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    #1

    Bac and Depression?

    Hey all! No bac-bashing here, just a survey.
    Did anyone else feel like bac triggered or exacerbated their depression? I thought I'd come across other people here saying as much, but now I'm not sure who or where. It's entirely possible that it doesn't, and that my issues are just that, my issues. But I'd like to know either way. If there are people who feel that bac has affected them this way, perhaps we could treat it like another side effect and warn those just starting bac. Not in a discouraging, don't take bac way, but in a helpful, hey, this might happen, you're not crazy way. I did scan the "Side Effects and Adverse Reactions" thread, and I didn't see it mentioned, but then again, I didn't read anywhere near the whole thing. It's 60 pages!
    So, please, let me know your opinions.
    "Yet someday this will have an end
    All choices made or choice resigned,
    And in your face the literal eye
    Trace little of your history,
    Nor ever piece the tale entire
    Of villages that had to burn
    And playgrounds of the will destroyed
    Before you could be safe from time
    And gather in your brow and air
    The stillness of antiquity."

    From "At Majority" by Adrienne Rich
    Tags: None
    #2
    Bac and Depression?

    I can only speak as a low-dose baclofen user, i.e. up to about 75-100 mg/day.

    At these doses I haven't noticed my existing depression being any worse, in fact sometimes it seems reduced. I imagine this could be different if I went to higher doses, but I don't know for sure. I had hoped baclofen would help my depression, and it does sort of stabilise my mood. Together with reduced anxiety, I find it beneficial overall, at the low doses I mentioned.

    Comment

      #3
      Bac and Depression?

      Hi Windy,

      I had been depressed and on antidepressants for about 11 years, and stopped taking them about a month or two before I started taking bac because they seemed worthless. Titrating up on bac I was off in lala-land so wasn't depressed, but I did seem to get a bit down after I switched. I attribute that to finally being able to take a sober look at my life, and I did not like what I saw. I then went through some weird emotional phase, and started taking 5-HTP which helped. I stopped taking it about 2 weeks ago and don't consider myself depressed anymore, for the first time since I was 14.

      I think my depression was strongly related to my anxiety though, which bac also eliminated, so that's something to consider, too.

      Hope that helps!
      Knowledge of what is possible is the beginning of happiness.
      George Santayana

      Comment

        #4
        Bac and Depression?

        Hi Lady:

        When I was the deepest into my drinking a psych prescribed Zoloft as an anti-depressant for me. I got "sober" soon after that and continued taking it through 3 years of sobriety plus several months of a classic and gruesome relapse.

        Sometime after I started bac I quit taking the anti-depressant. I also started a major program of supplements, which included 5-HTP, sh^tloads of l-glutamine, All-One, and other neuro-transmitters. I've posted the whole list somewhere - probably a couple of times - if you want the details, PM me.

        When I reflect back, I don't remember making a decision about quitting the Zoloft, it just felt right. I do remember a few days of some interesting "zaps" in my brain/body when I stopped taking it, but as Pete says, I was so involved in my baclofen SE's (which, by the way, I did and continue to thoroughly enjoy and have NO complaints about), that I didn't consider them problematic.

        But maybe that's just me. Problematic was having to drink all day, every day. Haven't had to do that since the 1st day of my 1st baclofen dose.

        I suppose I was "depressed' back then, and maybe the Zoloft helped me get sober at that time. I would certainly never discourage anyone from using whatever meds works. For me, baclofen automatically took away both the craving to drink and the feeling that I needed to take an anti-dpressant.

        Great poll. I'll watch with interest.
        "Wherever you are is the entry point." --Kabir

        Comment

          #5
          Bac and Depression?

          My parents, my friends, all of my doctors and even I thought I suffered from depression. Probably from my mid-teens up until about two years ago.

          Granted, I didn't have to suffer and wade through the side effects of titrating up on baclofen, but since the moment I hit my first mini-switch my outlook on life changed dramatically. Then when I was indifferent, it was a whole new world.

          I now think I never suffered from any type of clinical depression, it was just one of the myriad of symptoms of alcoholism and a addiction for me.
          :nutso: I take pride in my humility :nutso:
          :what?:
          sigpic
          Graph of My Drinking From July '09 to January '10

          Consolidated Baclofen Information Thread




          Baclofen for Alcoholism and Other Addictions
          A Forum
          Trolls need not apply

          Comment

            #6
            Bac and Depression?

            I had some temporary, but serious baclofen related depression. See:

            https://www.mywayout.org/community/f2...ion-49861.html

            https://www.mywayout.org/community/f2...ml#post1038456

            -tk
            TerryK celebrates 6 years of sobriety and indifference to alcohol thanks to baclofen

            Comment

              #7
              Bac and Depression?

              As usual, you all are a wealth of wisdom! Reading through the first posts, I was coming to the conclusion that is was all my personal problems that were getting me down. Like you, Pete, I'm realizing the shit state that my life is in, how much I've destroyed and lost through drinking. But there does feel like a biochemical thing is going on too. Whether it was from the bac or just the depression I'd always suffered from was the question. Terry, your links were INCREDIBLY helpful! The way you described your depression is exactly how I feel! (Can't use "quote", so I cut and pasted)

              "Some of the most troubling were a few (2 or 3) instances of an intense, life crushing depression. Worse than anything that I felt in my life. Not just down in the dumps and sit around and not do anything mope, but an almost panic-y I can't be in my body sadness. I could *tell* that it was almost certainly chemical, but it didn't make me feel any better."

              I understand that you stuck with it, and it passed. But, later when you were forced to go down on the bac (god, that whole experience just sounds harrowing), you had a new set of terrible things.

              "I was incredulous that I was only given 80mg/day baclofen (at a very, very haphazard schedule - 2x a day, 4x, 3x, missed doses). Reality came back, but full on constant hallucinations, anxiety, and depression started."

              With all of your guys's help, I have come to the conclusion that it's possible that bac does make me depressed, but had I stuck with titration, it may have gone away on its own. However, in going down, I have significantly reduced the gaba in my brain, resulting in my increased depression and crippling anxiety. I'm gonna stick at 100 mg for now, try to let my brain stabilize before going down further. Oh, and to all who mentioned supp's and meds, I take every supp for mental health except sam-e (tryptophan, gaba, taurine, theanine, etc), and I'm on 1200 mg gabapentin.
              Got more to say, but phone's gonna die. Thanks again, everyone!
              "Yet someday this will have an end
              All choices made or choice resigned,
              And in your face the literal eye
              Trace little of your history,
              Nor ever piece the tale entire
              Of villages that had to burn
              And playgrounds of the will destroyed
              Before you could be safe from time
              And gather in your brow and air
              The stillness of antiquity."

              From "At Majority" by Adrienne Rich

              Comment

                #8
                Bac and Depression?

                I am at 200mg a day and I can say that I have been diagnosed with depression throughout my life. At 15 I was put on depression medication and I can say that they didn't do much for me. I tried prozac, paxil, welbutrin, and a list of others. I can say that paxil worked the best for me, but when I got off of them I had "brain-zaps" for months. It was horrible. I think that they weren't fully effective because I continued to drink while on them.

                I think most of the depression is coming from losing my best friend. Alcohol has let me escape from life for so long that I look back on all that I lost. I literally lost my 20s and the start of my 30s. I think about all I could have done and how much time I have lost. Someone once said that alcoholics have the best way of escaping life. This was a man who had tried every drug under the sun and was a writer if I remember correctly. I wish I could remember his name.

                Depression is a wild and horrible disease that I think is very real. I do think though that baclofen doesn't cause depression; I think that the loss of a coping mechanism causes people to realize they have lost a friend. Someone else in AA told me that quitting drinking is the equivalent of losing a child and that the symptoms are much the same. I don't know how true that is because I haven't experienced that in my life, but it makes sense. I think the stress is unreal.

                That being said, I think baclofen helps me with my anxiety. I started drinking because the social anxiety was too much for me. In any social situation I felt so anxious that I NEEDED to drink in order to feel comfortable. Once I started my brain had no shut off mechanism and I always blacked out.

                Comment

                  #9
                  Bac and Depression?

                  I found it very hard to enjoy anything at the very high doses, around 280mg. Classic anhedonia. After titrating back down I went back to normal, less the urge to drink of course. I found the freedom from booze cheered me up plenty though.

                  Comment

                    #10
                    Bac and Depression?

                    I was mis-diagnosed with depression and then diagnosed as bipolar about 18 months ago. Upon the bipolar diagnosis (which my non-MD psychologist is now questioning), I tapered off the Lexapro that I had been on for about three years. My psychiatrist and I embarked on a weeks-long taper off of Lexapro because of evidence that yanking an anti-depressant quickly can induce some problems. I write this to relate a concern about going off an anti-depressant really quickly (as seems to be implied in some of the posts above). How have those of you gone off anti-depressants thought about that?

                    Comment

                      #11
                      Bac and Depression?

                      Hey there WCL hope you don't mind the abbreviation, unlike so many other lucky buggers I've had little success with baclofen, I feel like every time I try and give it ago my body rejects it! But I realised that this may have all had allot to do with the side effect of baclofen affecting the way your body processes sugar, long story short it makes my blood sugar rise considerably, as in diabetic high, at 100mg I swear I could feel my kidneys throbbing, I had no idea that was happening and it is caused by the baclofen without a shadow of a doubt as I have been playing around with it for months and did not suffer from high blood sugar before baclofen, on low doses its not so bad but then I'm still drinking. Just thought Id put that out there for everyone to be aware of there blood sugar levels and to make sure there not mistakening these symptoms as side effects caused by baclofen, ie peeing all the time, losing weight suddenly, depression irritability etc, because diabetes creeps up on you.
                      sigpic
                      Where ever you go, there you are
                      .

                      Comment

                        #12
                        Bac and Depression?

                        Re: depression, I had it before I ever touched alcohol, so in my case it is an underlying problem...and one which has never responded to any antidepressants.

                        However I also agree that alcohol causes depression if its own, even in people who are otherwise mentally healthy. I would go so far as to say that depression can be untreatable while a person is still drinking heavily. My own failure to benefit from antidepressants could have been as much to do with my alcohol consumption as due to failure of the drugs, although I have also not benefited from antidepressants while sober.

                        During a recent 6-week relapse, I noticed serious extra depression creeping in each day, after drinking each night. It was unmistakably alcohol-induced depression, not just my underlying depression.

                        Comment

                          #13
                          Bac and Depression?

                          just the obvious -and has-been-said- from me: alcohol is severely, devastatingly depressing! i noticed that acutely every morning after having consumed quantities of it. (and on those especially-sad evenings, when i had had my ale during the day.) stopping drinking has allowed me to feel joy again, every day for long stretches. bac definitely has not given me any sorrow, but it seems that, for some, it might. 'losing a friend,' i relate to that! i think we all do. and life's challenges: of course!

                          windy, it was a great idea to put this question out there, and the responses you've gotten are so thoughtful. rock on mwo-ers! rock on, windy!

                          Comment

                            #14
                            Bac and Depression?

                            Just wanted to clarify my post, reading it back it seems to have nothing to do with this thread apologies for that, what I ment to say instead of rattling on about diabetes in a depression forum was the baclofen was messing up my blood sugar level which in my case caused my mood to be EXTREMELY depressed, i just wanted to put that out there as another possible cause of why baclofen causes depression and erratic moods in some and not others.
                            sigpic
                            Where ever you go, there you are
                            .

                            Comment

                              #15
                              Bac and Depression?

                              Wintyr;1195518 wrote: Just wanted to clarify my post, reading it back it seems to have nothing to do with this thread apologies for that, what I ment to say instead of rattling on about diabetes in a depression forum was the baclofen was messing up my blood sugar level which in my case caused my mood to be EXTREMELY depressed, i just wanted to put that out there as another possible cause of why baclofen causes depression and erratic moods in some and not others.
                              I'd say your post is relevant to the thread, since if baclofen changes blood sugar levels then I imagine this could cause emotional disturbances.

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