Switch and heavy drinking

[joethelion]

Switch and heavy drinking

Well all`s well, that ends well I`m really happy for you !

I hope my wife will one day start to think differently, let`s see..

[ifulovelife2]

Switch and heavy drinking

joethelion;1333712 wrote: Can I ask what`s your maintenance dosage ? Has it been the same all the time ?

Hi Joe. Sorry I haven't replied sooner but my internet access has been patchy lately.

I switched on about 150-175mg and now maintain on 150. I'm one of the people who's maintenance dose is the same as the switch. Whether that's because, as Dr L and others believe, one needs to always stick to the switch dose to remain indifferent or because I have decided not to abstain, I'm not completely sure but I suspect it's the latter, i.e. if you drop the booze altogether you will be able to titrate down low (or even to nil as some here have managed) but you'll need to stick to the switch dose if you want to carry on having a relationship with alcohol. Although this relationship is more like that of distant cousins who occasionally meet up and exchange pleasantries, rather than an old married couple who have grown to hate each other and end up slinging crockery at one another's heads of an evening.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Switch and heavy drinking

I do love your analogies. (metaphors? whatever.)

There's a much longer history than "I switched on about 150-175mg" right? (I reserve the right to be off my rocker about this, since it has been foooorrrrrrever since you've updated anything. just sayin') (Still. You've taken quite a bit o' bac in your day. Clarification is lovely. Especially since I happen to completely believe that the wonderful, saintly and generous Dr. L is off his rocker about staying at the switch dose. That's just nuts.)

[AmyC]

Switch and heavy drinking

Ne/Neva Eva;1333042 wrote: I drank all the way up to my switch.

At times I drank heavily. I started to notice at some point that there was booze left in the bottle(s) the next morning.
Then I noticed that there was booze left in the glass.
Then I just didn't want to drink one night.
After that I drank a couple of times a week, usually a beer. It made me very nervous to continue drinking. I was worried that even a couple of beers a week might "undo" what had been done. So I stopped for a month. By then my husband (also alcohol dependent) had hit his switch. I think my month of abstinence turned into much longer, but by then I didn't care and didn't think about it so I didn't keep track.
I should note that I also got drunk about once a month from March to maybe October, with the exception of the month of abstinence and maybe another month or so, too...Sorry I can't be more clear!
The last time, in October, the hangover was so physically and emotionally brutal, I really never want to do it again.
Since then I drink occasionally. I used to have rules about it. (Don't drink alone. Don't drink for special occasions. Don't drink to celebrate or mourn or because I'm angry/stressed/whatever.) Then I realized I don't care enough to even have rules.

That said, there have been a couple of occasions when I thought it would be fun and appropriate to get a little tipsy, and I simply can't drink enough. It doesn't feel good, and stops tasting yummy after a glass or two. It's now a family joke...I announce, "I want to P-A-R-T-Y!" And my husband snickers. We go out. I have a margarita. And order another. And forget to drink it. I have wasted some very expensive wine...
He can still drink enough to get tipsy, but he doesn't like the way it makes him feel. And we both have a choice now, so he doesn't. (Plus he's annoying when he's lit up. Don't tell him I said so! ) He's four months behind me, though, so I imagine he'll get to a similar place if he isn't already.

200-300mg of baclofen is much like 100mg of baclofen. It depends on the person and the circumstances. My side effects at 320mg were much more tolerable than they were at 70mg. The hangovers sucked worse than anything I have ever experienced, regardless of the dose. And sometimes I didn't identify them as hangovers, but as side effects of the baclofen. (Which they are, but only with the booze.)

Dr. A was on regular, daily low dose baclofen for a year before he titrated down and then back up again to reach his switch. It is something we often forget.

Wow. Long answer! Sorry!

I loved reading your post Ne because it answered so many question I had about drinking during taking bac. I havent up till now but its only been a week. It good to know that if I do I wont ruin everything Im working for if I do. Realistically Im sure that I will drink at one point or another, specially this early on using Bac but my ultimate goal is to of course not drink or better yet not want to drink. Thank for the enlightening post. :thanks:

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Switch and heavy drinking

AmyC;1338622 wrote: ...It good to know that if I do I wont ruin everything Im working for if I do. Realistically Im sure that I will drink at one point or another, specially this early on using Bac but my ultimate goal is to of course not drink or better yet not want to drink.

That was such a relief for me too, Amy. I'd never been able to not drink, before. Not for any length of time, anyway. And when I could stop starting on "Day One" repeatedly--a reminder of how many failures there had been--I got rid of an incredible burden.

I never really believed that I could get to a place where I didn't want to drink, even though I desperately didn't want to drink. You know?
But it happened.
I was with family last night. They drink really good wine. I still don't drink at all when I am with them, because they've experienced too much trauma/drama related to that. But I really wanted a glass of that really good wine. I mentioned it to my husband and wondered aloud if I was craving alcohol. He laughed. Then I completely forgot about it. I honestly didn't remember that until just now! :H Guess I wasn't craving alcohol...

[spacebebe01]

Switch and heavy drinking

One of my alcohol fantasies is going for a meal with my family and having a pint of lager. This is because no matter what happens with my drinking that would never happen and be a happy occasion for all, way too much water has gone under that bridge. I know I could go to the pub any time I wanted and have a pint but it doesnt appeal to me at all. Its not a craving for drink, more a want to erase the past.

[joethelion]

Switch and heavy drinking

spacebebe01;1338895 wrote: One of my alcohol fantasies is going for a meal with my family and having a pint of lager. This is because no matter what happens with my drinking that would never happen and be a happy occasion for all, way too much water has gone under that bridge. I know I could go to the pub any time I wanted and have a pint but it doesnt appeal to me at all. Its not a craving for drink, more a want to erase the past.

Bebe, I hear you on that. Sad, but some of the good things are gone forever, aren`t they ?

Ne, can I ask you something a little private ? Ignore if you don`t want to answer this:

Our relation with my wife has always been based on alcohol, our best times together, best laughs, best memories, best sex, best everything, well everything best and worst would be more correct, were lived under the influence (apart from three pregnancies). Now if, hopefully, ever we get rid of this problem, either through abstinence or indifference, we will be two sober people, and that makes me a little unsure about what we would have common apart from the children. So, you were a bit like that with your husband as I understand; what happened after you beat this illness ? Was it the same ? Was it different but OK, or better ? How did you cope with a whole new structure in the relationship ?

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Switch and heavy drinking

Joe, I had so many of the same concerns. In fact, I really wasn't sure what was going to be left over when the booze was gone. It's what brought us together, likely what kept us together, and without it, there didn't seem like common ground. (No kids, either.)

Turns out I really, really like him. And he me! (Thank goodness.) I could expound and would, but it's rather nauseating. You know those cheesy signs/posters/embroidered pillows that say trite things like, "I wake up next to my best friend"? Or whatever... You get the point. Yep. It's true.
From not talking about anything, and lousy (sorry honey) sex, and a constant undercurrent of regret, remorse, anger and blame...To excitement and friendship and lust and love and fondness and playfulness and all that other hokey stuff I really thought didn't exist in coupledom. It is the single most incredible thing that has happened in my life because of bac-sobriety.

Okay. That's not honest. The single most important, exciting and incredible thing is me. Or specifically, me not wanting or caring about booze. But the second one, and it's a close second, is Us.

I'll offer this caveat, though: We talked. And still talk. All the time. About this stuff. And if something comes up when one of us is angry, and it's based on the way the person used to be, then we call it out loud. "That's not who I am now, who we are now, how we want to be. And it doesn't count." Period. So we have carried absolutely nothing from the "pre-switch" to the post-switch. Nothing. And when we argue, one of us might say, "Hey, wait. Is that how we want this to go?" (sometimes the answer is yes, ftr. Sometimes one of us just wants to be pissed off and out of sorts and an asshole. Mostly him. Kidding.)

Ya' gotta talk.
But we figure that if we stayed together through the absolute hell and misery, we're damn sure going to stay together now. So that bodes well for you! Right?

[joethelion]

Switch and heavy drinking

Your story is full of inspiration, I`m so glad for (and proud of) you. I hope some day my wife will start to own this problem as much as I do, feel the same like I do, and then bac/tsm will help us out, and then we will be able to see how it will go from there. Thanks for the reply