just started with baclofen, a bit desperate

[Hippyman]

just started with baclofen, a bit desperate

joanna_d;1441076 wrote: yesterday i had giggles throughout the day, having thoughts like "my bum runneth over"

Bac seems to be a mood elevator...anyone else want a ride up?

[Sixcat11]

just started with baclofen, a bit desperate

New here...but trying baclofen.

Quick question....can the whole dose be taken at bedtime? I can't tolerate taking it during the day...I'm a nurse and have to start IVs ,do meds and all sorts of complicated stuff. It just makes me too sleepy....I can't take the chance!

[TexasAg]

just started with baclofen, a bit desperate

joanna_d;1441076 wrote: yesterday i had giggles throughout the day, having thoughts like "my bum runneth over"

Hi Jo!

I've been away for a bit, but gosh it's good seeing you have the giggles! (even if it's from a runny bum!)

Cheers!

[Xadrian]

just started with baclofen, a bit desperate

Sixcat11;1441288 wrote: Quick question....can the whole dose be taken at bedtime? I can't tolerate taking it during the day...I'm a nurse and have to start IVs ,do meds and all sorts of complicated stuff. It just makes me too sleepy....I can't take the chance!

No

[Colin]

just started with baclofen, a bit desperate

Sixcat11;1441288 wrote: Quick question....can the whole dose be taken at bedtime? I can't tolerate taking it during the day...I'm a nurse and have to start IVs ,do meds and all sorts of complicated stuff. It just makes me too sleepy....I can't take the chance!

Xadrian's advice is not to try it. As a fully paid up member of the MWO baclofen experts committee and after long and thoughtful consideration I advise the following:-

If you absolutely, categorically, under no circumstances are able take the normal schedule during work hours then try taking a little less during work hours. It sounds as if you are conscientious enough not to get tanked up whilst exercising your professional duties so that you will not be habitually tempted to knock back a few before or during work. Few if any here have tried this but this could be part of your way out. If you have time off after work then take twice as much after work as during work.
Personally, on the full schedule of evenly divided doses, I have my dozy period in the afternoon but just experiment a bit to find out what works for you.

Good luck.

[joanna_d]

just started with baclofen, a bit desperate

hi all,

i've discovered the reason why i was still feeling sick the last few weeks! yep, it wasn't the baclofen, it's weed.

after switching i kept on smoking one or one and a half blunt at about 10pm like i was kind of used to.
the migraines and stuff in the beginning weren't weed related, as they went away (they were detox symptoms), but i still felt tired, totally out of energy, slightly headachy, tinnitus, basically off. and not really able to enjoy myself or my sobriety (although feeling much better already after the AL and the migraines and stuff were gone).
after reading about people using baclofen for weed addiction (totally different kind of addiction. not physical, like AL), i came to think "could it be i'm having weed hangovers now?"
to be honest that kind of clicked in my brain, although it took me some time to go and test it, cause i felt i deserved a left over 'pleasure' (that i knew i'd be happier without. there are lots of periods in time when i didn't smoke. weed takes away a lot of energy and passion. and thc stays in your blood for 48 hrs, which you can feel).
i guess you all know about 'deserving' stuff that in reality just bite you in the ass :/
one joint the day before > felling sick the day after, not being able to get anything done etc > deserving a blunt at night, cause the day was already so hard to get through, i deserve to relax a bit now
and i didn't encounter actual warnings against smoking weed. maybe i'm atypical in this, don't know.

so last week i tried it. from wednesday on i didn't smoke. on thursday i felt a bit better. more energy. on friday i was able to do an intensive work day of about 14 hours (yes, you're reading this right. me, Jo, being able to make it through a long work day again for the first time in months). on saturday i felt extatic, my head was so clear, 14 hours of work again, i felt amazing!! this was what i'd been hoping for when starting with baclofen!

so ehm yesterday i'd been working hard for two days, and at 10 pm i thought well just today, i deserve to have a little relaxation blah blah blah, and my putting-it-to-the-test-mentality did the rest (although i thought "wouldn't i be better off by really relaxing, not artificially?". and expecting to feel sick again today).

the weed high is affected by baclofen, just like the effect of AL is. it's not so enjoyable anymore. yesterday instead of feeling relaxed, i actually felt tense after smoking, but locked into my body at the same time. smoking more made me fall asleep at 1 am after watching a movie. woke op at 3 am: headache, tense. managed to fall asleep again after i don't know how long. and today: hangover time.
not as bad as AL hangovers on baclofen, but still.

after getting out of bed (in the "okay okay, i'll get up because i have no other option" mode) i cut up the remaining joint with a scissor (in the "DIE YOU MOTHERFUCKER!!! RHAAAA!!!!" mode) (i wish i'd had a gun! although my aim would probably be quite to miserable to shoot within wide range of that blunt).

so, the hangover sucks and it's a bummer after feeling so amazing yesterday.
but now i know for sure: no more weed for this girl.

[joanna_d]

just started with baclofen, a bit desperate

i should have said: hammer time!

[TexasAg]

just started with baclofen, a bit desperate

Howdy Jo!

I'm glad you found what was ailing you! :goodjob:

No more of the :k ! :H

How's life treating you today? What dosage are you on? Any other SE's?

Cheers!

[joanna_d]

just started with baclofen, a bit desperate

hi Tex, thanks!! and :H

i think weed in Holland could be quite different than weed in the states, as it's always been semi-legal over here and they've managed to modify the plant thoroughly so that now the thc levels in it are sky high.
and perhaps i'm just reacting atypical again.

but yes, i'm feeling great again!!!!!!!!! after the months on bac and booze (and weed) and then a few weeks still smoking pot, the SE's now seem like only a whisper.
for instance: when i smoked a joint on saturday, i immediately started to have tinnitus again. after one day: gone.
the numbing/leveling out of highs and lows effect of baclofen i was concerned with is no problem anymore now the weed has gone. i feel passion again, though of course a way more pure passion than on booze.
i feel pure. (is that a proper word in english?)
yes i've changed, and i'm still changing through all the things i'm encountering now (which are quite a lot) in this whole new way: NO DRAMA.

it's really amazing.... difficult to describe. in a way i'm open to experiences like a child again: thick layers of fear and shame and self containment mechanisms are falling off of me, and i can now perceive the world much more freely and openly.

okay, i'll stop now. i'm sounding like a newly converted sect member or something

:l:l

[joanna_d]

just started with baclofen, a bit desperate

by the way: i'm still on 212.5mg. switch dose was 225mg, got down half a pill 1 1/2 week ago and stayed there. i'd like to go down more of course, but i'm in no real hurry now.

[Colin]

just started with baclofen, a bit desperate

joanna_d;1444817 wrote: by the way: i'm still on 212.5mg. switch dose was 225mg, got down half a pill 1 1/2 week ago and stayed there. i'd like to go down more of course, but i'm in no real hurry now.

There are plenty of gurus and doctors advising one to stay at the switch dose for several months so if you are in no real hurry ....

[TexasAg]

just started with baclofen, a bit desperate

Hi Jo,

I agree with Colin, if the SE's are manageable you might try to stick at your switch for a while. In hindsight I shouldn't have gone down in my dose so quickly.

Cheers!

[joanna_d]

just started with baclofen, a bit desperate

thanks guys. i might just do that.

why shouldn't you have gone down so quickly Tex? what happened?

[TexasAg]

just started with baclofen, a bit desperate

I really wanted to hit the switch to see if it worked so I went up to 160mg but I couldn't handle the SE's so I started titrating down. I realized I was indifferent so I started titrating down about 20mg every 5 days. I went down to 80mg and felt that little "something" again. It wasn't a craving but definitely an itch. I had to travel and had another binge, but a weird one, like an outer body experience binge, not like my old binges. This was back in November. I decided to titrate up slowly and deliberately and went back up to 110 but out of forgetfulness or just convenience I settled on 100mg and have stayed there since. No SE's or craving problems since then.

Not sure why I was in a hurry to go down. Just alcoholic in me pushing the limits I guess.

In short, if you decide you want to go down, do it slowly and deliberately. Watch for that "something". But if you screw up like I did, do what everyone told me to do, pick yourself up, dust yourself off and do what you know works!


Cheers!

[joanna_d]

just started with baclofen, a bit desperate

hi Tex and everyone,

ah yes that's kind of quick isn't it....? and quite understandable i would say.
not drinking and no desire to drink definitely takes some getting used to.
what counts most to me is the end of your story. that's what's most important i guess: being able to understand that itches like these are not faults, but totally understandable and being able to pick yourself up and going for it again.

sorry for not responding for so long! i've been (and still am) in a bit of an uncertain situation.
i've been having pains in the under part of my belly for over 6 weeks. first thought it might be baclofen-booze related, or after switching some sort of detox symptom (i wrote about it over here, thinking they were atypical symptoms of a bladder infection), but it didn't go away, only got worse.
last week i finally went and had it checked. as it wasn't bladder infection or something related, some tests were done, and last monday an echography. still have to get my blood drawn for tests.
the doctor said she saw something in me that wasn't supposed to be there, but she said "i can't tell whether it's benign or not". so it could be cervical cancer.

first results got in yesterday and today, all well (tests for different diseases, like std's), but today i heard i have to wait at least until friday to get the results of the test for cervical cancer.

and i'm so fucking tired... i hate that!! this could be baclofen related of course, but i doubt it is (completely), cause this fatigue is hard to get around.
could also be a result of subconscious tension. though i feel i'm hanging in there quite fine, i'm not near panicking or anything. aside from moments of calling for results and all, i don't feel that tense. my non alkie me is quite good at handling things!

waiting sucks.