Day 2 AF

[lamela]

Day 2 AF

I get here your coming from mate but sadly I can't see it being quire so easy. I very nearly quit a few weeks back because of crazy anxiety (intrusive thoughts, paranoia, social anxiety, I could go on)

I took me 14 weeks to get to where I am and this is about as high as I likely to get. Surely theres more out there like me or maybe they just packed it in. Its not really the fault of the MWOs. They try to help as best they can but a lot don't really understand how brutal it can be when you've been 14 weeks in and can't get past 80mg.

To be honest (and its not being selfish) if I had hit indifference in all honesty, I'd have thanked everyone and been on my merry way

Like I said above... I reckon it would surprise some members the amount of users who fail for one way or another.

IMO... More controlled tests need to be done and more GPs need to be on board but to be honest who could blame them. Scripted a medicine to doses of maybe 300mg+ could be a law suit waiting to happen.

[kronkcarr]

Day 2 AF

I started baclofen last year under a local dr's care. I began at 30 mgs and 4 days later went to 40 mgs and 4 days later went to 50 mgs. I sat at 50 for a week or 2 because of my dr's orders. Slowly he let me go to 60 the 70 then 80. I was at 80 in my third month on baclofen.

My goal was to have one or two drinks to celebrate or to socialize not to drink for relief, escape or out of habit. I didn't keep alcohol in my house and I didn't over drink during this time. I had SEs but my first month was pure mental bliss. I slowed down and saw the world around me, I had fantastic insights into me and my anxiety lessened immensely.

I was at 80 mgs for maybe a month. At the start of 80 I wanted to stop at the store and buy that bottle of wine to drink alone one night. I really wrestled with this compulsion/habit for hours and I didn't drink that night. A few weeks later, still on 80, I realized that I was indifferent to alcohol.

A week or so later I started to titrate down on the same schedule -- every 4 days I went down 10 mgs. The SEs were far worse for me going down than up. I got to 40 as a maintance dose and my anxiety returned. I've ended up at 60 as a maintance dose. Sometimes I'm anxious and I will take an extra 10 mgs. My only SE has to do with heat and physical exertion. I can't do some of the physical demanding things (10 mile hikes or high altitude hikes for instance). I can live with that.

You will find a few on here who couldn't continue on baclofen. StuckinLA is one. I agree with both of you that some just stop baclofen and move on, some posting the horrors of baclofen are trolls and, yes, Dr Ameisen's book was very clinical with very little personal writing of his SEs.

There are good people on here who share their experiences and are willing to help. Bleep and RedThread123 have been saviours to me. It's a shame more drs won't get on board. We just have to keep on.

[lamela]

Day 2 AF

Thanks Kronkcarr

The book does make it seem like a walk i the park. I nearly shit when I started on Dr As protocol. I thought I was gonna go insane. 10mg a week has at times been to much for me. It sort of got me down. I've taken every substance under the sun and in massive doses which surprised me as 80mg of Bac isn't a massive dose but I' happy that at 80mg I can control my booze intake.

Its all about damage control atm and who knows... maybe I'll get sick of those 2-3 beers and pack it in of my own free will. Because at the end of the day... I was never a 2-3 beer drinker. I could never understand how people could have a drink at lunch time and go back to work. It would knock me for six and I would have struggled to carry on working if not just heading home sick.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Day 2 AF

neophyte;1555342 wrote: lamela - A agree with you completely. It's easy to get swept up in the forums and Dr A's book which barely mentions side effects and paints bac as some miracle cure all for booze addiction,
That it has been for me, for my husband, and for several people I know. It works, Neo. The SEs were brutal. And frankly, what I know now would have changed how I took baclofen pretty dramatically. It's important to do your homework.

As part of that, keep in mind that Dr. A took baclofen at a lower dose for a year before he titrated down, and then titrated back up again. It's been too long since I've read the details in that section of the book but it's an incredibly important one for obvious reasons. I'm sorry I can't give details here and now. It's a matter of time...Which is very short these days and for good reason! Which leads to the next point:

neophyte;1555342 wrote:
I toyed with the idea of making a survey where we could get some numbers happening on the following

• people who tried bac and were successful
  - how long it took, and the dosage that was required
  - how long did being AF last
• bac failed - indicate what dosage was used, and why they failedif AF what did the person use to get AF

There are several threads with that info. Generally the people who don't continue to take baclofen (the very vast majority) do it because it doesn't work for them. That can be for lots of reasons. Side effects are a reasonable explanation. As are titrating too fast or too slow. Money is another one I've heard. And getting a reasonable supply. Rest assured, the people who are indifferent are a small minority. (And while this may elicit howls of protest, the truth is that those that keep drinking...keep drinking. Stands to reason, doesn't it?)

Bottom line? Baclofen sucked for me. I've been indifferent since Feb 4 2011. My husband didn't have nearly as difficult a time, but it still wasn't effortless. Getting sober, no matter how you do it, is a challenge.

Worth it, though. Baclofen or not, I'm regularly thankful I'm not drunk, and I don't ever have to be again. I can't imagine what it's like to be beholden to anything anymore.

I know it's probably frustrating to hear that it's all been said/written here before and that there aren't any definitive answers. It is HARD to search, and there are golden nuggets of wisdom (and complete absurdity) in random places. But it worked for me! It also worked for me to stick around and reach out, often and regularly. Maybe that'll work for you?

Hang in there, and keep the faith. It worked for us. Really. Hope it will work for you.

[neophyte]

Day 2 AF

lamela - your account is a sobering one. I think we all get a bit swept up in the euphoria of baclofen been some miracle cure. For some it has been, for others maybe it just doesn't work or there are deeper issues for the requirement for drinking. For example, if someone with bipolar disorder is drinking to self medicate, i think they have a different beast to tackle that is going to require more than just taking baclofen.

I don't know what your history is, maybe you need to push through the SE, you probably need a doctors care to help you go any further.

For me my SE resulted in having crippling anxiety and depersonalisation, barely any sleep, the baclofen made hangovers weird and horrible. Honestly it was probably a good thing because it pushed me to go AF sooner.
I pushed through the SE because i've been through worse with a xanax addiction and i read on on here that you just have to persevere. In fact when i cut out the booze many of the SE went away completely. I was able to eventually get to a point where the SE became manageable but I think it's important you never give up hope. Alcoholism is a slow destructive death. It takes so much away and gives nothing in return except a one/two hour window of relief followed by passing out and then destruction.
I'm also addicted to codiene for 10 years, at least with opiates the addiction is predictable. It doesn't evolve horribly like alcoholism does. Alcoholism slowly destroys your mind and your body. For me, my breaking point was the anxiety i had to do something, anything, when i read about Baclofen, it sounded like everything i had ever hoped for in a medication.

I realise im probably just in the euphoric phase of not picking up a drink, i feel fantastic, its day 6 and i never want to even look at another drink again. Perhaps this won't last and ill be looking at these posts with cringe because i ended up failing just like all the other times.

Even if i fail im going to keep trying because the only other alternative is a slow prolonged loss of opportunities, degraded mental and physical health and I want to live.

It's a shame you suffered the way that you have and that it has not worked out for you.

but never give up, never give up hope

[neophyte]

Day 2 AF

Kronk - I went up 150mg in about 40 days or so. Rapid to say the least but i was so excited by baclofen and Dr A's book. he did make it sound like a cakewalk, i think in his words that all he experienced was sleeping like a baby and some mild sleepyness during the day. All that and curing anxiety and complete indifference to AL. Gee where do i sign up? In reality i think the book needed to be written that way so people would be receptive to it.

As to drinking going forward, i dont really want to anymore, baclofen for me so far stops me from wanting to drink initially but once i put a couple down the hatch, the drinking goes out of control. I was drinking just about 300ml of scotch a night before baclofen, when i was drinking and tritating up, particularly in the higher doses of baclofen 100mg and up. I found that i ended up drinking more, about 400-500ml and up. Which of course caused me to have horrible hang overs like no other.

Like you I would like to get in the situation where i can have one or two. After 30 days AF i might put my toe in the water and just have one or two, but if i end up drinking like i did before ill have to say goodbye to alcohol forever.

Funny my SE in the lower dosages 75mg and less were quite plesant, i remember thinking to myself, wow i feel like a new person what are people talking about with all these side effects? then it got horrible 100mg and up.

Can you elaborate on how the sides going down are worse? Running out of tablets for me was a bit scare for me, so i ended up ordering a kg of the powder which i have made into my own liquid baclofen solution. I tried to procure some from Loop but It looks like i rubbed him the wrong way and that door is shut to me, shame since he was so helpful to other members.

I don't think its a bad thing that people get what they need from bac and move on. as long as there are people here willing to stick around and help out. The forum archives are always there to help people come on board also.