Baclofen and the man on mars

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Baclofen and the man on mars

Oh! and just wait until you get rid of the sauce!!! WOOOHOOOOOOOOOO!

[man on mars]

Baclofen and the man on mars

I am now taking 25 mg every 3 hours. 125 mg today. It feels like a lot. I am titrating very quickly right now, and the SE's are significant but tolerable.

Yet another hung-over Tuesday. As usual. Meetings. As usual. First meeting was pretty intense, as I was on the spot many times. SE's raging, mind cloudy, but no anxiety -- I held it together really well and the meeting ended up being very productive. Second meeting, I was not as active of a participant and spent half of it reading MWO on my phone.

Alcohol is not on my mind at all during the day, except for when I'm hung over and start telling myself that tonight I'm not going to drink. Haven't actually followed through with that plan yet...I'm still typically drinking a lot in the evenings, but the urge to start is not as overwhelming. I am feeling very doped-up and lethargic after my afternoon dose, when the level of baclofen in my system is reaching its highest level. It's kind of counterproductive because I don't have any motivation or energy to do much of anything when I get off work to take the place of drinking. Drinking is the easy option, and it's the option I keep choosing.

Side effects. So many, all the time. Let's see...

Somnolence comes and goes. I get very sleepy in the afternoon, starting an hour after I eat lunch and lasting for an hour or two. My eyes water and I yawn a lot. Sitting through meetings during this time is very difficult.

I have been staying up later and waking up many times during the night. I frequently wake up a couple hours before I normally would and then can't get back to sleep. I'm only getting about 6 hours per night, and when I am lying in bed in the morning, trying to talk myself into getting in the shower, I feel dead tired. I want to sleep all day, and when bedtime comes around, I'm not sleepy. Frustrating.

From the "Prescribing Guide for Baclofen": "Dizziness: Of variable intensity, patients describe this as an uncomfortable sensation during which they are afraid of falling. In terms of symptomatology this is a false vertigo." Always present, especially in the daytime, and it hits me within minutes of taking a dose. Fades in and out. This has become a lot more tolerable, as I have become used to the feeling, and it doesn't lead toward feelings of panic anymore, because I know it won't continue to get worse, and that it will fade away if I just wait it out.

Some days I am noticeably more nearsighted than others.

Sensitivity to loud/sharp sounds.

Mild headaches come and go, mostly during the day. Mostly at the back of my skull, but sometimes right behind my left eye, and sometimes my neck feels a bit stiff and achy as well. I never got headaches (other than from hangovers) before taking baclofen. My suspicion is: muscle relaxant --> slouching at my desk more often --> straining my neck --> headaches and neck pain. Might have something to do with the vision and hearing issues, too.

Anorgasmia. TMI, probably -- deal with it. This was not an issue at all at lower doses but has become steadily worse starting at about the 100 mg mark. Worth it in the short term if HDB ends up working for me.

"Zombie face" -- where all the muscles in my face go slack and I get into this thousand-yard-stare state. I am like that most of the time now.

Stumbling over my words in conversation. Mixing words up. Mild confusion. Short term memory loss.

Anyway. Onward and upward.

[john doe]

Baclofen and the man on mars

Meetings on Bac SEs??? Fair play to you Mars mate.

The SEs I'm getting now I'm finding it hard to walk about for large parts of the day never mind even talking to anyone

Zombie face is something that sound sort of familiar. My mum said to me I look really drugged out. Nothing new for me but I told her about what I was at and she's seen my drinking more or less stop so she's on board. It looks like my eyes are getting really droopy?

[man on mars]

Baclofen and the man on mars

Still adding a quarter of a 25 mg pill every day, taking 5 doses per day. 163 mg today. A new SE is visual hallucinations, mainly in the form of flashes in my vision that sometimes occur every 10 seconds or so. It's like watching a video where a frame is replaced with something completely different for a split second. I'm also experiencing low-pitched tinnitus, the "diesel truck idling" phenomenon.

I did something stupid and neglected to order more baclofen sooner. I finally placed an order on Wednesday, but after plotting out my projected intake over the next few weeks, I should have ordered it at least a week before. I will be able to continue at my current titration rate until about the 5th, when I expect the order to arrive based on past experience. If it doesn't, I will hold steady for a few days, and then start titrating down. I may place a second order from a different source to hedge my bets.

My alcohol intake was coming down gradually over the course of last week. I had about 13 drinks on Monday and less each following day until I only had 6 on Friday. And then, on Saturday I started drinking early and kept going until I couldn't stay awake any longer, totaling about 12 drinks. I woke up Sunday morning at 5 AM with the worst headache I've ever had in my life. For two hours I rolled around in bed, begging for the pain to stop. It was truly hellish. It finally abated and I managed to get another few hours of sleep.

The rest of Sunday was good. I went on another massive bike ride and then went to a friend's birthday party. There was a keg, but I didn't completely lose control and end up making an ass out of myself like I usually do at these events. I did end up having about 8 drinks, though, and felt it upon waking this morning.

I haven't hit the switch yet for alcohol, but I seem to have hit it for caffeine. I normally drink about four cups of coffee every day just to get through the day. This week, I was having about two a day for the first half of the week, and by the end of the week just one. I don't think I've had any at all since then. It's been like eight years since I wasn't dependent on caffeine.

Indifference eludes me. I continue to want to drink every day as soon as I get the opportunity. Gonna "just keep taking the damn pills" and hope for the switch. At my current rate, I will be at 300 mg in three weeks.

[kronkcarr]

Baclofen and the man on mars

Thanks for checking in. I, too, was told I looked drugged. And I also had a lot of the SEs you mentioned in your long post. 6 months in I still have weird sleep--up late, waking in the night and up early. Oh well...

I hope your order comes in time. Yep, I keep plenty on hand. I hope you get to keep titrating up.

Take care.

[bleep]

Baclofen and the man on mars

All those SE's sound very familiar.

What will probably happen at your current titration is that you overshoot the mark. That's no big deal, it simply means you will have some room to play with when and if you become indifferent, and can most likely reduce. An increase in baclofen takes about 4 days to be felt by the brain, although the SE's will present themselves pretty much immediately, as you are seeing. Going up as you are (nothing wrong with it, imho) means that your brain is playing catch-up.

It definitely gets the SE's going, but it gets you to where you want to be so much quicker. Good luck MoM!

Also watch out for drinking straight through being indifferent. Habit is a powerful creature, and it is quite possible to be indifferent and not realise it. It can be very helpful to just force the non-drinking for a day or two, and assess how it feels. It may surprise you. If it feels like it always does, then just keep going. Something to think about.

[man on mars]

Baclofen and the man on mars

181 mg.

Doing better than usual on the alcohol consumption, keeping it in the single digits. I can feel the baclofen trying to work. The compulsion to start drinking after work is much weaker, and although I'm still ending up drinking quite a bit, I'm not getting off work and immediately trying to slam 3-4 drinks into my body as fast as possible, which was normal for me for the last several years. Today, I went shopping on the way home from work, stopping off at two different places and spending about an hour calmly sifting through clothes and not thinking about drinking at all. Bought an awesome pair of jeans at the thrift store for $10. Picked up some dinner, got home, popped open a beer, and drank at a relaxed pace.

On the 28th, I was still pretty much sober at 10 PM, which felt really weird, and so when I got hungry, I safely drove to the store to get something to eat. Driving late at night is a surreal experience for me, since I have been completely drunk by 9 PM every night for the last eight years and my paranoia about getting a DUI has kept me grounded in the evenings. (...and kept me from getting a DUI)

I am logging my baclofen and alcohol intake meticulously on a spreadsheet. Hopefully in a few weeks time I'll have a fancy and impressive graph to show off like Lo0p.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Baclofen and the man on mars

man on mars;1513154 wrote:
Doing better than usual on the alcohol consumption, keeping it in the single digits.

Driving late at night is a surreal experience for me, since I have been completely drunk by 9 PM every night for the last eight years and my paranoia about getting a DUI has kept me grounded in the evenings. (...and kept me from getting a DUI)

Congratulations!
Great score on the jeans!

I was AHmazed at how many people were out at night. I think it took me several months to get used to leaving the house after 5pm. Maybe longer! It also amazed me how much time there was in an actual day when the day doesn't end at the witching hour. This worked to my benefit, because my "I wanna do it ALL and I wanna do it all right NOW" list was long.

Cheers, MoM.

[Sticky]

Baclofen and the man on mars

Well done MoM

Congrats on the reduction in consumption and being able to drive at night. Silly me has racked up 3 DICs (DUIs). It doesn't matter that the first was over 20 years ago. Hubby has 2 & he isn't an alcoholic. The laws are less tough here I think. After 2nd DIC I was threatened with jail if I did it again. Still did it. Now I'm being good about not driving if pissed. I need to remember that tonight when we go for dinner at friends' house. Hubby may stay later and I'll need to get boys home to bed. There is always the cab option...

Keep up the good work.

Cheers
Sticky :goodjob:

[john doe]

Baclofen and the man on mars

Its pretty tough over hear regarding drink driving. You get a 1 year ban straight away and if caught driving whilst banned your looking at jail time. Your also very unlikely to get insured after a ban.

[bleep]

Baclofen and the man on mars

The trick here in Zim is to take some, but not all of your money out of your wallet when you are driving home. That way, if you get caught, you only get taken for the amount in your wallet, which is much less than it was before you removed most of it. Of course, if you are too drunk to remember to do even that, then it's going to cost you. Get caught with nothing and you are in trouble, but by trouble I just mean it will cost you more.

[Lo0p]

Baclofen and the man on mars

I like graphs! :greatjob2:

[man on mars]

Baclofen and the man on mars

200 mg. This is heavy. The SEs seemed to be diminishing toward the end of last week, but they are back full force now. Somnolence and flashes in my vision are very intrusive. Extreme sensitivity to sound. Having more trouble staying asleep than usual.

Life is reaching a high level of chaos for me right now. I have a lot of deadlines at work that are fast approaching which I am barely going to be able to meet. I realized a few days ago that my rental lease is up at the end of this month, and my roommates and I have decided we're going to move out. I have been talking about buying my first house for a long time now, and I don't want to sign another rental lease, so I'm taking the plunge. I got pre-approved for a mortgage. The plan at this point is to start moving all my non-essential stuff into a storage unit and then rent a room while I house-hunt. Everything is coming to a head all at once and the next few months are going to be very stressful.

I'm going to call Dr. L this week and get a proper prescription. My recent order has been massively delayed and I have no confidence that it will arrive before I run out. I want to keep titrating up without interruption. The prospect of an AF night still seems impossible. As soon as I can start drinking, I do. I'm typically having about eight drinks per night. The only thing that is keeping me from having more is that I have stopped buying liquor or strong beer. If I stick to 5% beers, I just can't drink ten of them in one night without working really hard at it -- that's almost a gallon. If I had liquor on hand, I would definitely be drunk right now. I have already had two beers today, and I only have five left in the fridge, and that bothers me. It's only thinking about how miserable tomorrow morning will be if I go buy more that's keeping me from going down to the store.

Alcoholism is such a broad spectrum. Reading Ameisen's book, I remember thinking to myself, "Wow, he had it BAD." A whole bottle of liquor every night. He'd relapse violently within hours of getting out of rehab. Insane. Reading this forum, I'm amazed at how light some people's intake is compared to mine. And how quickly most people seem to cut their drinking way back and start having AF days once they start taking baclofen. People like JD hitting their switch at less than 150 mg, or people seemingly hitting the switch at their first dose. It makes me jealous. I may not be as severe of an alcoholic as Ameisen was, but I think I will have to go at least as high as he did (270 mg). The drive to drink in my mind is not going to give up without a fight. It is still very much alive and kicking at 200 mg.

[spiritwolf333]

Baclofen and the man on mars

Just a Thought

Mars -Sounds like you may have some real decisions to make. Like the most most important one you will ever make. And that may be the decision to stop drinking -at least for today-maybe even week. As you have already indicated, the drinking thought is not letting up. We both know that at this stage in our drinking, the FIREWATER has its claws deep inside us. In fact, in your case, alcohol may be becoming concerned that you are filing for divorce from it-and so it will do double duty to keep you.

My experience in these last sixty days has been incredible -and because of BAC and MWO. I still have occasional drink thoughts but not those everyday thoughts of how-am-I going to live-without-alcohol. Other issues; I am able to face a lot of things in a calm-thought out manner. And for now, I'm putting off making any major decisions until I have some more clear thinking time. My thinking continues to change daily -for the better and I don't want to commit myself to long term commitments until later.

I'm at 220 mg and holding. All side effects are leaving -except somnalance, and that's more than fine with me right now. Keep moving forward-sounds like you are fighting the good fight. I had to surrender to alcohol before I could begin my new journey. Just a thought.

[man on mars]

Baclofen and the man on mars

I am holding at 200 mg for now. My plan has been to titrate up rapidly until the SEs became too much. I am now waking up an hour or two after going to bed, staying awake for about two hours before I get back to sleep, and then waking up for 15 minutes every two hours or so. I'm not getting much sleep. The SEs during the day are intense. My brain wants time to acclimate, so I'm going to hold steady for awhile.

Today, I decided not to drink. I was feeling really confident that I would pull it off. I made it until 8 PM. I started eating my dinner and the cravings suddenly hit me like a truck. I needed a drink, immediately. I drank the beer I had in the fridge and went to the store to get more right after I finished it. This has happened to me three times, now, most recently on the 2nd, shortly after I last posted in this thread. I get this feeling of calm, of contentedness, and I start to wonder if it's the switch. I decide I don't want to drink, I don't need to drink, and I'm not going to drink. And then, I have four or five bites of food, and I absolutely must have a drink. Somehow, eating triggers it. The sense of urgency is overwhelming and terrifying.

The good news is that I'm drinking slowly. The bad news is that I feel depressed. A coworker called me at about 9 PM and I couldn't bear to answer it, a wave of anxiety washed over me. Last night, I also got pretty depressed about six drinks into my nine-drink evening. I think part of it is shame over not having the willpower to make this work. I know this is a mental illness, but I still feel so guilty. Like I am failing.