Addicted to Baclofen

[drb120]

Addicted to Baclofen

I'd love to hear more about your story lo0p, but your pm box is full. It sounds like you are on a "high" that is lasting forever. Don't you have any anxiety problems when the stuff wears off? What about SE's like difficult ejaculation, difficult urination etc? Also, I have alienated a lot of good friends trying to "inspire" them. I am accused of being vain, a showoff, a know-it-all, not to mention I always weigh in on every political debate to comment on how stupid it is. I'm always trying to impress everyone with my vast knowledge on topics as wide ranging as transcendental poetry, quantum physics, as well as power equipment, and classic cars and motorcycles. Because I really do know a lot about everything. So why am I so scared of this stuff I am on?

[COSGringo]

Addicted to Baclofen

K, this is getting a tad bit strange even for me.

I hope nudity isn't on the next posts. I can google that if I want that.

[drb120]

Addicted to Baclofen

That is kind of my point Cos. The stuff makes me a little crazy. I feel a little God like. I know it can't last, and while I even impress myself sometimes, other people get sick of it. I am starting to notice I need baclofen more often now. Like I originally stated, I need the same dose that used to get me feeling t like the king of the world to just stave off the anxiety. by morning the anxiety is intense.

Others have posted it is from jumping around on the dose. I think this may me the case. And I hope so. I promise not to post any nudity. and Even I found that a little weird, and I just swam outside in the northeast in February.

[COSGringo]

Addicted to Baclofen

Nah, I wasn't talking about you so much.

But- I would say you really do need to try and regulate the dosage.
If you can't or that doesn't help, I don't think this is a solution for you.

I get some think it is for all, please don't take it personally those out there, but I don't feel it's a perfect solution.

Again, really try to regulate it. If not, I highly suggest SLOWLY titrating it off. We can talk about that after though I feel a med professional is better suited.

[StuckinLA]

Addicted to Baclofen

Hey D,

Not to make light of anything at all--just prefacing because it might sound like this is dismissive--some of the anxiety might be more related to how you're thinking about bac than the bac itself. I think I got into some of that, too. Always kind of self-monitoring the most minute feelings, trying to figure out when I last took pills, how many, what my dose for that day's going to be, how long I've been at that dose, etc.

It's exhausting. But bac scared the crap out of me a lot of days, you know? And this is not to say that there aren't very real effects and side effects of the damned pills, too, and not just how we're thinking about them.

Maybe try reading through bleep's threads (one is bleep, the other is bleep69, same dude). He talks a lot about his dosing and titration schedule, and was pretty much taking pills every two hours, and I tried that for a little while and I think it really does even things out a little. Though it's a pain in the nuts popping pills that often...

[drb120]

Addicted to Baclofen

Thank you StuckinLA. That is a thoughtful response. The every 2 hour dosing schedule would work well until overnight. Bleep has indicated he didn't have the anxiety. For me it is 100% about the anxiety. It is a tough call for me because I have the insomnia as I write this, but I know I'll feel great tomorrow on baclofen. I will likely go the professional route. Neurologist and psychiatrist if I can find that pair willing to work with me.

[COSGringo]

Addicted to Baclofen

I think the professional route is a good ideal, really.

I'm just not sure how long you can keep up that routine. I mean I know I couldn't. I would burn out doing that. There are other ways to approach anxiety and I don't think baclofen is the the cure all for that.

Let us know. Please don't post nude photos of yourself though. Ranting, raving, and trolling would be preferable to that. LOL.

[RedThread12]

Addicted to Baclofen

Hi some more, drb: I responded to your PM, and followed through with what I told you I would do on your behalf. Including speaking with a MWO member you indicated you wanted some info from. who said he'd be happy to talk to you. Also said he totally related to the euphoria, feelings of EXTRA ordinary well-being, etc. Part of the ride, for some people, apparently. Also said that you'll know when you've taken too much when you find yourself back to hugging the porcelain goddess, just as we all have, with AL! Where'd you go?

[drb120]

Addicted to Baclofen

Redthread. I'm here. Trying to decide what to do other than taking the sound advice of stabilizing does and attenuating gradually from there. It is tough because the urge is to reduce the dependence quickly. I am fighting that, and moderate to severe anxiety. Hanging in there though. Doing things instead of sitting around thinking about it helps. Thank you.

[StuckinLA]

Addicted to Baclofen

Oh, yeah, do not reduce quickly. Really, resist that urge. It freaking sucks going down quickly, even 20mg/week sucks a lot. Just sayin'.

[drb120]

Addicted to Baclofen

Red thread I pm'd back. I can't get a hold of that guy. He made a brief post in this thread but I didn't get much from it. The horror stories I read on google about never coming back from Baclofen withdrawal are disheartening. There is a good bit on Baclofen in the recreation drug use forums as well. People do report a similar high to GHB although not as good. I've never tried and don't want to know.

[COSGringo]

Addicted to Baclofen

You can drop off baclofen. You must take your time though. Like Stuck said, 20mg/week. Shoot 10/mg every 5 days is good for when I have to go down on dose. It will take you a long time but better safe than sorry.

Not much else you can do at least if you are going to stop using it. Else you could check into a hospital and get ativan shots and tough it out. Yikes.

[StuckinLA]

Addicted to Baclofen

Yeah, I get concerned when people mention Hospital + Bac, because doctors won't understand what's going on, and that = taking you off the bac really quickly. That's not a good idea--ask anybody around here, me, Windy, anyone who's gone down really quickly. You go crazy for a bit.

Slow and steady.

I think my saving grace was that I never got into abusing pills--pills scare the crap out of me. So I was way too freaked out to mess with bac--I never did anything faster than 3 days, never more than about 10mg variation, up or down.

[drb120]

Addicted to Baclofen

I have a legit pm. One person went 240mg to zero in 2 months. Severe anxiety and suicidal thoughts. Which i have.

[Cassander]

Addicted to Baclofen

drb--

You tell an interesting, and if I do say so, a fairly preposterous story.

Here's what I'm reading:

You say that you have completely abstained from alcohol since July 2012. You say you were pretty severe before that. Then you say that you are addicted to baclofen, that you are building tolerance, and that you used to get "high" on 200 mg of baclofen. Then you say that when you try to taper you get bad anxiety but you don't want to get high anymore.

You say you went up to 350 mg and ?switched? and that you then tapered down to 150 and began to suffer anxiety. To deal with that you went back up to 300?occasionally.
You say your personal and professional life has improved dramatically but you need to lower your dose and you want help.

You say that you know very very little, but you think you make enemies every time you post.

Then you say you may have gone wrong using the term getting "high". You say you are not looking for recreational drug use advice.

You say you would really like a physician's supervision, but you haven't found one.

Then you apologize for using the term "get high". You say again that you are not a recreational drug user. You say that you are a minor public person and that you were a severe but high functioning alcoholic. You say that (undisclosed) privacy issues prevented you from the traditional routes of abstinence.

You say that one problem you have is that baclofen enhances your personality by making you kinder, more empathetic, and more social. You say that you don't abuse baclofen like alcohol, but that you may occasionally bump the dose if you have an important public appearance. You say that you feel that you are building tolerance and that attenuating the dose causes anxiety.

You say you want to be pointed in the direction of a "confidential professional.?

You say you are not going to mess around bumping your dose anymore and are going to slowly taper. You say you miss the hypomania of high dose baclofen. You say that you are also on an SSRI that is known to cause hypomania. You say the SSRI never caused hypomania prior to your taking baclofen. You say you think the two combined may cause hypomania. You say that certainly a higher dose of baclofen exacerbated the hypomania.

You say you are hoping that you didn't simply replace booze with a better drug. But you say that you still have no craving for alcohol, even with the anxiety, so you are hopeful (of something).

You say you also drank copious energy drinks during your episodes (of something).

You say that it is amazing the difference between the anxious desperate insomniac you are in the morning and who you are at 11am on 75mg of baclofen. You say that you are on a minimal dose of Lexapro at 5mg.

You say that you have alienated a lot of good friends trying to inspire them. You say you are accused of being vain, a showoff, a know-it-all and that you always weigh in on every political debate to comment on how stupid it is. You say that you are always trying to impress everyone with your vast knowledge on topics as wide ranging as transcendental poetry, quantum physics, as well as power equipment, and classic cars and motorcycles, because you really do know a lot about everything.

You ask why you are so scared of baclofen.

You say baclofen makes you a little crazy. You say you feel a little God-like. You say you know the feeling can't last, and while you even impress yourself sometimes, other people get sick of it. You say you are starting to notice that you need baclofen more often now. You say that you need the same dose that used to get you feeling like the king of the world to just stave off the anxiety. You say that by morning the anxiety is intense.

You promise not to post any nudity and you say that you just swam outside in the northeast in February.

You say that for you it is 100% about the anxiety. You say that you have insomnia as you write, but you know you'll feel great the next day on baclofen. You say you will likely go the professional route with a neurologist and psychiatrist if you can find that pair willing to work with you.

You say you are trying to decide what to do other than taking the sound advice of stabilizing your baclofen dose and attenuating gradually from there. You say you have the urge to reduce your dependence on baclofen quickly. You say that you are fighting that, and you have moderate to severe anxiety.

You say that you have read horror stories on google about never coming back from Baclofen withdrawal. You say that there is a good bit on Baclofen in the recreation drug use forums as well and that people report a baclofen high similar to GHB although not as good. You say you have never tried and don't want to know. But you say that one person went from 240mg to zero in 2 months and had severe anxiety and suicidal thoughts, which you say you have.

Well, drb, that is quite a story. You are either a highly entertaining troll with a wonderful imagination or a seriously ill person, or both.

I would tend to agree with you that you should "go the professional route" and soon. I don't think there is much the thoughtful, concerned, well-intentioned, and helpful people on this board can do for you.

With best wishes,

Cassander