New Here, My Baclofen Diary

[SuperBinger]

Male, Age 46, 185 pounds.
Typical Week:
Sun: AF
Mon: AF
Tues: 18 units (2 bottles of white wine)
Wed: AF (awful hangover)
Thurs: 18 units
Friday: 18 units
Saturday 18 units

The above habit is the result of a steady progression from moderate drinking in my 20's to this point, where weekends mean wine, lots of it, without question. The addition of Thursday drinks, and now Tuesdays, with the sudden appearance of several health problems (sudden weight gain, blood pressure rise, and feeling like I'm either always hungover or wondering when it is drinking time again), have spurred me into action.

I have none of the "addiction" symptoms (anxiety, hiding booze, shakes, drinking in the morning, etc.), but definitely have fallen into a terrible habit of heavy drinking on weekends, and, of late, during the week.

I have "The End of My Addiction" on reserve at the library, but have not read it yet.

Xadrian's diary on this forum sounds very similar to my situation, and inspired me to post this diary here in the hopes that it might help somebody else.

Here is what I wrote in my journal today:

Day 1
Baclofen 3 x 10mg = 30mg
Felt normal, exercise normal (weights and jog 2 miles)
No reduction in usual Thursday night craving.
Alcohol = 12 units in evening before dose #3

Thanks for reading.

[Colin]

New Here, My Baclofen Diary

Welcome and thanks for the details.

This level of detail is very helpful to people coming later and recognising part of themselves.

[TexasAg]

New Here, My Baclofen Diary

:welcome: SB,

You're routine sounds very similiar to mine except it was whiskey and beer. Bac helped me and I hope it can help you.

Colin is right, it's good to have a journal, not only for yourself, but for others that are reading. Question, what is your plan to titrate? Everyone is different but just curious if you're following a certain titration schedule? The most important thing is to listen to your body. The Bac veterans on MWO helped me tremendously so I encourage you to keep posting!

Good luck and God Bless!

Cheers!

[Diver]

New Here, My Baclofen Diary

SB,
My drinking pattern is very much like yours except my biggest demon is Scotch. I am in my third week on Bac, so our journeys will be very much in parallel.

Best of Luck.

Diver

[Lo0p]

New Here, My Baclofen Diary

:welcome:

[SuperBinger]

New Here, My Baclofen Diary

Day 2:
3 x 10mg = 30mg
Felt normal, exercise normal (weights). No side effects. Sleep was perhaps a bit quicker to come and maybe was a bit deeper/more restful. Not bad.
Alcohol = 12 units between 7:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m.

So, pretty much identical to day 1. The interesting thing is that both days I gave up on the wine and went to bed after 12 units, where my pattern prior to the Baclofen was to take it right up to 18 units (2 bottles). Whether this can be attributed to the Baclofen, I do not know.

TexasAG: Regarding my titration plans -- Because the Baclofen was prescribed by my doctor, I'm pretty much locked into the 30mg per day until my followup appointment on February 19th. At that appointment I intend to share with him what I have learned in my research and request I be permitted to gradually increase my dosage until I hit "the switch" (or as Xadrian described it, the "reset button").

My doctor told me this is the first time he has ever prescribed Baclofen, and his decision to prescribe it to me was based on a conversation he recently had with a colleague who had prescribed it to a patient who had success in reducing alcohol cravings. My impression is that my doctor doesn't know a whole lot about Baclofen beyond his colleague's anecdote, but I'm looking forward to sharing with him what I've learned here and what I anticipate learning from Ameisen's book.

Given the above, my journal entries might be a little boring/repetitive for the next couple weeks, as I'm not able to increase my Baclofen dosage from the prescribed 30mg/day.

Diver, good luck reaching your goals. Good to know somebody else is embarking on this program around the same time.

Thanks for the posts in support.

SuperBinger

[TexasAg]

New Here, My Baclofen Diary

SB,

Definitely keep posting your journal, boring or not. Colin is right, details will help you and others to recognize similarities, drinking, dosage, SE's (if any). The more info the better.

I'm curious to see what effect of being on 30mg will have on an extended time. I do believe that it takes dosage and TIME to let the medicine take effect. Another thing you might consider is trying not to drink. There are many examples here that it helps reach indifference and also minimize the SE's. But its not essential, again there are many examples of people that have reached while still drinking.

Best of luck!

Cheers!

[Colin]

New Here, My Baclofen Diary

Print off these two documents for your doctor. They are meant to help medical jockeys when treating alcohol with baclofen.

Frontiers | Suppression of Alcohol Dependence Using Baclofen: A 2-Year Observational Study of 100 Patients | Frontiers in Addictive Disorders & Behavioral Dyscontrol
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/59463672/Prescribing-Guide-for-Baclofen-in-the-Treatment-of-Alcoholism-Don.pdf

EDIT: This is a better link for the first paper.
Suppression of Alcohol Dependence Using Baclofen: A 2-Year Observational Study of 100 Patients

[Ne/Neva Eva]

New Here, My Baclofen Diary

Are you the guy that snores? That's actually a bonafide SE of bac. Definitely something to keep an eye on, and if it gets worse, or you start to feel like you aren't sleeping, you might want to talk to the doc about sleep apnea. Just a suggestion, because it's pretty common.

[Lo0p]

New Here, My Baclofen Diary

Ne/Neva Eva;1451047 wrote: Are you the guy that snores? That's actually a bonafide SE of bac. Definitely something to keep an eye on, and if it gets worse, or you start to feel like you aren't sleeping, you might want to talk to the doc about sleep apnea. Just a suggestion, because it's pretty common.

https://www.mywayout.org/community/f2...ml#post1450584

[SuperBinger]

New Here, My Baclofen Diary

Day 3
Baclofen 3 x 10mg = 30mg
Felt normal, exercise normal (weights and jog 2 miles)
Alcohol = ?12 - 18? units (2 martinis + 3 wines at restaurant, more wine in hot tub at home)

NE/Neva Eva -- I do snore, but I did that before Baclofen.

[SuperBinger]

New Here, My Baclofen Diary

Day 4:
3 x 10mg = 30mg
Somewhat hung over from night before. Did not exercise.
Alcohol = 0 units (standard pattern for me, AF on Sunday/Monday/Wednesday)

So far, baclofen is not having much effect, though I did notice last week I tended to not drink quite as much on those nights that I did drink.

I will try to apply a bit of will power this week to break the mid-week drinking pattern. See if the medication makes that a bit easier. At this point, I'm beginning to resign myself to the fact that I probably need a higher dosage to get the desired effects, but I can't up my dose until my next doctor appointment on 2/19. No worries, it will just be a slow titration up for me. I'm in no huge rush.

SB

[caro]

New Here, My Baclofen Diary

Hi SB,
I have been on Bac for just over 3 months. Female 130mg x 4 day.
Like you when I first started taking it I really hoped that i would be able to get rid of the vile craving for alcohol at a lower dose. But it did not work out that way and I gradually accepted that i needed a higher dose of Bac to beat the beast.

You said that you don't think baclofen is not having much effect for you. But clearly it is because you already are not drinking as much on the nights when you did indulge.

Good for you and best wishes

Caro

[TexasAg]

New Here, My Baclofen Diary

Howdy SB,

JKTTP! I think you have the right frame of mind, no rush. Again, you might be right and have to go to a higher dosage. But I also think time on the medicine is as important. I was in a rush to hit the switch to see if it worked, it does but probably hit harder SE's because of my rush.

What day are you on?

Cheers!

[SuperBinger]

New Here, My Baclofen Diary

Day 5
3x10mg = 30mg
Weight = 188.4
Exercise = Normal (jog 2 miles, weights)
Alcohol = 0 units

caro: Thanks for the post in support. Yup, you're probably right, I did drink a little bit less on my usual mid-week drinking nights. I guess the difference just isn't dramatic enough for me to feel like the baclofen is the reason for the change. But then again, it very well could be. I'm probably just a little over anxious for the big change to take place. On the bright side, I've had no SEs at all on my (relatively) low starting dosage. Does "130mg x 4 day" really mean 520mg/day? That is the highest dose I have heard of. Or do you mean 130mg/day, split over four doses per day?

TexasAg -- I'm on Day 6 as I write this (enjoying my 6th unit of wine as I type, boo). I said in a previous post that this week I would try to apply a little baclofen-fortified will power to cut back during the week. Not tonight, I guess.

SB