Hi. I'm new to this forum, but wished to make a comment regarding baclofen. I have been totally dry for ten years and two weeks ( but who's counting ) and have been following the baclofen phenomenon rather sporadically since I read Dr. Ameisen's book when it first came out. In my case, it was more a combination of finding the will power to quit drinking, and fear of death, which I knew was getting closer with each drink. No meds except Distraneurin to detox at home, again! Fortunately, I had a wonderful doctor who was very supportive Anyway, I am thrilled that so many people are now using baclofen to successfully combat alcoholism, and certainly wish them all the best! Now, my comment. I have read with mixed emotions how in some cases usage of baclofen can allow some people to control their consumption of alcohol. In other words, to practice moderation. Reading this causes my addiction to immediately say " Hooray! You can drink again"! This reaction scares me, since for ten years the only control I have been able to exercise against my alcoholism is complete abstinence. No, I am not completely helpless against alcohol, but I sure would like to have a drink or two now and again! I think that for me to believe that baclofen could permit me to do this is a deadly mistake. So, I would merely like to say, that while in some cases bac may have that effect, to risk my hard won sobriety in the hopes that I could handle it if I fell off the wagon is ( for me ) is much too large a risk to even contemplate. In my group here in Germany, the topic comes up regularly about " controlled drinking ".
To me, alcoholism is DEFINED by uncontrolled drinking. If you can control your drinking, where's the problem? There are probably many like me who have the same inner feelings when reading about bac enabling one to drink moderately, I doubt that the urge ever goes away completely, but I would like to emphasize that the only way to find out if bac could do that for you is to start drinking, as an " experiment ". Better think that one over very, very carefully, that's the addiction thinking, buddy, not your rational mind. The stakes in that gamble are way too high to justify the risk. Thank you for letting me post in your forum, I hope I haven't overstepped any rules, or repeated again what others may have written. Marqoz
Comment