issue, of course, is rebound insomnia. My shrink thought the Baclofen would compensate for that if I took it later in the day. Maybe I'm not giving it enough time, but after two nights of white knuckling with homeopathic sleep aids, gave in and called shrink and got Ambien scrip. Now am a bit concerned about getting addicted to that. So some questions:

- What experiences have people had here getting off meds like Seroquel, in terms of how long the withdrawal lasted? Did your 'normal' non-aided sleep come back?
- What non-prescription sleep aids are best, either transitionally or permanently?
- Has Baclofen helped with sleep or hindered it? At what dosage? I remember what Dr. Ameisen wrote about sleeping like a baby on Bac ...

Net, am glad to be off the Seroquel as the daytime somnolence has really abated, the ongoing sleep difficulties notwithstanding. Any wisdom / insight during the transition appreciated.

[suneelca]

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And when during the day are people taking their Baclofen doses, in terms of strategies for sleeping, if that makes sense?

[Ne/Neva Eva]

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Why are you switching things up?

[Ne/Neva Eva]

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And hi. Nice to see you. And ask RedT. She knows something about seroquel.

[suneelca]

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Why switching up?

Why are you switching things up?

Why getting off the Seroquel? Doesn't play well with Baclofen ... can induce major somnolence.

[COSGringo]

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Tried Seroquel for insomnia. 3x now at small doses. I felt like I had a lobotomy and like I haven't slept in a week. Problem is I still woke up on this stuff and it makes it worse for me. Nothing seems to help me except an occasional benzo which scares me.

[spacebebe01]

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Hi Ive just read through most of your threas Sun and want to ask you so much but my biggest one is about the seroquel, do you take it only for sleep, I am prescribed it along with citalopram for supposed bi-polar which I am not sure if I actually have and am alsoo worried about taking it alongside bac which I only take at a low dose, but after reading I am feeling so envious of you right now as you do seem to be getting some kind of togetherness that I cant get. I drank last week after 6 months AF on antabuse but there were a lot of other things that wernt right for me, I had to smile at your comment about Amazon shopping, I am in debt over it and thats ones of the reasons the doc is thinking I have bi-pollar,

anyway I have to rush as Ive got a funeral to go to and I dont know if I made any sense to you at all there, I just felt the need to jump into your thread x

[Ne/Neva Eva]

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suneelca;1290810 wrote: Why getting off the Seroquel? Doesn't play well with Baclofen ... can induce major somnolence.

I forgot that you get email updates, don't you? :H oops. I took out what I wrote initially because it seemed dismissive, or something. I didn't mean it to be.

And here's my thinking:
I have seen a lot of people switch things up, mostly for the worse if it's a dramatic change. If you've achieved some sort of equilibrium, and are progressing, and are relatively new to the change, dramatic changes can be really devastating.

I think I am particularly sensitive to this right now because of what happened to a friend of mine. She was having some SEs. She was newly indifferent. She changed a bunch of things in quick succession. (Her hormonal birth control. She stopped taking three medications that she'd been on for years--a low dose benzo, a sleep aid, and adderall.) Couple it with new sobriety and the sudden realization that she didn't much like her life...
The result was catastrophe, Sun. And she took her life. And there was no way to tell what was a contributing factor, because there were so damn many.

When I think of my own well being I get really, really protective--mama bear protective--about what I will do to stay here. It took me years to get to the miserable place and another decade or two to finally find the bloody way out of that hell. It's only been a year. (OH! 14 months today! Happy anniversary to me! ) I know there are things I could be doing to feel better and get better and be better, but if it's not related to staying in a place of absolute indifference to alcohol, then it isn't a priority. And if it might threaten that? There's not a chance in hell I'd venture into it. This fact determines all of my decisions at a fundamental level. I'll share this, too: I am pretty fairly convinced that alcohol is completely out of my life for ever and ever. I think that I could go off of baclofen and not drink against my will again in my life. I am that far removed from what that feels like. It's gone. That does not mean that baclofen doesn't have other benefits. I have witnessed the dramatic changes in people when they 1. Stop taking it or 2. Don't take it regularly. It is those things (depression, fundamental anxiety, etc...) that I am very wary of.

Redthread has me pretty squarely convinced that seroquel can be a real gift for those suffering from insomnia, for the record. And Redhead has made me understand it has a lot of ramifications and shouldn't be used (or not used) lightly.

Here are the points: Baclofen causes somnolence. And seroquel can be a medication with a lot of brain chemistry implications. And you're new to this. (As are we all.)

Okay. I'm going to write for others and hope they see it here:

COS, have we not had the xanax conversation? There's someone you need to talk to...

For the person who can't take xanax, look into seroquel.

oh. And by the way: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. Please use your own judgement, a doctor's advice etc. to make these decisions. And for goodness' sake, ask other people around here. They're all there. Just PM them.
hope it's a good day, peeps. And hang tight.

[COSGringo]

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Wish I could do Seroquel. It makes me a zombie. I did 10mg of diazepam last night and I did wake up but got about 4-5 hours of sleep which is amazing for me. I've already gotten more work done today then all of yesterday with my Seroquel hangover.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

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COSGringo;1291245 wrote: ... I did 10mg of diazepam last night and I did wake up but got about 4-5 hours of sleep which is amazing for me. I've already gotten more work done today then all of yesterday with my Seroquel hangover.

This article (an understanding of the mechanism of xanax):
National Anxiety Foundation, Helping Sufferers of Panic, Anxiety and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders
from this thread (just to round out the story, and add to your concerns):
https://www.mywayout.org/community/f2...ion-53009.html

Also, this blog (please read this. It's short.):

Substance Matters

Finally, I have seen xanax have so much benefit for people on here that I think it's life-saving/altering for HDB. In moderation. Not used willy-nilly and like everything else, with a plan/consistently.
I credit it with getting my husband through one of the most difficult experiences of our lives, while titrating up on bac and when he almost lost it completely. He took it for a month or two. Then stopped. Cold turkey. Still takes it when he has to do public appearances.

I have yet to see anyone taking bac regularly, or even not taking bac but that is trying to get out from under addiction, get addicted to (or abuse) xanax. It's a different animal than other benzos. There is science behind that fact. (I can't remember where I put the research/article, but you can find it with a google search.)

I am not suggesting that you take a drug that many people think equals addiction and that you won't become addicted because you're on baclofen and/or trying to get/stay sober and sane. Except I am. So nyah to all those out there who think I'm a crazy drug pusher. I'm not.
That said, don't do it on my word. Ask around.
Good day! Gotta go!

[spacebebe01]

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I think I need to say here that I do not have insomnia, after I stopped drinking I did have sleepless nights but that was just my body getting used to not having AL inside. I took valarian or occasional zopiclone at that time and since then I have taken melatonin and sleeping pretty much ok. Since changing to citalopram and seroquel my anxiety is going though the roof, which I really dont understand because seroquel is supposed to bring everything down, Thats another thing, I am down enough, I have bad depression for gods sake.