Please help !!!!

[DesperateWife]

I know this forum is not for the spouses but I have a question regarding baclofen. My hubby was supposed to start on 5mg (titration per Dr L) since yesterday and still has not started. He has been non-stop drinking appr 2 bottles of vodka/day for the past week. Normally he would drink 1/2 bottle/day. Even though he continues to drink he is shaking and it is truly frightening. He will not admit himself to a hospital for detox so they will not accept him unless he wishes to do so.

My question at the moment is if it is safe for him to take the baclofen even with this level of intoxication?

If he takes the baclofen will he notice some calming effect and maybe he can drop a little bit the amount of alcohol in the next few days? I know it takes at least 3-6 months to reach indifference. Just asking if he might decrease somewhat after first dose??

At this moment 1/2 bottle sounds reasonable to me!. I'm not trying to be take it lightly but the amount he has ingested this past week is horrifying and I am just hoping that baclofen might decrease this frenetic binging. And of course that later on he will find his way out like many of you have done.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[redhead77]

Please help !!!!

Hi Desperate Wife,

I'm getting ready to go to bed, and I don't post a ton, but thought I'd write back. You seem very worried. I can't say I blame you. I'm sorry for what you're going through.

This makes me a little uncomfortable. I feel it's a bit like medical advice. I suppose you could call Dr L and reiterate what you're saying here if you feel you need to. I would assume your husband told him the volume of alcohol he drinks?

I'm pretty sure he'll say it's ok. Most of us who start on bac for drinking are actively drinking when we take it. We drink way too much, but the exact amounts are different for all of us. It's certainly ok to start at 5 mg (or that's my opinion from reading everything around here) and maybe he'll reduce his drinking. Some people reduce their drinking right away. That's not the norm, though. Most people need to take quite a bit more, but the amount varies too. Here online, I've seen everything. Rarely have I ever seen 5 mg do much. I hope it works that way for your husband, but if it doesn't, then don't be surprised. Likely it will turn out that as his bac dose goes up, his drinking will slow down.

I'm not sure if I was able to answer your questions, and I couldn't offer suggestions, but I do hope your mind has been eased a bit, DW. :l

I'm sure others will be along to help where I'm lacking.

[tiptronic_ct]

Please help !!!!

Hi DW and :welcome: to MWO

Get your husband on the bac ASAP. It should in fact assist him in managing withdrawal from such high levels of alcohol intake (a study has shown baclofen to be as effective as diazepam in managing uncomplicated withdrawal).

One cannot predict whether he'll feel an immediate difference at such a low dose, but the sooner he starts the better. You might even want to consider getting him to increase his dosage at a faster rate.

Good luck to the both of you!

[StuckinLA]

Please help !!!!

Hi DW, welcome. Or rather, sorry you had to find us under these circumstances, but I'm very glad you did.

As to your question, gosh, I sure don't know. 2 bottle of vodka a day, and I'm assuming you mean 750 ml bottles, is a lot. That's dangerous-withdrawal level, in my completely NOT medical opinion. Does your husband have a history of major withdrawal? Like seizures and such?

I will give you an example of my own experience. I had been hospitalized once over night for withdrawal, then began a 3 week bender. Trying to remember, but I was drinking a 1.75 L of vodka probably every 2 days, as well as more beers than I kept track of, and maybe 500 ml of whiskey every day. I was extremely shaky, even after an hour of not having several shots of vodka or whatever, could barely raise glasses to my lips. I went to the hospital for detox, and had a really elevated heart rate and wild swings in blood pressure, but no shakiness once I was there and no longer drinking. The hospital kept me several days, until I eventually signed out AMA, and my insurance wouldn't cover any of it, because I don't have a history of seizures.

In other words, and I've been told this by actual medical (psychological) professionals, that in hospital detox is not necessarily the norm anymore. Though to enter rehab, obviously, it still is. Not sure where I'm going with this... Alcohol withdrawal is serious business and not to be messed with.

I have never drank more than the equivalent of 750 ml of whiskey in a 1 day period on baclofen (bac). You're not really supposed to mix the 2... but I was also on anywhere between 150 mg and 175-200 mg at the time... In fact, at 150 mg I was on quite a bender again, though only at night not drinking during the day.

Really hate to give anything that sounds like advice here... I'd really suggest another call to Dr L.

If it were 1 bottle/day I'd probably say something like oh yeah, I did that. I also haven't reached indifference. Drinking for sure goes down before indifference, too. Drastically, for some people.

In your husband's case, taking that first dose might just be the step he needs to mentally get back to 1/2 bottle... knowing, or at least thinking, that bac will help calm him down. Right now I imagine he's pretty worried about sleeping. And about being awake. He's probably not even "feeling" drunk right now, and that's some scary stuff (for him).

Then again, thinking about taking that first step might be what shot him up to 2 bottles/day in the 1st place. Again, calling Dr L is probably your best bet. And seeing if you can't ration his vodka intake just a little bit. Is he amenable to that at all? Can you monitor him?

Whatever happens, please keep checking back with us and let us know what's going on.

[RedThread12]

Please help !!!!

Dear Desperate Wife:

Ditto, ditto, double ditto and exponentially multiply it to what Red and Tip suggest. Of course, your husband has to AGREE to take baclofen regularly. It looks as if it may be up to you to keep track of things for now . . . if he's got the bac, why isn't he taking it?

Call Dr. L if you need to. I have no idea what he would say, but I have read enough and been personally in touch with enough MWO members over the past 4 years to know that, if I were in either your place or your husband's, I would commence the bac as quickly as possible. I would even start at Dr. A's original initial dosage of 10/10/10 . . . especially if I, or a loved one, was so very, very close to the edge.

My heart goes out to you both. This is a horrid, miserable place. But it CAN be the doorway to a whole new life!!

There are people here who have a LOT of experience and knowledge about the "edge." This protocol for saving lives sometimes pushes every edge that anyone has, and some they never knew existed. But it works. I've seen it work, more than once, in situations fully as extreme as your husband's. Hang in. Keep YOUR wits about you in whatever way you can. Please keep posting!

[DesperateWife]

Please help !!!!

Thank you to all you for your quick response. My husband just spoke with Dr L and he told him to start it right now!!! He just took the bac. Will see what happens.

He had 2 previous seizure episodes. The first one after stopping benzos cold turkey.
The second one, 1 month after he stopped drinking.This was 4 years ago. He has been on Naltrexone for 2 years with minimal response.
StuckinLA I am afraid to ration the vodka since he may have withdrawals. I don't know what to do. I am shaking as Iwrite this.

I wil continue in a while if anyone is also awake.

My deepest thanks to all you and the best to you too.

[StuckinLA]

Please help !!!!

There are people all over the world here, literally. Someone will be awake. Even if that weren't the case, please continue anyway. Oh and I cross-posted with almost everyone. I'm definitely not the expert of this bunch. And I'd follow RedThread to the end of the earth, for what it's worth.

[RedThread12]

Please help !!!!

All. Right. Good. Great job getting the bac going!!

The good news is . . . enough bac will quell his cravings and bring an end not only to this "binge," but to the whole "I can't drink enough to be okay and I'm drinking so much I'm dying" cycle. The bad news is . . . there is no specific "recipe" for you and your husband to follow. I'll mention again that I started with Dr. A's original protocol: 10/10/10. I've known of people who have taken much, much more, successfully halted a binge, and gone on and away from an AL-ruled life.

This may not be helpful, but I offer with the most helpful intentions: the image that comes to my mind's eye, for you and your husband - and especially for you, (because, well, you're not drunk) is of a tight-rope walker. Baclofen DOES manage some of the withdrawal symptoms, but you won't know which and how much until you can actually observe what is happening. If you haven't yet, look through this thread: https://www.mywayout.org/community/f2...ead-38718.html I'm not certain, but I think there is a paper or 2 that will give you some information about what is known "scientifically," about baclofen and withdrawal. You will need ALL of the information you can find to help you know how best to help your husband. How much baclofen, how much alcohol . . .

Great that you are in touch with Dr. L. I'm really glad we agree about starting bac right away A very slow titration will probably (but by no means, certainly) produce very slow results. But this is YOUR "rodeo," DW. Do it in the way that feels best for you.

I've gotta' go to sleep now, and I hope you get some rest tonight, too. And IF you can't sleep, read, read, read the MWO baclofen threads for the past 4 or so years. You will learn so much that will help give you a solid place to stand and to make the day-to-day; sometimes, hour-to-hour or minute-to-minute decisions that will be part of your husband finding his way out.

Thanks, Stuckin-la, for the commendation. My ends are not so earthly, but that's a different story for a different thread! I'm ao happy that you've re-discovered tiramasu.

[gratitude]

Please help !!!!

desperate,
are you still awake? i'll be up for an hour or so.
is your husband sleeping at all? eating?
when i was binging on vodka and drinking 24/7 for days i would eventually realize that i would need to taper off. so i would drink beer instead. perhaps that would work to come off the vodka but still have enough alcohol to not have seizures. hope the bac works for you guys.
just wanted to let you know you are not alone. lots of good people and support here.stay close. grat.:welcome:

[spacebebe01]

Please help !!!!

Hi DW and welcome to MWO. I can only really repeat what everyone else has said but just wanted to say hello and send you and your husband my best wishes. Does your husband mix the vodka with anything, maybe he could start adding a bit more mixer that way he would also be getting more fluid intake as well or have some beers instead, that is what I did to reduce off when I had withdrawals. Is he eating, he needs to even tho he may not feel like it, anything he can get down is ok, small and often, I always found that when I started eating again I would start feeling a lot better.

Post anytime Im in uk so there is often someone around here, and even if you dont get a quick reply you will get one so please let us know how your husband is getting on.

[wuthrich8]

Please help !!!!

:lI am also here in Europe like Space and am around during those hours that everyone in the states sleeps. I soooo feel for you and your situation right now. I dont know much about BAC, but did follow Stucks thread from the beginning, so I might be able to comment a little. Here is a link to that thread, and what he was going through. It might give you some insight on what to expect in the future, and give you some little comfort....
https://www.mywayout.org/community/f2...bac-63480.html
We are here for you and please post as often as you like! I would like to double everything Space said, and just reiterate... water, if you can get him to drink it, or anything without AL in between.
Even thinking about saying goodbye to my Frenemy had me drinking more in the beginning, way more. I am very sure my husband had his doubts, and was at times scared to come home. I have a little one at home, and did time my drinking in a way that i would pace myself, but then drink faster before he came home and be very drunk by the time he got here. Horrible. Bottom line, i was scared and very unsure i could do it. Perhaps thats what your husband is doing. He is drinking more now that he knows he is on the path to quit or moderate, like I did, trying to prepare to say goodbye. Truth be told, by the time i received my Topa in the mail, I wanted to take all of it! ( it took 3 weeks!) I believe in our Al or problem drinkers minds, we view these pills as an evil/ angel pill, that maybe just by taking the first pill, we may lose all interest in drinking at all, and that scares us halfway to death! Thats the trick of our "frienemy".
I hope this helps! Please feel free to ask any questions, no matter of what nature they might be. As a spouse of one with trouble, you need support for what you are going through as well.
HUGS!!!:l:l:l

[StuckinLA]

Please help !!!!

Hey DW, how'd the rest of the night and today go?

[DesperateWife]

Please help !!!!

Sorry it took me so long to respond but it has been a roller-coaster ride!! It's funny how I read all your experiences yet I couldn't understand nor imagine how effective this medication is.Better yet, how miraculous it is.

So he took the 5mg bac on Monday around 11pm while being totally intoxicated and continued drinking until 5am. He slept until 11am and woke up and drank 1/4 of what was left of the bottle of vodka and fell asleep again. When he woke up at 9pm he was not as intoxicated and more coherent and took the second 5mg tab. He stayed up till 3am without any anxiety whatsoever and without any desire to drink!!!!!! As of now he has been AL free for approximately 60 hours. Since he had slight tremors he is on Lorazepam to prevent withdrawal. He is under the care of a Doctor who is monitoring him and allowed him to continue the baclofen.

As of now he has no anxiety or desire to drink. I don't know what will happen in the next week,months until he reaches the higher doses of bac but I do know this medication stopped the binge and if it could do that I am confident it will make him AL free.

We will see what happens later on but for now I feel we have been blessed to have found baclofen and all of you.

I will try to get some sleep since I barely slept these past days but will keep you updated and of course will ask many questions when I return.

Thank you for all your suggestions and for your kindness.

[StuckinLA]

Please help !!!!

Oh, DW. :l:l:l Um, those are hugs...

Anyway forget about those, you go and sleep. Make sure he takes the pills on schedule (though it sounds like he's maybe already a bit of a believer?).

After you get some rest, come right back when you have questions or just to let us know what's going on.

And since I think I get like 6 or these per post or something:

:l:l:l

[Dave_]

Please help !!!!

DW,

Congratulations on your strength. While most of the posts focus on your husband and his struggles, I want to focus on you. You have obviously been through a hard and stressful few years as you engage in this fight. You sound like you are concentrating on a solution rather than recriminations. As an addict, we don't know the pain we put loved ones through when we are at our lowest.

You are a beacon of strength and your husband is very lucky to have you. Take a moment to reflect and give yourself a big pat on the back and then jump back into the fight.

You should be admired.