Baclofen PTSD

[flamengo]

Hi All,

I know my story differs quite a bit from most of you here. I had a father who was an alcoholic for 60+ years and only stopped drinking 2 years before he passed. (it will be a year since he died on August 15th and 7 months since my PTSD started) I was going down the same road as his but stopped drinking last year cold turkey. I believe that this was part of the reason my PTSD emerged along with a slew of other issues.

I have tried everything everything under the sun to rid myself of this evil. Have seen numerous doctors, naturopaths, 3 therapist (my current one is pretty awesome), chiropractors, etc...

My attempt has even lead me to try stellate glangion block to see if I could physically stop my body from feeling hell 24/7. I'm currently on remeron and propranolol (beta blocker) and my wish is to at least start to get off remeron. In my search I came into contact with Carrots of Hope, a site designed to help those with PTSD and it was through there that I found out about Baclofen and Dr. A. It was through them that I was fortunate to find this forum.

Today I started my journey on baclofen.

I took 5 mg at 10 a.m. with another 10 mg around 3 p.m. (PST) I purchased my pill from Inhouse pharmacy.

I'm going to document my experience here with my goal of A) reducing my anxiety B) getting off Remeron and propranolol C) Destroy my PTSD and return to a normal level of quality of life.

I feel like this forum will provide a safe place for me to share and document my story since so many have already started on this journey.

Thanks for the warm welcomes!

[AmyC]

Baclofen PTSD

Hi Flamengo and welcome. This is definatly a safe place to talk about and share your journey as well as get a lot of great information. I myself started on a jouney with Bac just under a month ago and so fat so good. It has completely wiped out my anxiety and hopefully soon my desire to drink. I look forward to reading about your journey.

[ifulovelife2]

Baclofen PTSD

hi flamengo.

great to see you are working so hard to knock your ptsd on the head. with your determination i have no doubt you will succeed. i know nothing about bacs effects on that condition but it is a bit of a wonder drug so i wouldnt be the slightest bit surprised if it works for you. i know that some of the hardest and depest set cases of ptsd have been successfully treated by eft. have you heard of it.

sorry about the lack of punctuation and capitals but im using my kindle atm. im not a tard. honestly.

[flamengo]

Baclofen PTSD

Thank you both!

ifulovelife2, ma'am - sir? In regards top EFT...

yes, I have read a lot about it. I have just started doing more research on the faster EFT.

My biggest thing is that I need to take EFT into action. I read about it, but need to basically execute it. Lots of people have found great success with it. My plan is to incorporate it with bac. Have you tried it in the past. Its so weird that something so simple could be so helpful.

Faster EFT.com - The official website of Robert G. Smith, creator of FasterEFT

BTW - how do I know if blacofen is working? I started with 5 mg then took 10 but still don't feel anything. Is it something that builds up? Also, the brand I bought is Pacifen 10 from inhouse pharmacy. 10mg each. Is there different efficiency from brand to brand?

Thinking of doing 10 mg at 8 a.m., 10 mg at 1 pm and 10 mg at 6 pm for the first week.

[flamengo]

Baclofen PTSD

Night one: Went to bed at 9 woke up at 11 pm then went back to sleep and didnt wake up until 7 a.m. That is the first time this has happened in 9 months!

I woke up feeling like I had a hang over, nauseous, but overall was refreshed and awake! I also cut my remeron in half and didnt take any beta blockers.

Could this be the real deal? My sleep has been horrible! I read all about baclofen and its increase of SWS. Remeron does the same. I had some real vivid dreams too. But all in all, I woke up eyes wide open. Can't believe it!

Going to take 10 mg now, then 10 in 8 hours then 20 again at night.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Baclofen PTSD

DUDE!
DO NOT STOP TAKING PRESCRIBED MEDICATION. Particularly if you've been taking it a while. Just don't. No. It is not the real deal if you think that you can take 20mg of baclofen can dramatically alter medications that you are currently on. Furthermore, there are several people who take both Remeron (Mirtazapine) and baclofen because they are different drugs for different purposes.

It is really, really, really not a good idea to do anything about any medication you're taking--or even booze for that matter--just because you start taking baclofen.

I'm glad you slept, and I have no doubt that your faith in the fact that this may work for you takes a lot of stress out of your life, but please READ the information found here. AD withdrawal does not happen right away, can be very serious and have long term repercussions. I don't even want to think about the beta blockers, if you were taking those regularly.

Seriously. Come on dude. You will not be the exception to the rule. Hell, you'll be lucky if you are part of the group that gets better. It's THAT hard. So get educated, get focused and get on with it. Or you'll still be wondering what the hell you were doing a year or ten from now.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Baclofen PTSD

Hi, Flamengo!

Geez. Sorry about how cranky that last post was. It really scares me for people when they stop taking medications suddenly. I lost a friend to suicide earlier this year and the only thing I know for sure is that she stopped taking all of her meds almost overnight. (She was on an antidepressant and Ativan.)

She stopped taking baclofen after a slow titration down, so I can't really attribute baclofen withdrawal as a source for her suicidal depression. And she was stone cold sober and had been for many months. So basically, when I hear people start playing around with medications that they've been on for a while it completely freaks me out. Plus I was just cranky yesterday. It was a really lousy day. But then it got better! And I swear a good night's sleep and a new dawn give me a whole new lease on life.

So please come back and post about your journey. I'm really glad you're here and I think it will help others too. I know of two other people who are going to try to take baclofen for anxiety-related issues, and not alcohol-dependence because they're both sober. They don't/can't participate but they do read.

I hope that you woke up today with the same feeling you had yesterday!
:l

[flamengo]

Baclofen PTSD

Hi NE!

No need to apologize! You were absolutely right! It was not very smart on my end to just start mixing with my meds the way I did. I have returned everything back to normal and am going to slowly wean off with my doctors permission.

So far; my current Bac regimen is: 5 mg in the morning, 5mg in the afternoon and then 15 before bed. I'm having some side effects; after I take the 15mg I can feel the medicine kick in. I get nauseous, my ears start ringing like crazy, I feel a vibration in my body etc. One thing that I'm trying to figure out is if I'm getting an allergic reaction to the pills since they contain lactose. Did anyone have some minor GI issues at first? I do feel a lot calmer but have moments where the anxiety does seem to creep back and know that it takes time for the SE to disappear and for the medicine to start doing its work. Did you start to feel its anti anxiety effects right away? I plan on staying on 5/5/15 for a week, then go to 10/10/15 for a week, then 15,15,15 for another week, then 20,20,20 for another week, then 20,20,20,5 for another week, then 20,20,20,10 until I reach 80mg. Is going up every 5 days the smart thing to do?

Thanks again for caring, lots of learning on my end.

[flamengo]

Baclofen PTSD

I think Baclofen has been given me a little higher anxiety. I'm not sure why; but am wondering what role it plays on our adrenals. I feel like it gives me more of a cortisol boost. It helps me sleep super well; so I may just take it at night for sleep. I sleep entire night which never happens.

[flamengo]

Baclofen PTSD

So I only took baclofen from the 25th until the 30th. I stopped Monday night because my anxiety seemed to sky rocket. Past few days my anxiety have been through the roof! Could baclofen be causing these withdrawls? Will it pass? I never took more then 35mg a day but for sure feel like it has left me with some lingering effects. I know that it clears your system in about 20 hours, so I'm hoping I will feel better in a few more days. I don't want to take it again becasue I feel like i was on it for such a short amount of time.

[ifulovelife2]

Baclofen PTSD

hey flamengo

how goes it.

i have one word to say to you ... titration.

ok i have another ... discombobulation.

well there is a third ... fuckedupedness.

theyre all related. softly softly catchee monkey. thats an english expression. its meaning is clear ... probably.

ooo ooo ooo i have another word for you ... gusset. its not relevant. i just like it.

[flamengo]

Baclofen PTSD

hahahahaha

I actually looked those words up on urban dictionary.

I should have titrated but figured since I had only been on it for a short time that I would fine coming off of it. It's been over 48 hours so I figure now I may just power through. I'm seriously thinking of going to the ER.

I'm such an idiot.

Thanks for the reply.

[ifulovelife2]

Baclofen PTSD

You`re not an idiot you re a person with a serious illnes who is despersate to find the cure. PTSD is a hellish, life altering condition that affects every moment of one`s` life. Stop beating yourself up. There`re plenty other people out there that`ll do that for you.:H

I can`t giveyou any medical advice, especially as I really am not familiar with what has happened (I don`t get on here asoften as I would like) but if I suspected I was getting worse after stopping a drug I would take a little more of it. But that`s just me and I am famous for not taking drugs correctly.

[ifulovelife2]

Baclofen PTSD

Hey Flamengo

How's it going? Check in when you get the chance, please.