High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

[Ne/Neva Eva]

High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

Grommet;1351345 wrote: Massive, debilitating anxiety at HDB. NE turned me on to the (edit) and it worked.

The word he edited was xanax. Also, COSgringo, Doseage0. Who else? The guy from Japan...hmmm. I'll remember later when I don't have time to post. In fact, just about everyone I get to know if they start to get really discombobulated. Those that do it, get well and stop taking it. Those that don't...Not so much.

Nice to see you Grom.

[COSGringo]

High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

Ahh the horrid anxiety at HDB. Mine mostly came as attacks. Once bad at around 120ish I think. Then at like 240? I thought it was something else but they were probably horrific anxiety attacks.
Even the benzos barely helped. I needed about 1 mg of xanax and some klonopin to get through that 240 one. Ick.

I would say the low dose of benzos maybe in the morning and at night for sleep can be okay. There really is a sort of override with the baclofen and benzos. I won't get into the science but at a real HDB that gaba B effect lessens that gaba A effect. They have less effect but of course that does not make it okay to rely on them.

Klon does have a longer lasting effect. So does valium. Dr L offers valium or xanax but at 5mg or .25mg (xanax). Those are low doses.

I usually only use that stuff at night. Mostly because I have to amp out on energy products to get through some days. Oh well. Small price for me to pay.

But anxiety attacks? I have not really read through this but xanax would be more for an attack. If it was horrid you need more than .25mg. If things don't settle down you might need to go up or down on the bac and settle in. Then maybe go back up again.

Everyday using xanax to deal with baclofen is not good I would say. I am no doc but I would not want to be dependent on it. It puts me to sleep so I can't take that during the day anyways.

I say find a bac dose you can deal with. Settle down, then look at maybe going up.

I think Ne said once to go up in dose. Maybe that works. Not sure but when I was hurting I went down 10mg and that helped. I even hit my switch. Well I think I have anyways? Not drinking most days. Had a few when I was at those biz meetings about layoffs at night last week.

[Grommet]

High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

I take Xanax only at night as well. When I got above 250 mg I would wake up at 2:00 am with anxiety attacks, and really only sleep for an hour or two after that.

I found a Xanax at bedtime helps me sleep through the night. This is huge as lack of sleep really screws up everything I am trying to accomplish with HDB. Xanax really works for me - although I do wake up "hard", but nothing worse than a Tylenol PM. I probably am only taking it 3 or 4 times a week (25 mg).

I went up to 325 mg in May (I think I said April, whatever), and was back to stringing together 3, 4, 5 AF days, with some Fri/Sat thrown in. Still drinking but a fraction of where I was before. Not at a switch, but on the bubble. Went back down to 250 mg and was able to hold it together. I am working back up now (300 today) and going to try some new heights to see what happens.

I could not do it without the Xanax.

[TX Git Slinger]

High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

Went to psych today and she prescribed 5mg valium 5 times daily. Hope this helps.
Worrying type that I am, I'm still not totally convinced it's the bac that is making me feel worse than I've ever ever felt in my life! I hope it IS the bac!! Otherwise I'm fearful I might end up in a mental ward! Not being histrionic here either.

WHAT STILL PUZZLES ME AND WORRIES ME THE MOST IS THE FACT THAT I WENT UP TO 350 LAST YEAR, HIT THE SWITCH AND EVERYTHING WAS JUST DANDY. WHY THE TROUBLES THIS TIME?

Anyway, I can't tell you all how much your responses help ease my mind. If I could just get rid of these bodily manifestations: anvil in my upper solar plexus, pain in my chest, up into my throat, numbness in my face, tingling and numbness down my arms. Siren in my head. I feel like Charlie Manson's brain was inserted into my cranium when I close my eyes or something like that. I get so out of sorts in that moment that nothing but nothing calms me (other than a pill). I can't watch a movie, focus on anything.

I'll wake up in the morning and feel ok and be like "ok i'm getting out of the woods," maybe have a good afternoon, then 7 pm hits and I get sucker punched by beelzebub himself!

I've been down to 280 now for the second day and have been off of the super high does for about a week now and have not seen much of a change... NE assures me that it is because I haven't managed my panic with regular benzos.

Well, that's what I"m starting to do today with my Valium script.

Let's hope and pray (those of us with metaphysical predilections) that she is correct!

[COSGringo]

High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

OK, lots to take in there. Between that nick and those issues.
Give me a few and I will get back to you. Just ate about a lb of blackened steak and mess. Need to digest this.
This may be outside any of our expertise.

[COSGringo]

High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

OK Git Slinger.
Have not read all the posts.
Valium 5x day? OK 5 mg is low. Does your doc know you are on Bac?
Some of the symps sounds like GERD. I mean your gut in your throat. Probably me just getting on board late here. That will do it though. That's a whole other topic I could get into as far as GERD.

350 is high but whatever worked is great. 300's are high but everyone is different and god bless you can get that high. I was losing it at 240 but maybe I could have gone higher.

I think work would have a lot to do with things. Are you working and are you in front of folks? That can be tough. Else, if you are WFH then you can get around these things maybe.

Perhaps don't expect the bac to do it all and work towards the bac helping and you helping, too. Just a thought.

If you are getting that much physical reaction I think you need to drop lower. That can't be livable. Taking pills to deal with others in the end won't be good. At least I don't think so. I am not preaching as I have been down that road.

I say drop some meds lower, get to feeling better, exercise and that mess, and well just adjust.
There's no way you can keep playing a balancing act of meds. I don't think it would be good for you either. I mean I play my games but you sound miserable.

Plus it's too hot in TX this time of year. Go on a vaca or something.

[controll3]

High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

I had the same exact symptoms you are going through Tx Git, Xanax did help alot, but I also got on a longer lasting antidepressent/generalized anxiety med. Then I tapered off bac and xanax, and have been doing well ever since, as far as the panic/anxiety attacks.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

Hold on there, partner. (EDIT: I was directing this toward COSgringo, and cross posted with Controll)

You're offering a diagnosis, and suggestions/advice for someone who is suffering from a great deal of anxiety about what he's experiencing without reading all the posts, without knowing the whole story, based on the assumption that you might be able to figure out what is going on with him.

I will not share the details of the things I know because they were shared with me off of the public forum. But an additional decrease of baclofen would be on top of a very dramatic decrease in the last week. It is not to be advised.

I suggested the same xanax regimen that I suggest to you, and to Grommet, and to several others before and since. When he saw his psychiatrist, whom he has a previous relationship with, SHE prescribed the current plan and what he is planning to follow.

Which sounds like a really good way to go, doesn't it? For someone who is suffering from sleep deprivation, extreme anxiety, and repeated panic attacks. To trust the professional who knows him well, and to a much lesser degree the person who has been around here for a couple of years, and talks to people pretty regularly about this stuff. Ya' know?

TX, I'm right, because I say so! :H What's more, you have a whole bunch of people here who have experienced very similar anxiety, to a lesser degree (and at much lower doses than you were taking) and they are all just fine now. Really.

A couple of days of sleep, and following the directions that your psychiatrist gave you, will make a world of difference. Hang tight. :l

Hi again, Grom. Glad to hear it settled down for you and is working as you go up. Slow and steady wins the beef jerky.

[Grommet]

High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

(edit - I was directing this to Git - man I'm rusty...)

Don't know nothin' 'bout chemistry (or the French I took), but what I do know - the 2nd time up is way different than the first. Easy sailing at low doses, then new challenges at the high doses.

I've been up, down, off, on, up, down a little, now up again. And, as you know, it works.

I do think you there is something to how your body/mind reacts on a second (or third for me) titration. This may have at least something to do with how you're feeling. How's that for a totally unscientific analysis?

[Dosage0]

High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

I thought I'd chime in since I'm going through much of the same. I went up to 380 and have come all the way down to 180. I have anxiety, but after I hit the switch I still don't drink. It is very strange, but coming down did help a bit with the anxiety. It seems to come and go in my case, but when I do get anxious it feels much more intense than it did before. I still buy into the anxiety causing me to drink and baclofen lessening it, but the intensity of the times I do feel anxiety has gone up dramatically.

I know at some point if I keep going lower I will crave again, and I keep psyching myself out that 20 mg less might cause me to drink, but I figure it is better to continue lower and find my sweet spot than stay in the same spot miserable. I have stuck at 180 for about two months now and still have anxiety.

I guess my point is that I didn't find the same need to drink after switching even at 1/2 of my switch dose. The best advice I have gotten is to find what level works for you.

Baclofen does work, just wish there was a Baclofen XR!

Dose

[flamengo]

High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

TX Git Slinger;1351762 wrote: Went to psych today and she prescribed 5mg valium 5 times daily. Hope this helps.
Worrying type that I am, I'm still not totally convinced it's the bac that is making me feel worse than I've ever ever felt in my life! I hope it IS the bac!! Otherwise I'm fearful I might end up in a mental ward! Not being histrionic here either.

WHAT STILL PUZZLES ME AND WORRIES ME THE MOST IS THE FACT THAT I WENT UP TO 350 LAST YEAR, HIT THE SWITCH AND EVERYTHING WAS JUST DANDY. WHY THE TROUBLES THIS TIME?

Anyway, I can't tell you all how much your responses help ease my mind. If I could just get rid of these bodily manifestations: anvil in my upper solar plexus, pain in my chest, up into my throat, numbness in my face, tingling and numbness down my arms. Siren in my head. I feel like Charlie Manson's brain was inserted into my cranium when I close my eyes or something like that. I get so out of sorts in that moment that nothing but nothing calms me (other than a pill). I can't watch a movie, focus on anything.

I'll wake up in the morning and feel ok and be like "ok i'm getting out of the woods," maybe have a good afternoon, then 7 pm hits and I get sucker punched by beelzebub himself!

I've been down to 280 now for the second day and have been off of the super high does for about a week now and have not seen much of a change... NE assures me that it is because I haven't managed my panic with regular benzos.

Well, that's what I"m starting to do today with my Valium script.

Let's hope and pray (those of us with metaphysical predilections) that she is correct!

It sounds to me like your cortisol levels are spiking at night. Can I make a suggestion. Try going a few days on a low sugar diet. 80% veggies. Some quinoa. Sardines. No fruits or anything processed. I had these issues and it was related to my adrenals. My cortisol levels were spiking at night. A natural alternate would be to take some phsophatidyled serine at night. This will help with the hyppocampus, lower cortisol and help reset your normal day night cortisol rhythm.

I'm not a big fan of benzos. I was on them short term and was a pain to get off of them. They do help, but they shouldn't be used for more then 2 weeks.

Also, breathing....inhale to a count of 4, hold for 7 seconds and exhale to a count of 8. This will help control your nervous system and activate your parasympathetic nervous system. Fish oil is a lot of help too.

Hope you feel better!

[TX Git Slinger]

High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

With all due respect, many of you don't know my situation. I exercise furiously--Bikram 106 degree yoga 5x per week, work out, swim, veg bordering on vegan diet, meditate, etc. Little to no sugar; I use stevia. I'm 44 and seem to be in great physical health. Just had my liver, kidney, hormones, thyroid bloodwork done last friday to rule out any other organic possibilities. It all checked out fine. I do acupuncture. I swear, I'm pulling out all the stops. I seem to know how to take care of myself under almost any circumstance. I don't need a vacation, per one of your suggestions.

New avatar is me earlier tonight during some long-overdue physical exertion. The valium helped to where I got back into the exercise routine for the first time in a few days, but I"m still restless at 1 am and hope i can sleep. Prior to the first Valium dose, I was not even able to focus enough to read, watch a movie, much less exercise.

I know you all mean well, but much of what was said came across as flippant and, honestly, was a little hurtful. I'm in a fragile state right now, and that's a huge understatement.

My situation is so bad that when I try to breath and meditate, the pain really wells up, so I have to try to stay engaged with other people/things until I sleep.

What I'm enduring seems to be an overdose of Baclofen and I'm detoxing from it. I am suffering like I never have before, and I'm not the histrionic type. If it's not the Bac, I have other serious mental health issues that need to be addressed professionally. God forbid that the latter is the case!

I think NE can corroborate this. She has been wonderful to me and we have been in touch via telephone.

The doc's script said 3x a day, not 5x a day (as I had previously stated) of 5mg Valium. She has seen me for ten years, knows I"m not being melodramatic here, and would not give me benzos if she didn't think it was in my best interest.

I'm not sure if the valium will be enough. As I said, it's 1 am here in Austin, and my head is still throbbing. Valium took away my chest pains, stomach pains and such but my head is still kinda spinning and throbbing and I feel dizzy. Hope I can sleep. Would it be ill advised if I take a sliver of xanax if the panic becomes acute at, say, bedtime?

[Ne/Neva Eva]

High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

flamengo;1351850 wrote: I'm not a big fan of benzos. I was on them short term and was a pain to get off of them. They do help, but they shouldn't be used for more then 2 weeks.
Morning (for me) Flamenco!
Benzos on HDB are a totally different animal than benzos without bac. They can make the difference between finding indifference and comfortable sobriety versus not finding indifference and becoming a drunk again.

I don't take any medications lightly. None of 'em, not even baclofen! That said, I take what I need to and use them as tools to make sure that I can live a contented life...If not always a comfortable one! 'cause you know...Life is sometimes uncomfortable and I'm very grateful I can be present to that too.

flamengo;1351850 wrote: ...A natural alternate would be to take some phsophatidyled serine at night. ...
While this may (or may not) be something useful for TX git at some point, it was very welcome information for me. Thank you for sharing it! After some "research" (Amazon, wiki, and the like :H) I've ordered some. It's a long story and I won't digress too much, but I've got ADD and I'm absolutely convinced that what ails is related to my HPA. Amphetamines are a lousy option, and are bandaids not solutions, so I'm excited to try the PS. Thanks again.



TX Git Slinger;1351856 wrote: ... I'm pulling out all the stops.

That's pretty much all anyone (including yourself!) needs to hear, Tex. Just keep doing what you're doing.


TX Git Slinger;1351856 wrote: I'm not sure if the valium will be enough. As I said, it's 1 am here in Austin, and my head is still throbbing. Valium took away my chest pains, stomach pains and such but my head is still kinda spinning and throbbing and I feel dizzy. Hope I can sleep. Would it be ill advised if I take a sliver of xanax if the panic becomes acute at, say, bedtime?

Do what you need to do to get off of the carousel. It is the carousel of thoughts that makes everything else so bad. (because, in part, it leads to insomnia and then that leads to more bad thoughts...)
There are some other tools we can talk about too. (What is funny to you? Funny is very important and often underestimated. It sounds trite, but it worked for me better than anything else. And bac(k) in my bac day, we weren't really using the medicinal tools. Funny got me through. And my friends here. Shout out to them! )

I'm sure no harm was intended, though I know it may have seemed that way.

And, um, you look...um, wow! Fortunately for all of us, my husband ain't too shabby. :H And he's younger! (I'm 42. He's 40. Let the cradle-robbing gossip begin! :H)

xxoo and huge :l, Tex. Looking forward to hearing from you soon-ish.

[StuckinLA]

High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

Hey TX--dude, yeah you've got the exercise/taking care of yourself covered. But I'll second NEs suggestion about the Funny. Back when my thread was a comedy routine instead of a wine festival it was helping me a whole lot more. So maybe give that a shot?

If you can't sleep try coming on here and reading through some old progress threads. There are some, like Murphyx and Moglor and NE, that are really great. And it really does help to see other people going through the same stuff. Of course, writing it all out helps to.

[COSGringo]

High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

Ne-

2nd line of my statement said I had not read the posts.

I am very busy right now.

I was asked to weigh in which is why I wrote what I did not having time to read all this thread.

I will stay off the forum for a while going forward.

Thanks