Xadrian's Baclofen Experience

[Xadrian]

Xadrian's Baclofen Experience

Cassander;1531838 wrote: Thank you bleep. Now let's convince the rest of the world between A and Z (America and Zim...)

You forgot Afghanistan, Akrotiri, Albania and Algeria :H

[spiritwolf333]

Xadrian's Baclofen Experience

Great Comments

These are all great comments on your thread here X.

What is needed, at a minimum, is a standard protocol that a gp can refer to and then be able to say "yea, no problem, let's get you started on baclofen". And I am talking more than just O. Ameisen's written protocol.

When you bring in an alcoholic who is more than just a heavy drinker, there is a whole lot more to the story than just taking some pills and dealing with some side effects of the medication. As we all know, there are varying stages of the disease and thus, varying levels of treatment. My hope is that GPs will be able to quickly refer their patient to someone who is knowledgeable in Baclofen and addiction.

Last note regarding alcoholism: If you are an alcoholic, you do have a mental disorder -like it or not. This does not mean that you are of less intelligence than the general population; in fact, research would indicate quite the opposite. The addicted seem to have a high level of intelligence and are known to be extremely creative. With all this said, I finally had to admit to myself that upon entering REHABs twice, what I actually was entering were facilities formerly known as Rehabilitation Centers for the Mentally Ill. Not many of you here may qualify for this, but I damn sure did. Alcohol induced brain damage had occurred and I knew that my brain was a few fries short of a happy meal.

Peace

[Xadrian]

Xadrian's Baclofen Experience

Yesterday my business printer broke, so I had to buy a new one.

Ideal scenario

Xadrian goes to the store and can choose from several models that meet his demands for around $100.
Xadrian returns to his office, connects the printer, installs the softwareand 15 minutes later, he can work again.
Xadrian is happy.

Actual scenario

Xadrian goes to the store and finds only 1 model that meets his demands for $160.
Xadrian returns to his office, connects the printer and hears a loud hissing noise and notices a burning smell.

Xadrian disconnects the printer, checks the built-to transformer and discovers that, in contrary to all other printers in the whole wide world, this printer can only work on 110 Volts and not the 220 Volts that is present in Xadrian's office.
Xadrian concludes that he just fried his brand new printer.

Xadrian returns to the store, buys another printer for $160 and a transformer for $40.
Xadrian returns to his office, connects the transformer and the printer, installs the software and gets a message that the drivers could not be installed.

Xadrian deletes all the installed printer drivers, tries to re-install the printer drivers, but does not succeed.

Xadrian checks the harware configuration and notices a hardware conflict, involving his TV/radio tuner card.
Xadrian disconnects his computer, removes the cover, removes the tuner card, closes the cover and re-connects the computer.

Xadrian tries to re-install the printer drivers and does not succeed.
Xadrian troubleshoots the computer, scans the registry, checks the internet for help and still does not succeed.

Xadrian has to backup and format the hard drive of his computer, re-install Windows and install SP3, 124 updates and the drivers of his new printer.
Finally, the printer is working.

It took Xadrian an afternoon, the whole evening till 11:30 PM and the following morning to do this.

Xadrian is not happy.

Probable continuate scenario if Xadrian hadn't been on baclofen

Xadrian's mood dropped to thunderstorm accompanied by severe hail.
Xadrian goes to the supermarket, buys 2 six-packs of beer and drinks them all, while re-installing all lost programs.

Xadrian asks himself in self-pity why Murphy's law always affects him.

It will take Xadrian a week and a day to get his computer back to the way it was.

Xadrian has a hard time accepting what happened.

Actual continuate scenario while Xadrian is on baclofen

Xadrian's mood dropped to thunderstorm accompanied by severe hail.
Xadrian has no need for beer and begins re-installing all lost programs.

Xadrian asks himself in self-pity why Murphy's law always affects him.
Xadrian realizes that similar thing once in a while happen to all people, although some seem to be affected less.

It will take Xadrian a week to get his computer back to the way it was.

Xadrian resigns to the situation and goes on with his life.

[spiritwolf333]

Xadrian's Baclofen Experience

Perfect example. Funny thing about those hacking beasts and alcohol. I had installed windows 8, hated it, worked tirelessly to reinstall ms7, spent days bitching at myself, did not have proper backup of my old files, bla...bla..: Remained alcohol free and now all is bac working -sort of. Would have taken a month with firewater and I would still be feeling sorry for myself. And best of all, I did not PANIC.
Thanks for the post X.

[Cassander]

Xadrian's Baclofen Experience

A few days ago I wrote here on Xadrian's thread:

Cassander;1531817 wrote:
Alcoholism and substance abuse are epidemic. I will get around to posting stats, but suffice it to say that more than 10% of any patient population will present these conditions, whether identified by the patient or not. More than a third (probably more) of any patient population will have a family member who is struggling with alcohol or substance abuse.

...

More accurately, not only are alcoholism and substance abuse epidemic, but the problems arising from this epidemic are gargantuan.

I promised to post some statistics. I found the following stats in David Sheff's excellent new book, "Clean: Overcoming Addiction and Ending America's greatest Tragedy".

Here they are.

80% of Americans under the age of 18 have used alcohol.

50% of Americans under the age of 18 have smoked marijuana or tried other drugs.

20 million Americans are addicted to drugs and alcohol.

Drugs and alcohol kill more people every year than any other natural cause.

Drug and alcohol-related deaths in the US have doubled since the 1980s.

Every day over 365 Americans die of drug and alcohol-related problems, more than any other preventable cause.

Approximately 135,000 deaths a year can be attributed to drugs and alcohol, plus an additional 100,000 deaths caused by drugs and alcohol but officially counted as suicides, homicides, automobile and other accidents, heart attacks, pulmonary disorders, strokes and cerebral hemorrhages, hepatitis and other infections, HIV/AIDS, liver disease, kidney disease, septicemia and other causes.

Approximately 1 in 12 Americans over the age of 12 is addicted to drugs or alcohol.

Substance abuse leads to more illnesses than any other preventable health condition.

Addiction is more prevalent than cancer, stroke, HIV/AIDS or Alzheimer's Disease.

Drugs and alcohol are linked to more hospital Emergency Room visits than any other single cause -- 4.6 million in 2009.

Drugs and alcohol are the number 1 cause of crime in America.

85% of the prison population in the US was incarcerated for offenses committed under the influence of drugs or alcohol, crimes to get money for drugs or crimes involving violation of drug and alcohol laws.

80% of kids in the juvenile justice system are there for reasons relating to substance abuse.

Drugs and alcohol are involved in up to as many as 3/4 of all incidences of violence, including child abuse, spousal abuse, homicide, rape and (probably nearly 100% of) date rape.

Atleast 60% of homeless people suffer from addiction.

I don't know how anybody could deny that this country has a problem of enormous magnitude.

Sheff says, "[This is] America's single greatest problem, one that affects almost every other problem you can name -- the quality and availability of health care, the national and international economic crisis, poverty, spousal and child abuse, suicide, US competitiveness in the world economy, property crime, violence, shattered families, decimated neighborhoods and many others."

How can we, as a country, not bend every effort to finding out whether baclofen lives up to its promise and, if so, making it widely available through our medical and health care system?

And so, how can the medical profession remain, essentially, silent and disengaged?

[RedThread12]

Xadrian's Baclofen Experience

I just have to drop by to tell you how awesome I think your new avatar is, Xad.

It's a gesture I reserve for a few worthy situations, such as buying a new iPhone, after running over my old one with a UHaul. When asked if I needed a car charger, I said, "No, I have one." Sales guy said, "that one doesn't work with the 5." I extended my middle finger to the de-molecularizing Mr. Jobs and said, "No dead man should have this much control over my life!" I know, I could be a responsible woman and climb the learning curve to another platform, but I really needed to have a phone I could use, immediately.

But your avatar is Just. Perfect. Thank you.

Also, thanks for your care and time and clarity regarding Anna - and lots of other stuff, too. It's feels to me like a bit of a precarious time around baclofen for alcohol, and/or the many other addictions and brain imbalances I believe it holds great potential for aiding. Just searching back for my own post regarding supplements re-revealed what an incredible amount of experience, information, and wisdom is in these threads. It's been a wild ride, so far, and we're barely out of the starting gate, eh?

P.S. Thank you, too, Cass, for yet another dose of reality and wisdom. I once tried to tell Gabor Mate, who actually "gets" addiction, but still lives in his own world about new possibilities, about baclofen. No. Interest. Nor any from 2 psychologists who manage the de-tox and treatment department of a local hospital, have both been to ME for consultations about living life, and are, loosely, friends. I say, "I still want to talk to you about a possibility for ending alcoholism for a lot of people." And they say, "So great to see you! You look wonderful." (Xadrian's avatar!)

[Xadrian]

Xadrian's Baclofen Experience

Last Sunday, when I was bricklaying, a sharp small stone was blown in my eye by the wind.

I couldn't get it out immediately and it took me 40 minutes before I finally succeeded.
The following morning, my eye was swollen very badly and I had to go to the doctor, who send me to an eye-specialist.

I had indeed removed the piece of stone, but there was bad damage to my corona and the skin on the inside of my eyelid.

I got an antibacterial ointment and an i-Pad (or did i mis-spell that?). The other eye is watering constantly and also photofobic, so I have to wear sunglasses also.

I can hardly see a thing. I cannot work, not watch TV, not read, not surf on the internet for more than 10 minutes in a row. Only thing I can do is listen to music. But my amplifier is having trouble also, switching off and on every once in a while.
Above that, listening to music is not fun anymore after a few hours.
Sitting on the couch or lying on my bed with my eyes closed isn't either.

I'm bored to death. If I was an alcoholic, at least I could drink some beers to kill the time, but now I even don't want to do that.

After my printer incident, one of my dogs died and my car broke down and now this.
If I get to meet that Mr. Murphy (you know, the one from the same named law), could anyone hold him for me, so I can give him a good punch in the face?

[skullbabyland]

Xadrian's Baclofen Experience

I'm guessing you must have a friend/accomplice around to help you type and read on MWO?

An idea to keep you from being bored-- have a friend load up a computer, ipad, phone, whatever, with podcasts (talk radio/news/opinion/comedy/whatever) or audiobooks (audible.com or amazon seems to be the most popular- tons of nonfiction, fiction, etc).

Lots to keep your mind occupied!

Sorry to hear about the accident for your eye. Sounds like a total painful experience

[Xadrian]

Xadrian's Baclofen Experience

This morning I got a drop in mood and an unexplainable huge craving for beer.

I didn't give in to that, but the craving remained even after I took my afternoon dose of baclofen.
I really have no explanation for it. I can't remember happening before (Although after my first switch and a 50 day AF, I used to drink 5-8 beers once a month).

Was it something I ate or drank that compromised the baclofen or interacted with it or with the GABA in my brain? Not today. I only ate a sandwich with liver pie today, which I do often. I only drank coffee, some juice, lemonade and water. Nothing strange there too.
The only thing I can come up with is that yesterday evening I ate a tropical fruit named sour sop. I never ate that before.

Well, it's 8:30 PM now and the cravings finally subsided. Very, very strange.
I hope this never happens again and if I ever eat a sour sop again, I will know for sure if it was the cause.

[Cassander]

Xadrian's Baclofen Experience

How's your eye, Xadrian?

[Xadrian]

Xadrian's Baclofen Experience

Cassander;1538344 wrote: How's your eye, Xadrian?

My eye is stil blurry, buth with both eyes open now, I have a reasonable sight.

[Cassander]

Xadrian's Baclofen Experience

Very good. Best wishes for a speedy and complete recovery. Cass

[skullbabyland]

Xadrian's Baclofen Experience

Xadrian;1538336 wrote: This morning I got a drop in mood and an unexplainable huge craving for beer.

I didn't give in to that, but the craving remained even after I took my afternoon dose of baclofen.
I really have no explanation for it. I can't remember happening before (Although after my first switch and a 50 day AF, I used to drink 5-8 beers once a month).

Was it something I ate or drank that compromised the baclofen or interacted with it or with the GABA in my brain? Not today. I only ate a sandwich with liver pie today, which I do often. I only drank coffee, some juice, lemonade and water. Nothing strange there too.
The only thing I can come up with is that yesterday evening I ate a tropical fruit named sour sop. I never ate that before.

Well, it's 8:30 PM now and the cravings finally subsided. Very, very strange.
I hope this never happens again and if I ever eat a sour sop again, I will know for sure if it was the cause.

I wonder if the craving might have been more subconsciously-emotion-related-- I know that if had lost my dog, I'd be in very serious mourning... I might not even be fully conscious of how much grief I'd feel.

Could it be something like that? Either way, I am really sorry to hear about your dog dying. I'd want to punch Mr. Murphy too. Fuck that guy.

But seriously congrats on riding through the cravings and not giving in.

[sunnygal]

Xadrian's Baclofen Experience

xadrian...you replied to something i wrote about 3 weeks ago....i want to thank you for that...this is the 1st time since then that i have put anything down in words. after a couple days.. i decided to go AF free and i did for 19 days.....until today....i dont have meds.....and for 10 of those days i only ate vegetables, fruits.nuts,seeds (i am a vegetarian)tohelp speed up recovery....i have enormous medical back problems and mostly i drank wine to try to medicate the pain....but i am a runner and i still run....i ran 5 miles 11 out of the last14 days and felt good....but then i did a stupid stretching exercise and my back went out again....i go to a chiropractor twice a month...and today he suggested i drink a couple glasses of wine...he always does that because he knows how much pain i am in...but today...even after an adjustment and massage...i was in so much pain...i got a bottle of traderjoes chuck and am on the last glass....right now im not sorry....the pain is pretty much gone. i do wish i had something to help me control how much i drink....but my gp wontgive it to me....i am hoping that i can continue AF regardless....thank you for your help....

[sunnygal]

Xadrian's Baclofen Experience

xadrian....i am so sorry for your troubles....somehow i relate to you....that is why i write....all i can say is that i think that you are a very strong person....and that you are also very kind spirited....and so tonight i say....thank you for being you