Bac at nite?

[Sixcat11]

Has anyone tried doing the majority of the bac dose at bedtime? I really have a problem with daytime sleepiness ...but it helps me sleep like a baby! I'm a nurse so daytime drowsiness is not an option....I have to start IVs, give meds, call physicians, handle emergencies. I REALLY need this to work for me.

[Bill.Z]

Bac at nite?

shouldnt last thru the night as the half time 2-4 hours more or less depending on which research or report you read.
Thats why there are intrahecal pumps, to avoid the ups and downs of the half life issue.

By morning you should not be drowsy from baclofen
Unless you are using a sleep aid such doxylamine succinae or diphenhydramine or any of the ambien or valium benzos which potentiate with baclofen.

If you are drowsy, its not the baclofen, but to test it you can remove it in a stepwise fashion to eliminate as the cause.

Recommendatins would be to eliminate caffeine first as that can cause paradoxical sleepiness with baclofen. i.e. drink caffeine to get alert and you get very tired

Other than getting a sleep study done, there's very else to recommend, well mainly because, as a nurse, you must recognize.
Not you or I or anyone has made the diagnosis as to your symptoms so no one can give you advice. Well im sure some moron will recommend some gingko berries or whatever lol

[Sixcat11]

Bac at nite?

What I meant was...when I take baclofen during the DAY I get uncontrollable sleepiness....it's fine when I take it at nite. But what you're saying is taking a bigger dose at night and less during the day wouldn't necessarily help me???

[COSGringo]

Bac at nite?

Tough call. Dr L is really adamant about that being your biggest dose but 3 hours before sleep.

I think it will screw up your sleep either way until you get used to the SE's.

Since you probably want the help during the day I am not sure I would throw more at the evening dose. However, I am no doctor and I am not sure how the whole switch thing works.

I think you will have to deal with the bad SE's until they get better. I might suggest tea, coffee, energy drinks, and perhaps ephedrine until you get by it.

Might not be a med way of doing things but it was how I dealt with it.

[Lo0p]

Bac at nite?

I used to take 300 mgs at 3 pm. Pretty much immediately after my switch. For about a year. But I had a witching hour at 8-9 PM. I was that kind of drinker. That method worked fine for me. Total daily dose. There is a study floating around that I could cite if I had the time with the conclusion that higher doses=longer half life. To me it was obvious. I never wanted to drink, even at 1 am. With just that one daily dose.

But you've gotta have some balls (no offense) to try that. Or work up to it. If you had/have a witching hour (and are that type of drinker) a bulk of your daily dose hours before hand may be a solution.

[COSGringo]

Bac at nite?

So if someone is as 220-230 he would take that all at say 3 pm?

My witching hour is about 3 pm on sadly. Near the end of work. I don't think I could do that on business trips.

So is it easy to revert back to 4x day?

Thx!

[Colin]

Bac at nite?

Sixcat11;1441852 wrote: Has anyone tried doing the majority of the bac dose at bedtime? I really have a problem with daytime sleepiness ...but it helps me sleep like a baby! I'm a nurse so daytime drowsiness is not an option....I have to start IVs, give meds, call physicians, handle emergencies. I REALLY need this to work for me.

I am retired but there are still occasions when I want to be as sharp as possible. I will shortly be experimenting with a biased schema to get me past an evening of playing cards without losing too much money.

I am currently taking 162.5 mg per day split as 50 at 9.00, 37.5 at 13.00, 37.5 at 18.00 and 37.5 at 24.00. At times when I need to avoid behaving like a dozy old clown I will change the scheme to 50, 25, 25 and 62.5. I expect no sleepy feelings during the afternoon and evening but am curious what the night will bring me.

I recently dropped from 150 (6 * 25) to 125 (37.5, 25, 25, 37.5) per day and this small change was accompanied with a complete absence of somnolence. This is my justification for the expectations noted above.

In your case you might consider dropping the early doses to a level just below the "sleep boundary" with a compensating increase of the later doses.

When experimenting with the dosage keep making small adjustments and wait a few (two?) days before judging the efficacy of a schema.

Consider this note as advice to the short sighted from a one-eyed man.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Bac at nite?

Lo0p;1442814 wrote: I used to take 300 mgs at 3 pm. Pretty much immediately after my switch. ...That method worked fine for me. Total daily dose.

But you've gotta have some balls (no offense) to try that. Or work up to it. If you had/have a witching hour (and are that type of drinker) a bulk of your daily dose hours before hand may be a solution.

I've been taking baclofen (this round) for two years and four months. If I take more than ~100mg at a time I throw up, even now.
I take a total of 160mg/day now and weight it toward the afternoon/evenings. I have tried many times to take it all between 6 and 10pm. Sometimes I vomit about an hour after taking it, sometimes I vomit the next morning. And I always have a terrible headache too.

When you're brand new to it all (and especially if you're still drinking) changing the times and amounts that you take is likely to backfire. This medication, like almost all of them, works best when taken on a regular schedule. It probably doesn't really have a lot to do with witching hours, since it's not like valium or some of the other medications that are used prn to calm anxiety.

[Colin]

Bac at nite?

Ne/Neva Eva;1443135 wrote:
I take a total of 160mg/day now and weight it toward the afternoon/evenings.

What are the weights that worked for you? It might save many of us some time.