omg! it happened to ME! the magic switch!

[jbkhy523]

i will put together a long post tomorrow with as many details as i can! so excited, i had to let all my fellow BAC friends know!

AMA

[RedThread12]

omg! it happened to ME! the magic switch!

Woo-Hoo!!!Congratulations!!!

[Lo0p]

omg! it happened to ME! the magic switch!

:goodjob: and good for you!!

I still remember the moment (3 years ago this week) and you will too for the rest of your brand new life!


Words like "amazing" or "incredible" don't do it justice. If I could make up a word that simultaneously meant "surreal" yet "very, VERY real", "freedom from bondage" and "ascension from the fiery depths of hell", that would only describe the feeling that you are feeling now.

I wish I was sitting on your couch, right now, and over a cup of tea, lemonade or whatever, listening to every word you have to say.

Tell us more!!! :wd:

[jbkhy523]

omg! it happened to ME! the magic switch!

sorry for taking so long to reply to this thread! (work related)

i have always been a bigtime beer drinker (prob. a familiar story to many) - started out just drinking on the weekends and then 'graduated' to drinking beer nightly and even more on weekends!

nal honestly extinguished a lot of my taste for beer, but my emotions about everything became very flat (not just drinking) using the golden rule of 50mg 1 hour before drinking. it worked, but i didn't like the feeling of merely existing and stopped taking nal... and then started drinking again.

then i discovered BAC!

ok, disclaimer: don't do what i did! i am no doctor and this is not medical advice. my approach was pretty unorthodox but it did work. now i see why a lot of BAC friends give certain advice.

i was anxious to see if this really was the cure... too anxious. i titrated up fairly quickly and dealt with some pretty nasty side effects. i started out with divided doses throughout the day but then started 'spiking' a higher dose at night. i started losing faith and worried that this med. wouldn't work for me, my brain chemistry was too ruined from all the drinking, etc. i got sick of divided doses through the day and took the 'shotgun approach' of a high dose once a day. if i upped it 10mg and got a type of brain zap, i would back off 10mg and stay there for a week. it took me 4 months and i hit the switch at 200 mg/day.

i will reinforce what a lot of BAC friends say in this forum because i wholeheartedly agree:

ALWAYS make sure you have enough BAC so that you don't stop taking it abruptly

it is not just about the dosages, but also the amount of time you have been consistently taking BAC

keep a log

true, you can drink on your way titrating up but the side effects and hangovers are worse. if i could do it all over again, i would go easier on the drinking (if not try to stay away as much as possible)

the side effects come on as you titrate up, but eventually subside

don't lose faith! i almost did and i never would have hit the switch!

NOW, a question to all the BAC friends out there:

where do i go from here? should i continue at 200mg/day or slowly titrate down? should i experiment with lowering my dosage and try having a drink again? i haven't had a drop of alc. for 3 weeks and feel better and better every day.

[Xadrian]

omg! it happened to ME! the magic switch!

I myself stayed at the switch for about a month and after that titrated down 10 mg every week.
However, my switch was at 90 mg and my maintenance dose appears to be 50.

You don't have to try drinking to find the maintenance dose. (minor) cravings will return when you are too low. If this happens, you correct with 10 mg up and there you have your maintenance dose.

Don't go down too fast. It will take 4 days or so before your brain reacts on the lower dose, so give it the chance before you go down again.

Glad you made it to your switch. Congrats!

[jbkhy523]

omg! it happened to ME! the magic switch!

Xadrian;1425072 wrote: I myself stayed at the switch for about a month and after that titrated down 10 mg every week.
However, my switch was at 90 mg and my maintenance dose appears to be 50.

You don't have to try drinking to find the maintenance dose. (minor) cravings will return when you are too low. If this happens, you correct with 10 mg up and there you have your maintenance dose.

Don't go down too fast. It will take 4 days or so before your brain reacts on the lower dose, so give it the chance before you go down again.

Glad you made it to your switch. Congrats!

thank you Xadrian - that is exactly the advice i was looking for!

[TexasAg]

omg! it happened to ME! the magic switch!

:greatjob2:

Enjoy! It works! My suggestion is if you're SE's aren't too bad stay there for a while but if you do start titrating down do it slowly and deliberately. But don't be in a hurry! Keep an eye out for that "something" feeling that might signal a craving.

Cheers!

[jbkhy523]

omg! it happened to ME! the magic switch!

thanks TexasAg! i agree with you guys - just like a lot of meds. - (considering i hit the switch) take the least amount possible to get the desired effect! i hope i feel the cravings strong enough to know that i will up it 10mgs and stay there... like Xadrian mentioned, i am going to go down 10mgs. each week until i get the cravings again. oh, and YES! this med. WORKS - i have drank long enough and heavy enough that i thought nothing would work!

[joanna_d]

omg! it happened to ME! the magic switch!

congratulations jbkhy!!!

[chaos]

omg! it happened to ME! the magic switch!

My sincere congratultions JB!

I'm so happy that you've made it :goodjob:

[jbkhy523]

omg! it happened to ME! the magic switch!

thanks Chaos!

[joanna_d]

omg! it happened to ME! the magic switch!

congrats jb!!! it's amazing, ins't it?! enjoy!!