:new:
I first want to thank everyone who has contributed to this site. I have learned so much based on your experiences and for that I am grateful. I would have quit today due to my scary side effects, but I have seen too many success stories and too many hangovers to give up this journey.
I am 41 and I drank for about 10 years before Baclofen. At first it was binge drinking on the weekends and then every 4 or 5 days. The days between drinking became shorter until I started drinking every night. I'm sure like most of you, I tried to stop drinking many times, but it would always lead back to drinking. I would start around 6 or 7pm and drink a bottle or bottle and a half of wine a night (about 5 - 7.5 glasses). On the weekends I would start sooner sometimes in the morning. I used to drink hard liquor until I felt an aversion to it and actually thought switching to wine would be better...how wrong I was. I knew I had a problem when I started planning my time around drinking...I even stopped running. My mother died of alcoholism at age 57. My stepfather drinks about 20 beers a night. Most of my uncles and siblings are alcoholics and my grandfather. My great grandfather died of alcoholism as well.
I started Baclofen last Tuesday 3 April 30mg/day. I drank the first 5 days until I reached 50mg and experienced dizziness, disorientation, coordination problems and terrible nausea the morning after my last drink. I stopped drinking after that due to fear of experiencing further side effects of that magnitude. I Titrated up to 115mg on 12 April with minor twitches, nightly insomnia, forgetfulness and elevated blood pressure which I experienced from day 2 up until now. So my titration was a little faster because of minimal side effects.
On the night of 12 April I took 20mg at 8pm and an additional 20mg at 11pm with a benadryl to try and sleep. I had started that day taking 12.5 mg every 2 hours from 9am to 5pm. I took both 20mg doses at 8pm and 11pm partly because I was hoping to get some sleep and partly because I wanted to ensure I took the entire 115mg for that day. I awoke at 3am with the worst buzzing sound in my brain, it was loud and awful. In addition I was so dizzy, I could barely walk to the bathroom and I trembled so bad that I could not even type using the keyboard. The side effects lasted until noon the next day.
I also noticed that I was really out of it all day today. I thought my son, who had gone to visit a friend, had come in my room to check on me around 7pm since I could not get out of the bed. I thought he had given me a kiss and told me he was home, but he called me at 12am and said he was on his way home from his friend's house. Was I hallucinating? Did I overdose with the 2 nightly doses? The forgetfulness was so bad I took four times my normal time to complete any simple task. Thank God I have a job where I can work from home...there is no way I would've been functional enough to work today. It's taken me 20 min to type this email. I just can't concentrate, please excuse the typos.
What I learned thanks to this site:
When I had the side effects the night I drank a bottle and a half of wine I was taking 25mg at a time. I started taking 12.5mg every 2 hours and felt minimal side effects. Anything over 12.5 at a time produced horrible side effects.
I dropped down to 50mg today and felt much better although I still am forgetful and can't concentrate.
Titrate up slower to reduce side effects and no more big daily or nightly doses.
Symptoms I have experienced thus far:
bloating (think that it's related to alcohol withdrawal)
Extreme hunger some days
Lack of Appetite some days (Aversion to food sometimes)
Extreme cravings for sugar
Aching in my shoulder blades nightly
Dizziness
High blood pressure continually although I am on high blood pressure medicine
Extreme Forgetfulness
Insomnia (I'm typing this e-mail at 5:15 am with no signs of sleepiness. I go to bed around 12am and sleep for 15 to 20 minutes and then wake up and cannot fall back asleep even with Benadryl or Melatonin)
Sleepiness around 7pm -9pm and then insomnia
A little weight gain (3 pounds...I am 5"6 150 pounds/female)
Tremors in hands
Time passing rapidly (it seems with my nightly insomnia it's 12am and then it's 4am but it seems as if only an hour has passed).
Extreme Irritation (Probably due to Alcohol Withdrawal)
Blurry Vision
Hearing things (Normal noises sound extremely loud)
Feeling stoned
Lack of coordination
Buzzing in head
Nausea
Medicines: I take Norvasc 5mg/twice a day. Lisinopril 10mg/twice a day both for high blood pressure. Wellbutrin 150mg/twice a day for depression.
Good Side Effects:
Being AF
Not obsessing over alcohol
Decrease in anxiety
No hangovers
Exercising for the first time in months. I can't wait to start running again soon.
I first want to thank everyone who has contributed to this site. I have learned so much based on your experiences and for that I am grateful. I would have quit today due to my scary side effects, but I have seen too many success stories and too many hangovers to give up this journey.
I am 41 and I drank for about 10 years before Baclofen. At first it was binge drinking on the weekends and then every 4 or 5 days. The days between drinking became shorter until I started drinking every night. I'm sure like most of you, I tried to stop drinking many times, but it would always lead back to drinking. I would start around 6 or 7pm and drink a bottle or bottle and a half of wine a night (about 5 - 7.5 glasses). On the weekends I would start sooner sometimes in the morning. I used to drink hard liquor until I felt an aversion to it and actually thought switching to wine would be better...how wrong I was. I knew I had a problem when I started planning my time around drinking...I even stopped running. My mother died of alcoholism at age 57. My stepfather drinks about 20 beers a night. Most of my uncles and siblings are alcoholics and my grandfather. My great grandfather died of alcoholism as well.
I started Baclofen last Tuesday 3 April 30mg/day. I drank the first 5 days until I reached 50mg and experienced dizziness, disorientation, coordination problems and terrible nausea the morning after my last drink. I stopped drinking after that due to fear of experiencing further side effects of that magnitude. I Titrated up to 115mg on 12 April with minor twitches, nightly insomnia, forgetfulness and elevated blood pressure which I experienced from day 2 up until now. So my titration was a little faster because of minimal side effects.
On the night of 12 April I took 20mg at 8pm and an additional 20mg at 11pm with a benadryl to try and sleep. I had started that day taking 12.5 mg every 2 hours from 9am to 5pm. I took both 20mg doses at 8pm and 11pm partly because I was hoping to get some sleep and partly because I wanted to ensure I took the entire 115mg for that day. I awoke at 3am with the worst buzzing sound in my brain, it was loud and awful. In addition I was so dizzy, I could barely walk to the bathroom and I trembled so bad that I could not even type using the keyboard. The side effects lasted until noon the next day.
I also noticed that I was really out of it all day today. I thought my son, who had gone to visit a friend, had come in my room to check on me around 7pm since I could not get out of the bed. I thought he had given me a kiss and told me he was home, but he called me at 12am and said he was on his way home from his friend's house. Was I hallucinating? Did I overdose with the 2 nightly doses? The forgetfulness was so bad I took four times my normal time to complete any simple task. Thank God I have a job where I can work from home...there is no way I would've been functional enough to work today. It's taken me 20 min to type this email. I just can't concentrate, please excuse the typos.
What I learned thanks to this site:
When I had the side effects the night I drank a bottle and a half of wine I was taking 25mg at a time. I started taking 12.5mg every 2 hours and felt minimal side effects. Anything over 12.5 at a time produced horrible side effects.
I dropped down to 50mg today and felt much better although I still am forgetful and can't concentrate.
Titrate up slower to reduce side effects and no more big daily or nightly doses.
Symptoms I have experienced thus far:
bloating (think that it's related to alcohol withdrawal)
Extreme hunger some days
Lack of Appetite some days (Aversion to food sometimes)
Extreme cravings for sugar
Aching in my shoulder blades nightly
Dizziness
High blood pressure continually although I am on high blood pressure medicine
Extreme Forgetfulness
Insomnia (I'm typing this e-mail at 5:15 am with no signs of sleepiness. I go to bed around 12am and sleep for 15 to 20 minutes and then wake up and cannot fall back asleep even with Benadryl or Melatonin)
Sleepiness around 7pm -9pm and then insomnia
A little weight gain (3 pounds...I am 5"6 150 pounds/female)
Tremors in hands
Time passing rapidly (it seems with my nightly insomnia it's 12am and then it's 4am but it seems as if only an hour has passed).
Extreme Irritation (Probably due to Alcohol Withdrawal)
Blurry Vision
Hearing things (Normal noises sound extremely loud)
Feeling stoned
Lack of coordination
Buzzing in head
Nausea
Medicines: I take Norvasc 5mg/twice a day. Lisinopril 10mg/twice a day both for high blood pressure. Wellbutrin 150mg/twice a day for depression.
Good Side Effects:
Being AF
Not obsessing over alcohol
Decrease in anxiety
No hangovers
Exercising for the first time in months. I can't wait to start running again soon.
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