Side effect query

[laurie65]

I'm nearly eight weeks in to my Baclofen journey. It's been a rollercoaster.

I'm still drinking, but just this week have had a very encouraging turn around. I open a bottle of wine and forget it's there and the last two nights have been unable to finish the bottle....actually left half a bottle last night and now it's 9.30 and have only had one glass.
This is enormous progress for me. A woman with a 30 year minimum 14 uk units a night habit.

Since being on bac (now up to 130 mgs daily), I have attributed any weirdness to the medication. I had the usual, breathlessness, borderline panic attacks, generally feared up, and taking residence on my soap box over any issue whatsoever, Facebook seems to rattle my cage the most.....snoring like a hippo (my poor bed partner!).
Most have passed, the snoring remains sadly!

I've noticed as I've gone to my highest dose (this week) that I'm really feeling the cold these days. Prior to this week i'm one of those people who's too hot all the time..even if it's Baltic outside.
In many ways this is a good SE as I'm not sweating so much and saving a fortune on Mitchum deodorant. i'm slightly anxious tho (probably the bac) that this is a consequence of lowered blood pressure (cause of the bac).

I've done some other things recently which will have had an effect on my hormones...coming completely off HRT. So maybe that's got something to do with it (the sweating thing).

Also, in a bid to do some 'exercise' I got out my old slendertone abs belt. After about 10 minutes with it, I felt I was going to pass out. Do ten's type machines become a sensitive issue for HDB users?
Strange questions I know. But has anyone out there experienced similar?

Thanks for reading

Laurie

[StuckinLA]

Side effect query

Hey there. Bac can lower blood pressure in some people, but more often I think it raises it. So not sure what's going on with your hot/cold deal. When it comes to B/P, though, there's really only one way to know, and that's to check.

Most folks I've read about do pretty well with exercise on bac. Not usually as well as Lo0p, but decent. :H Just maybe keep at it and see how it goes? And don't forget how much a reduction in drinking can affect your body--so there's a lot of new stuff going on all at once. It doesn't last forever.

[ifulovelife2]

Side effect query

Hi Laurie

You're right about the HRT thing: that may well be responsible for the lack of sweating.

Geez, that Mitchum deodorant is awful stuff. I tried it once and it took 3 showers to get it off.:H

Fantastic news about your reduced interest in booze

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Side effect query

Generally feared up? I like that.

Like Stuck mentioned, bac lowers BP unless it raises it. I wouldn't worry about a lowering of BP unless you are worried about your BP. It's almost always a good thing. I mean, if you can't stand up without passing out (unrelated to all the other stuff) then it's something to look at. I can't imagine that HRT doesn't have much more to do with the change in temp, though.

I've never used an abs belt, and have no idea if bac would have anything to do with that. (I'm like you, maybe, in that I never overlook a good possible side effect! ) Perhaps it's a diet thing? Or an overstimulation thing? Enough guesses from me. I'm sure you'll figure it out or just avoid the shocks!

I love Mitchum. One swipe blocks those pores for a week! I tried that all natural rock thing once. ugh.

Congrats on the forgetting. That was absolutely my favorite side effect. Still is. (Well, not all of the forgetting, but that's age, not bac.)

[laurie65]

Side effect query

Thank you all for your prompt replies.
It's kinda nerve-wracking to post a new thread on here..then sit in the wilderness waiting for a reply.
I'm still a baby on here and get stupidly hurt if no-one picks up on my posts..silly huh.
I just realised that my email address for here is my 'secret' email address and not my daily one. So was checking my regular address and feeling rejected!
Must remember to check that one every day from now on

[StuckinLA]

Side effect query

The delay on my super-secret-squirel email address kills me. So I hear ya'!

Oh, and :welcome: to the party...

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Side effect query

Nah. Everyone looks forward to replies. And starting a thread is absolutely nerve wracking.

I feel like it's suddenly quiet around here? Or I could just be missing all kinds of stuff...

Glad you're posting, Laurie. It's still fun to *meet* new people and see where everyone is in the journey.

[COSGringo]

Side effect query

Lowered BP is normal. Make sure you have your home machine. I had to use mine. You can get an Omron for under $70. Mine works well.

Check it at least every morning. Mine dropped a lot for a while and I have HBP. I had to lower my meds for BP because of it. I stopped altogether at one point.

Mine stabilized later. It can make you light headed, dizzy etc.

[caro]

Side effect query

Dear Laurie,

I would not underestimate how coming off HRT can affect you. I have recently stopped my HRT and have noticed that I feel more anxious, not sleeping as well too. I have been taking baclofen since last October and my sleeping/anxiety levels had improved until I stopped my HRT about a month ago. I am no expert but I would imagine that our bodies will need at least 6 months for the hormone levels to level out.

I take 140mg bac daily and my drinking has dramatically reduced. I snore heavily too (apparently).

I can't give you any advice on the slendetone machine, I have one but too lazy to use it yet (had it 4 years!). I might dig it out and have a go and feedback to you how I get on.

As regards to feeling a bit hurt if nobody responds to your thread, I can totally relate to that, as I imagine nearly everybody else would too. The whole point of starting a thread (I think) is trying to share infomation or get an answer to a query/problem. Of course you would like a few replies. As a relatively newbie too i have learnt that one does not need lots of replies just a few well intentioned ones. I have been lucky enough when i have posed a question to get the answers and support i needed. It is such a lovely feeling not to feel alone anymore with this disease.

Good luck and well done with cutting down so much on your drinking so far.

Caro

[ifulovelife2]

Side effect query

I totally understand the worry about replies, or lack thereof. A couple of years ago I had a thread on here and would start to get upset if no one replied within half an hour - "Why are you all ignoring me?" F5 "Have I said something wrong?" F5 F5 "Did I make a blunder? Say something foolish? Or God forbid, wasn't I witty enough????" F5 F5 F5 :H

The weekends were the worst. For some reason it always seems quieter here then.

Anyhoo, hang in there girls! We are here with you.

[RedThread12]

Side effect query

The first thread I ever started was "Amusing Side Effects of Baclofen." I guess I was the only one who found any of them entertaining. It disappeared quickly, after only one response.

The first night I took baclofen, along with my regular sleep med, I woke up to go to the bathroom, opened my bedroom closet door, and sat down own my vacuum cleaner. Fortunately, I figured it out before I peed on it. I thought it was hysterical. :H:H On the same thread I posted a dream I had about running around Los Angeles with Hugh Hefner's "Girls Next Door," - his blonde, Playboy Bunnies. I swear I had never seen more than a few minutes of that television show. And this from a woman who decided to shave her legs, wear high heels and make-up only AFTER turning 50.

The only response to my first thread was from ByeByeBridgetteJones. Gotta' love that girl!! It wasn't 'til much later that Ne revealed other amusing side effects and we heard from a few other baclofentists along the way.

Maybe that's why I never started a "personal" thread about my baclofen trip. :upset:

[laurie65]

Side effect query

Thank you for the replies.
Caro coming off HRT suck's full stop. i must be crazy to have done both bac treatment and coming off HRT cold turkey. Just two weeks ago I was determined to quit smoking too! Typical addict mentality....all or nothing.
Suffice to say I'm smoking like a chimney.
Anyone else smoke loads climbing on bac?
I've had loads of nutty side effects on bac. My most worrying is that I have a thought that I think is private, then I'm completely not sure whether I've said that thought out loud!
Then there is the whacky snorty breathing thing. i sound like old man Steptoe!
I'm now about to ask a question that risks completely alienating me from the entire community. But I'm going to ask anyway...
I'm going to a party in April. I will probably have one or two drinks. I never over drink in public. i'm very much a solo drinker.
The friends of mine at this party are 40/50 something stoners. When we meet up we always do a pill and a line....please don't shoot me!
By April, I hope to be on a steady dose of 150-200 mgs bac, and well out of the woods with my alcoholism.
My big (probably unanswerable) question is...
Is it safe (ish) to take MDMA while on HDB?
I drop a pill/take a line maybe twice a year..if that.
I'm an alkie. Not got a problem with class A's

Hope my new found friends don't reject me for asking this question

[caro]

Side effect query

Dear Laurie,

I am strictly a white wine girl and I don't even know what MDMA is, so sorry I can't advise there.
But I just wanted to chip in and say I don't think anybody woulld judge you for asking pertient questions about drug interactions.

Take care

Caro

[StuckinLA]

Side effect query

Oy, a couple things I want to say here. First, thank god you shave your legs now, RedT. :H Second, I watched my thread like a hawk for a long, long, long time, got all crazy-obsessed with replies and the view count, and then when there was a rating-war among the trolls that one time I watched that every five minutes, too. So I guess we're all in good company there.

When I quit drinking last year for those two months my smoking doubled, and I haven't been able to cut down since. Bac helped... me smoke more, it seemed.

I can't remember where exactly I read about MDMA and bac, but you should be able to search for it. It was a couple posts between bleep and somebody... anyway the point is that bac didn't seem to affect it. Don't know about doing a line--the original guy that Amiesen read about was a coke addict, and he complained that bac took away a bit of the high. I'll also say that I had a paradoxical reaction to marijuana while at 240mg, but I was really, really drunk too. Really drunk, and by that I mean holy Christ what was I thinking chasing all that absinthe with a half bottle of Maker's Mark before I got high? Also, I hadn't smoked in over a year, so I'm blaming everything that followed on that fact. Joanna_d also didn't feel so well smoking weed after her switch, so there's that too.

But otherwise party away.

Oh, but I really am wanting to get back into smoking weed, and now that I'm off bac I'm fiendishly hunting it down, and hopefully later today if this chick comes through I'll be high as hell.

[kronkcarr]

Side effect query

laurie65,
Yes, I am smoking cigs much more on bac and it's supposed to affect the nicotine receptors. I'm at 140 mgs and it seems I've become more orally fixated. Somewhere around 60 mgs or so I could hardly stand any of the foods I used to like. Huh.
I'm not judging you at all so check me off that list!
kronkcarr