Hi all,
New here so forgive me if this post is not in the right place. I have been gradually increasing my dose of baclofen over the last couple of months under the close supervision of my doctor who has years of experience in dealing with baclofen and alcoholism specifically (I am very lucky in this respect).
I have currently reached 150 mg per day, taken in 50 mg doses in the morning, afternoon and evening. This has been increased reasonably slowly and only under the advisement of my doctor. It has helped immeasurably, and my daily drinking has cut itself back to a tiny fraction of what it was, certainly the lowest it has been in 5 years, with very little craving to drink. My anxiety has gone down considerably, and I have left the apartment without having drank for the first time in 4 months. I do feel that a slight increase in my baclofen dose and I will be on my way very easily to my first alcohol free day in maybe 6 years.
I have recently increased from 100 mg to 125 mg and now to 150 mg. The side effects of being very sleepy, and sometimes not being able to sleep at night are perfectly fine by me. However, I have noticed in the past few days since hitting 150 mg that my breathing at times is very shallow. It almost feels like I have "forgotten" to breath from time to time and take a big inhale all of the sudden. This is especially upsetting when it happens at night or in the morning and disrupts what I feel would be a reasonable nights sleep.
What I wanted to ask was whether anyone can tell me their experiences with shallow breathing as a side effect. Also, specifically whether or not this alleviated itself after a few days or not. I am very willing to put up with this for another while as long as it is not likely to progress any further, and is likely to get better if I maintain my current dose. I will not be speaking to my doctor for another week, but at least knowing of other peoples experience might help me to hold out till then.
Any information and experiences would be very much appreciated! Of course I can also share anything I have experienced if it is useful to someone else.
New here so forgive me if this post is not in the right place. I have been gradually increasing my dose of baclofen over the last couple of months under the close supervision of my doctor who has years of experience in dealing with baclofen and alcoholism specifically (I am very lucky in this respect).
I have currently reached 150 mg per day, taken in 50 mg doses in the morning, afternoon and evening. This has been increased reasonably slowly and only under the advisement of my doctor. It has helped immeasurably, and my daily drinking has cut itself back to a tiny fraction of what it was, certainly the lowest it has been in 5 years, with very little craving to drink. My anxiety has gone down considerably, and I have left the apartment without having drank for the first time in 4 months. I do feel that a slight increase in my baclofen dose and I will be on my way very easily to my first alcohol free day in maybe 6 years.
I have recently increased from 100 mg to 125 mg and now to 150 mg. The side effects of being very sleepy, and sometimes not being able to sleep at night are perfectly fine by me. However, I have noticed in the past few days since hitting 150 mg that my breathing at times is very shallow. It almost feels like I have "forgotten" to breath from time to time and take a big inhale all of the sudden. This is especially upsetting when it happens at night or in the morning and disrupts what I feel would be a reasonable nights sleep.
What I wanted to ask was whether anyone can tell me their experiences with shallow breathing as a side effect. Also, specifically whether or not this alleviated itself after a few days or not. I am very willing to put up with this for another while as long as it is not likely to progress any further, and is likely to get better if I maintain my current dose. I will not be speaking to my doctor for another week, but at least knowing of other peoples experience might help me to hold out till then.
Any information and experiences would be very much appreciated! Of course I can also share anything I have experienced if it is useful to someone else.
I DO, however, heartily recommend find a well-trained yoga instructor to help you, if you want to check it out. And hey, these are tools for a lifetime, not JUST for dealing with bac! If you want this kind of specific training, you would probably have to schedule a few private sessions. But I'd put money down that you'll notice the difference after one. The Big. Deal. though, is to make sure you find a really good instructor. If you get interested in this, let me know where you live and I may be able to help.
Man, oh man, was I grateful to know how to focus on my breath then . . . 'cause I wasn't sure the next one was going to come unless I did it, consciously! I'm sure that I saved myself immeasurable suffering and money by staying calm and on-top-of that bac side-effect, and from having read endless posts about different people's experiences that helped me know what to, and not to, do.
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