Recently I have seen one of my severely alcoholic friends change his drinking pattern from hopeless uncontrolled bingeing to almost a controlled style of drinking, and I thought it could be helpful to post his story here.
This guy has been drinking in a dependent and excessive way, on a daily basis, for the last 12 years. He began drinking as an escape from anxiety and depression, after trying numerous antidepressants, therapy, and counselling. He also tried Campral and underwent 3 medicated inpatient detoxes, and is now taking Lexapro and Seroquel for his psychological issues. After all these steps however, his drinking remained almost hopeless, with a daily intake of at least 14 standard drinks and binges consisting of 20-30 standard drinks followed by a whole day recovering from this massive intake. Despite his medications, ongoing counselling, and problems caused by drinking, the drinking continued unabated and he had reached a stage of no longer being in touch with his family.
A couple of months ago my friend read about baclofen, and we had also spoken about it on various occasions. He took some printed information about it to his doctor, who is a general practicioner, and after reading the information the doctor prescribed him 5 mg 3 times a day, to be increased very slowly to 10 mg 3 times a day. My friend kept drinking as usual but started the baclofen, and found that even the 15 mg per day had a mild effect on his thoughts and feelings about alcohol, although not enough to cause much reduction. However, to his surprise and also mine, after about 1.5-2 months, he is now finding he has a much reduced desire to binge and doesn't always want to drink heavily after he starts drinking. This is a person who both of us thought was doomed to hopeless alcoholism and a slow death from drinking. I am literally amazed at the change that such a low dose of baclofen has brought about.
I know that this result will not happen for everyone, and from what I have read here most people will need a much higher dose, but I thought this story worth printing here. There is no other explanation for this guy's drastic change in drinking habit or attitude, and I would rule out placebo effect because he wasn't hopeful about the drug helping him. He mentions he doesn't get the runaway alcohol desire once he starts drinking now, which I imagine is probably a reduced dopamine hit from drinking (although most things I have read about baclofen don't specifically talk about it having this exact effect).
My friend has further stated that, based on his experience of 30 mg per day, he thinks he would be completely indifferent to alcohol if he was taking 60-80 mg per day. However he is happy with his results so far. He did say that it took some time at his current dose for the effect to really kick in, so the length of time of being on baclofen daily may be a contributing factor here.
This guy has been drinking in a dependent and excessive way, on a daily basis, for the last 12 years. He began drinking as an escape from anxiety and depression, after trying numerous antidepressants, therapy, and counselling. He also tried Campral and underwent 3 medicated inpatient detoxes, and is now taking Lexapro and Seroquel for his psychological issues. After all these steps however, his drinking remained almost hopeless, with a daily intake of at least 14 standard drinks and binges consisting of 20-30 standard drinks followed by a whole day recovering from this massive intake. Despite his medications, ongoing counselling, and problems caused by drinking, the drinking continued unabated and he had reached a stage of no longer being in touch with his family.
A couple of months ago my friend read about baclofen, and we had also spoken about it on various occasions. He took some printed information about it to his doctor, who is a general practicioner, and after reading the information the doctor prescribed him 5 mg 3 times a day, to be increased very slowly to 10 mg 3 times a day. My friend kept drinking as usual but started the baclofen, and found that even the 15 mg per day had a mild effect on his thoughts and feelings about alcohol, although not enough to cause much reduction. However, to his surprise and also mine, after about 1.5-2 months, he is now finding he has a much reduced desire to binge and doesn't always want to drink heavily after he starts drinking. This is a person who both of us thought was doomed to hopeless alcoholism and a slow death from drinking. I am literally amazed at the change that such a low dose of baclofen has brought about.
I know that this result will not happen for everyone, and from what I have read here most people will need a much higher dose, but I thought this story worth printing here. There is no other explanation for this guy's drastic change in drinking habit or attitude, and I would rule out placebo effect because he wasn't hopeful about the drug helping him. He mentions he doesn't get the runaway alcohol desire once he starts drinking now, which I imagine is probably a reduced dopamine hit from drinking (although most things I have read about baclofen don't specifically talk about it having this exact effect).
My friend has further stated that, based on his experience of 30 mg per day, he thinks he would be completely indifferent to alcohol if he was taking 60-80 mg per day. However he is happy with his results so far. He did say that it took some time at his current dose for the effect to really kick in, so the length of time of being on baclofen daily may be a contributing factor here.
Comment