Colin, 65

[Colin]

Colin, 65

joanna_d;1521294 wrote: catching up on your thread and loving it.
great info.

Thanks Joanna. The detailed recording gives me a better basis for later decisions regarding changes in my behaviour. I am especially concerned with the correlation between baclofen levels and alcohol consumption.

It also means I can't develop a rose tinted view of the past, wilfully or otherwise. Another way in which I differentiate myself from Joseph Stalin et al.

[bleep]

Colin, 65

I find it difficult to develop a rose tinted view of the past because I can barely remember most of it.

[Colin]

Colin, 65

Jun 4 -19

[1 litre of 5% by volume beer is about 40 grams of alcohol which is 4 units?]

Throughout this period gabapentin was 3 grams per day spread as 1.5 on waking and 5 * 0,3 during the day.

Jun 4, 5: The previous few weeks the baclofen dose has been constant at 137 mg. This continued for 2 days when 48 and 70 grams of alcohol were consumed. The whisky was very tasty indeed and provoked a rise in baclofen to 150 mg. Not really a knee-jerk because I was looking for a good excuse to see the effect a small increase might have.


Jun 6: The bac dose is (50, 25, 25, 50), moving somewhat in the direction of (2x, x, 2x). A little tired in the afternoon and I drank 20 grams of alcohol.

Jun 7: Not tired at all and 50 mg alcohol. The increased gabapentin helped with noticeably better cycling. The alcohol was not so tasty but I didn't exactly force it down.

Jun 8: Tired at 9 pm. 0 grams of alcohol.

Jun 9: Not tired, 30 g.
Jun 10: Not tired, 16g.
Jun 11: Not tired, 30g.
Jun 12: 1 hour nap at 2 pm. 10g.
Jun 13: Not tired. 20g.

The small bac increase has worked quickly on the alcohol level and I was surprised that somnolence wasn't a problem.

Jun 14: 2 hour nap at 3 pm and 36 g.
I played cards in the evening and wanted to stay alert so the dosage was (50, 25, 0, 75) and I drank 3 bottles of beer later on. Delaying the dinner time pill worked well with my attention.

Jun 15: 1 hour nap and 30 g.
A slight feeling of disorientation in the morning - consequence of the bac change?

Jun 16: 1 hour nap at 4 pm and 0 g.

Jun 17: 1/2 hour nap at 4:30 and 0 g.
A very tiring day in the garden and very somnolent from 4 pm onwards. Not surprisingly there was no inclination to go off to a cafe.

Jun 18: 1/2 hour nap at 4:30 and 60 g.
I took the bac as (50, 25, 0, 75) because I wanted to test my penile sensitivity and reactive capabilities. As recorded earlier they could have been better. The slight spike in the alcohol consumption was undoubtedly due to my association of fine whisky with professional ladies.

Jun 19: 1 hour nap at 3 pm, 20g.
I missed an appointment due to the nap. The appointment was to discuss modafinil as a help with somnolence. Apposite.

The baclofen increase seems to have had the desired effect. Has the mid afternoon nap returned permanently?

[Colin]

Colin, 65

Recent events reminded me of this apochryphal story.

BEGIN------------------------------------------
Oscar Wilde was at a dinner party seated next to a young woman. He said, “I’ve recently come into a small bequest of 40,000 pounds which I do not need. If I were to give you the bequest, would you have sex with me?”

She responded, “Yes, Mr. Wilde, I would.”

“Well, will you do it for 2 pounds?”

“Mr. Wilde, what do you take me for?”

“We have already established that. Now we are simply haggling over the price.”
END -----------------------------------------------

Ne/Neva Eva;1520636 wrote: Wow, Colin. It's not the inherent misogyny that shocks, that was readily apparent in many of your previous posts. It's the fact that you are so unashamedly blatant about it. Good thing you don't mind paying for it.
Ne/Neva Eva;1503354 wrote:
Then we made dinner together. Then we made love again. Then we slept.

And the truth is that none of that really matters. What makes me feel like I've won the husband-lottery, found the perfect man (for me), achieved relationship nirvana, has nothing to do with any of that practical stuff.

The door that he installed yesterday? I bought one, and then realized I wanted a different style. So we took it back and exchanged it for a different one. On the way home with the 2nd door, I suddenly realized I didn't want a black door, I wanted a white one. So we took back the second door and got a third. Granted, he was very annoyed. But he gets it, and me, so he just rolled his eyes. (Repeatedly. It was aggravating.) I do that kind of thing all the time.

At least I don't have to go back to the bank two or three times to get different coloured notes.

EDIT: I almost missed the demeaning tone: I do that kind of thing all the time Look girls! I've got mine jumping through hoops!

[Colin]

Colin, 65

"Physical" sub-thread

Colin;1394948 wrote: At home and school I ...

The link above points to the start of a sub-thread detailing the physical aspects of my time with baclofen. I have set up this paper-trail because it is useful to me and may be of use to other MWOers.

[Click on the right arrow/GT sign above and you go to the first post in the sub-thread.]
At the bottom of each post is a link to the next post.

These links will remain valid until someone deletes one of the intervening posts, in which case a link will point just after the relevant post. Let's hope none of my readers does this.

Some time ago I saw a post where the poster threatened their spouse with divorce because the little darling got drunk. At the time I thought this was the pot calling the kettle black but later thought that a better description was hypocritical. A day later the post had been deleted.
Such a quick deletion doesn't mess up any links and might be considered an acceptable deletion. The poster/deleter hopes that the event never happened but should not appeal to Robert Burns for help.

O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!

The language is Lallands (lowland Scots); the above translates as:-

O would some power give us the gift
Of seeing ourselves as others see us

BBC - Robert Burns - To a Louse for the complete poem "To a louse".

Burns might also have benefitted from baclofen but would baclofen have doused his poetic muse?

[Colin]

Colin, 65

June 20 - July 8

The baclofen dosage was 150 mg per day, usually taken as 50, 25, 25, 50 but when wanting to be alert in the evening, the evening 25 mg was delayed until bedtime. When this dosing occurs I am more tired than usual the next day. Probably due to the slightly increased level of baclofen in the blood.

Daily alcohol consumption in grams (1 litre of 5% beer contains 40 grams of alcohol) was:-
0, 80, 0, 10, 20, 40, 40, 20, 40, 0, 30, 0, 60, 0, 32, 0, 20, 60, 0.

As always I am not consciously exerting any pressure to drink/not drink.

The 60 grams yesterday was noteworthy. For the first time in this reasonably sober life I detected the beginnings of a "hit" as the last couple of drinks went down but there was no compulsion at all to chase the dragon and carry on with another bunch. I got on my bike and toddled home feeling just fine.
On waking the next morning I could remember exactly how "good" the "hit" felt but a quarter of an hour later I couldn't remember how good I felt; only that it had been good.
The rest of the day was no different from many others where no alcohol was consumed. I didn't feel like a drink so I didn't have one.

[Xadrian]

Colin, 65

Colin;1529896 wrote: The baclofen dosage was 150 mg per day, usually taken as 50, 25, 25, 50 but when wanting to be alert in the evening, the evening 25 mg was delayed until bedtime. When this dosing occurs I am more tired than usual the next day. Probably due to the slightly increased level of baclofen in the blood.

Could be you have to get used to it.

Although at half the dose you are, I take my doses 20-20-40 (8AM-2PM-11PM).

When I first started doing so (I was at 90 mg 30-20-40), it took me a few days to get adjusted. Indeed after waking up, I felt like a diesel that has trouble with the cold start, but now I'm used to it.

My 2PM sleepy dip has completely disappeared, so I don't have any SE's at all anymore.

[Colin]

Colin, 65

Xadrian;1529924 wrote: Could be you have to get used to it.

That is certainly true for all semi-permanent changes. I wanted a single evening at a lower dose and then return to the higher "normal" dose.

What I should probably have done was to skip the evening 25 mg and add only 12.5 to the nightly 50. With the half-life at 6 hours that would get the plasma level relatively constant from bedtime onwards. Better luck next time.

I'm also inclined to believe that a lower or delayed midday dose will help keep the afternoon dip at bay. My next adjustment will probably be to (50, 12.5, 25, 50) from the current (50, 25, 25, 50) which is also a 12.5 reduction in total mgpd.

I will also consider your schema with pills only three times per day.

For what it's worth I'm giving these small adjustments at least 2 weeks before drawing any conclusions.

[bleep]

Colin, 65

I think the plasma (CNS) concentration is more a function of total daily dose rather than individual timings of certain doses through the day. This would partially explain the 4 day delay between a new level and indifference. SE's are certainly affected in the short term by the variations in dose though, although less so as time goes by.

[Colin]

Colin, 65

For the four months up to the fifth of August I've been drinking moderately with no single week's total being more than the WHO "low risk" amount of 280 grams of alcohol (7 litres of 5% beer).
Some days were AF, the weekly totals varied between 110 and 238 grams and the maximum in any one day was 80 grams.
At no time did I try restraining myself. If I felt like carrying on drinking I did just that.
During this period I have dropped from 150 mg baclofen to 125 mg.

Last Tuesday I visited my sister and her complete family of chidren, grandchildren and hangers-on who were on holiday in Northern France. Very enjoyable.
The men are all healthy drinkers and some of the ladies too. I expected to drink a lot and that happened. Every day I was well over the previous 80 grams maximum and it occurred steadily from lunchtime onwards. Never really drunk when going to bed but not far off. At no time did I experience a "hit" or "buzz".
On Saturday I got on the train home after starting at 11 am with a litre of beer at a bar near the station. I drank a couple of beers at each of the first three stopovers but at the last change I couldn't find a bar. In my drinking past that would have been a catastrophe but now my reaction was "Oh well, I suppose it's time to stop."
Since then I have not had the slightest inclination to drink alcohol. I am staggered. I'll be going out this evening for a few just to make sure that there is nothing wrong.

[kronkcarr]

Colin, 65

Colin,

What a great report! And I love your sense of humor.

[Colin]

Colin, 65

During the last eight weeks I have slowly dropped the baclofen from 125 mg to 87.5 with no obvious change in my drinking habits but with a welcome change in my alertness - the somnolence has almost disappeared. The baclofen is split as 25 on waking, 12.5 at lunch, 12.5 at dinner and 37.5 just before bed.

There are frequent AF days and occasional days with 6 - 8 drinks. At no stage have I noticed any alcohol induced mood changes, still less anything like a "hit". The weekly average is under the WHO limit for "low risk" alcohol consumption.

I find the events of the last eighteen months absolutely fucking amazing. I have changed from being a hopeless case lying drunk on the floor with neither the strength nor the inclination to get back on my feet into a "responsible" drinker. All hail Olivier Ameisen. Let's hope my bubble doesn't burst - I'm living in fairyland.

Yesterday my psych agreed to let me try amitriptylene for the neuropathic pain. Before starting I need to stop my small dose of mirtazapine because of the danger of serotonin syndrome. To help me kick the mirtazapine he prescribed 5 days with 10 mg temazepam to help me sleep better until I can start the amitriptylene.

If all goes well my daily cocktail will become
75 or 87.5 mg baclofen,
3.6 grams gabapentin,
40 mg citalopram,
and x mg amitriptyline.

Curiously, after 20 years taking temazepam, 2 years ago I was given mirtazapine to help kick the temazepam.

[Colin]

Colin, 65

Currently I take 20 mg citalopram, 3.6 grams gabapentin, 75 mg baclofen and 50 mg amitriptyline.

Both citalopram and amitriptyline are anti-depressants. For the last 4 years I have been on 40 mg per day citalopram which has been almost completely successful against depression. I started amitriptyline because it might help my nerve pain and it does help a little. Because amitriptyline is also an AD and because I have no current trouble with depression I suggested dropping the dose of citalopram. The psychiatrist agreed and for the last week on the reduced dose I noticed little change; if anything I feel much better today than I have for a long time and I haven't even had a drink.

At one point I had reduced baclofen to 67.5 mg and noticed better alertness in the afternoon. I also noticed that the beer was tasting very nice indeed which was the reason for returning to 75 mg. There has been some discussion on other threads about gabapentin helping control alcohol consumption and a scientific justification (JAMA Network | JAMA Internal Medicine | Gabapentin Treatment for Alcohol Dependence: ?*A Randomized Clinical Trial) for same. I am likely to repeat the drop in baclofen to see if I can tolerate very tasty beer.
During the trial at 67.5 I noticed some euphoria returning to accompany orgasms which made me sad when I went back up to 75 mg. Bleep once suggested diving down on the baclofen for a mini-bender and a few shags before driving the baclofen back up again. Maybe a slower approach will work? I don't need the mini-bender but .....

EDIT: The 2 instances of baclofen in bold face were originally and erroneously citalopram

[Colin]

Re: Colin, 65

During the last eight weeks I have slowly dropped the baclofen from 125 mg to 87.5 with no obvious change in my drinking habits but with a welcome change in my alertness - the somnolence has almost disappeared. The baclofen is split as 25 on waking, 12.5 at lunch, 12.5 at dinner and 37.5 just before bed.

There are frequent AF days and occasional days with 6 - 8 drinks. At no stage have I noticed any alcohol induced mood changes, still less anything like a "hit". The weekly average is under the WHO limit for "low risk" alcohol consumption.

I find the events of the last eighteen months absolutely fucking amazing. I have changed from being a hopeless case lying drunk on the floor with neither the strength nor the inclination to get back on my feet into a "responsible" drinker. All hail Olivier Ameisen. Let's hope my bubble doesn't burst - I'm living in fairyland.

Yesterday my psych agreed to let me try amitriptylene for the neuropathic pain. Before starting I need to stop my small dose of mirtazapine because of the danger of serotonin syndrome. To help me kick the mirtazapine he prescribed 5 days with 10 mg temazepam to help me sleep better until I can start the amitriptylene.

If all goes well my daily cocktail will become
75 or 87.5 mg baclofen,
3.6 grams gabapentin,
40 mg citalopram,
and x mg amitriptyline.

Curiously, after 20 years taking temazepam, 2 years ago I was given mirtazapine to help kick the temazepam.

Four years on and I'm still amazed. But for Ameisen I would undoubtedly be dead.

My current daily cocktail is
75 or 87.5 mg baclofen and it hasn't been much higher during the last four years.
3.6 grams gabapentin,
100 mg amitriptiline,
4.5 grams lion's mane mushroom extract.
Average 3/4 liter 5% alcohol beer or equivalent.

My theory about the mushrooms is that they might persuade my body to produce more nerve growth factor (NGF) which in turn might help to repair the nerves which have been seriously damaged during 55 years of uncontrolled drinking. I believe they help.
My liver likes them!

Provoked by serenity's recent post I'm trying phenylpiracetam (PP) again. A year ago I ordered some but never really tried it due to concerns about my liver. Apparently it is excreted in the urine so I suppose it's OK. I will also be trying noopept but first a few months of PP. I'll be taking PP every 4th visit to the gym where I get bad nerve pains in my legs.

[_serenity_]

Re: Colin, 65

Good for you, Colin. Glad to hear the baclofen is still working for you.

I've seen photos of lion's mane mushrooms (gorgeous, strange things) but had no idea about the extracts.

Keep us posted on your phenylpiracetam experiments.