High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

[StuckinLA]

High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

Telecaster, I believe. TXs photo.

[RedThread12]

High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

Hey, Ne: These guys aren't helping you at very much. A Fender Telecaster is to an electric guitar as a Porsche 911 is to an automobile . . . or kinda' like that.

John Hiatt plays one and sings about it in one of his oh-so-many great songs, "Master of Disaster," partly quoted here:

Ship to shore I can't see the coastline anymore
I shouldn't be here
I thought I made that loud and clear
But the master of disaster
Gets tangled in his telecaster
He can't play it any faster
When he plays the blues
When he had the heart to ask her
And every note just shook the plaster
Now he's just a mean ole bastard
When he plays the blues

Listening to it, it's not so obvious, but reading it reveals how it all revolves around
. . . Telecaster.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

That is actually a really great clarification, RT. Thx.

And superfun song.

[TX Git Slinger]

High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

Ne: thanks again for staying in touch. It's been since thurs and I'm feeling no better--having backed off from 370 to 290. Sadly this makes me think it isn't the bac. I"m really concerned. This panic and anxiety is gripping me to where I can't even focus to watch a movie to take my mind off of it. It get's a little better during the day, but attacks fiercely at night. And for no apparent reason. I have a therapist, a psychiatrist that i am seeing today and tomorrow. I AM pulling out all the stops: yoga, weight lifting, veg diet, accupuncture, meditation (which is hard cause when I try to quiet down, the pain really swells). I have some trials in my life but it's all under control, and i have a lot of really good things happening, so it is a puzzle. I've never had pain this bad, that hasn't been situational. It feels like being caught by an ex-wife cheating but worse.

I'll continue with the lower dose bac and the xanax in the meantime. Do you think it might just take longer to stabilize from the bac?

[TX Git Slinger]

High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

I LOVE THAT ALBUM BY HIATT -- MY FAVE SONG IS LOVE'S NOT WHERE WE THOUGHT WE LEFT IT.

[TX Git Slinger]

High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

Afraid to titrate down to low and then hitting the booze again! But I'd take the lowest pit of my alcoholism over the way I feel now!

[TX Git Slinger]

High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

Grizzy, how long did it take you to stabilize at a lower dose? I'm just becoming real impatient. Do you think i should keep taking the Xanax as needed and wait and see? I'm afraid I"ll relapse into drinking again, as stated above. Should I try going down to 250 maybe? My other concern, other than the drinking, is if I titrate too low on the bac, will that make me more susceptible to getting hooked on the xanax???

[StuckinLA]

High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

TX, I don't think I have anything helpful to offer, but I'm following your story and really feel for you. I dropped about 40 mg from the place (210) that was giving me really bad anxiety. But I'm drinking and anxious again.

If I can throw in 2 cents where I don't know what I'm talking about, I'd say the (EDIT) is a small problem in the grand scheme, unless you're trying to really come down off the bac.

Again, I don't know, but I just think that anything that helps anxiety is a good thing. I hate feeling like every moment is the time to go to a hospital, which is kinda where I'm at sometimes lately.

I do hope you start feeling better soon.

[Grizzy]

High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

Hey TX -

I wouldn't worry about being hooked on the xanax if you're taking the .25 mg guys. I only have my own experience as a reference and obviously people have very different reactions to bac so I can't say anything hard and fast, but in my experience the xanax is not a tough monkey to get off your back. As long as you have the attitude and awareness, as I did and it seems you do too, that it could be and you don't want it to be. It took me at least a full month at a stable dose (280 for me) and taking xanax daily (.25mg pills between 1 to 4-5 a day at most two at a time) to really feel like I was back to normal. I just tapered off, I'd say okay I'm not going to take any today, I can manage it - or I would say okay I'll just take one tonight after dinner to fall asleep, etc. Slowly I stopped taking it at all.

It also sounds like you titrated down super quickly! That could definitely be adding to your dysphoric and anxious feelings as well. You're definitely having a worse time than I ever did though, so I can't claim to have the answers.

My advice would be to wait it out though, I think it'd be safe to go to 250 too, but you gotta stick and hold and wait at some point. At 280 even I feel like I still get cravings or urges to drink, but I can handle it - and most importantly when I do drink I don't binge, and on the occasions that I choose to really indulge and get a little drunk I don't feel the urge to keep drinking the next day. So this is an effective and manageable level for me. You may feel if you've titrated down that some thoughts or urges come up but I think the bac will probably still keep you safe from the real disastrous stuff. Anyway, as you well know everybody's drinking and bac experiences being different I can't say for sure, but I would say wait and hold at 270-250 for a month, take the xanax, keep up all the other good stuff, and see if it starts to subside.

[TX Git Slinger]

High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

Found I had to take .5 xanax for it to be helpful.
I'm holding off on them as much as possible.
I think I"m going down to 250 today! I don't think that it's too steep of a titration.
I think I just got so much of this BAC built up--esp going up to 370--that it won't hurt to continue to ease off. I THINK I'm feeling a little relief here in the last half hour. I'll know tonight--that's when the pain really sets in! I'm about to head to my therapist. I didn't wanna dose up on Xan before seeing him, for obvious reasons. If i feel the panic set in after our session, I'll pop another .5 xan.

I still hope and pray it is the bac. If not, then I fear I have some sort of deep seated neurological or psychological problem!

Thanks again all of you for helping me thru all this!!!!!

[Ne/Neva Eva]

High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

Okay, I'm really short on time, so this will have to be brief. (I can hear the sighs of relief, fellas.)

Treating anxiety in the moment, or on an "as needed" basis DOES NOT WORK. It simply doesn't. The research shows this. Anecdotal evidence shows this. Everything I've ever read, heard or experienced makes it VERY CLEAR. It is nearly impossible to talk oneself down from the ledge in any sort of effective way if one is already climbing up to the damn thing.

Taking xanax, or any other anxiolytic, when you start to feel symptoms, or "as needed" is a pretty ineffective way to deal with this.

I'll be back with more in a couple of hours.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

LA, this can be avoided. It isn't a guarantee. But it's something you can and should think about dealing with now if you want to avoid it. Because dealing effectively with anxiety can only be done before the fact.

Slow and steady. With a plan and your eyes on the goal. Simple as all that.

Hang in there, TX. almost over. :l

[Grommet]

High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

I am a famous drive by poster here, but this thread really hit home for me. Quick backstory, started with NE and the others back in late 2010, was at or around switch in Mar 2011, then titrated down to zero as I was mostly AF, big mistake. Started BAC again in Dec 2011 and by April was AF again. Never made a switch post as I am still a bit back and forth (but at 20% of what I had been drinking - a success by any measure).

So, (love rhetoricals), why did this thread hit home? Massive, debilitating anxiety at HDB. NE turned me on to the (edit) and it worked.

[rangiatea]

High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

Xanax is short acting. Klonopin may be better as it a long acting benzo,thus u sleep longer.HDB seems to act like stimulant in many people and its close to phenetylamines in high dose-so u get insomnia,racing thoughts,hallucinations-esp when u lose sleep.Titrate down slowly and take meds to sleep.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

High Dose Baclofen: Insufferable Anxiety!!

um. nope. Not klonopin.

A little history about rangiatea (sorry Rang, I just want to fill in the blanks a little.) He took baclofen and overdosed on it shortly after he started. Had a terrible night or two (I know you can relate, TX) and now takes it as needed (and it doesn't really work like that. Again, sorry Rang) Now he can't understand why anyone would take the stuff. Of course, neither can I! Unless, of course, one wants to be free of the enslavement of addiction. It DOES work for that. It just sometimes sucks. Especially when we take way too much.

So. kttdp. Not klonopin.
Good morning! Hope you had a calm and peaceful night. Or at least got a bit of shuteye and REM.