Baclofen and alcohol cause insomnia, not baclofen

[Samandkatharine]

I'm putting my two sence in regarding baclofen and insomnia. After continuing to drink wine during the dinner hour I would take my last dose of Bac between 7-8pm. I'd go to bed at 9:30 or so and wake up with a start at 3am wide awake. It would be very difficult to go back to sleep after that. If alcohol hits one GABA and baclofen hits the other type, don't they cancel each other out and make sleep impossible?

On another nite I drank and took an Ambien thinking it would keep me asleep longer. Big mistake! I lay there tired but unable to sleep. Bac made the Ambien worthless.

Last night I had one glass of wine at 5 and took my big dose of Bac at 6. No need to have another glass, no urge! I watched worthless TV till 9 then read till 10- slept till 4:45 and decided to take my morning dose then. I slept easily till 6:30 when I got my son up for school. Dreamt my 18yo daughter was an airline pilot!

This post is just to inform newbies like me that sleep is there if you use Bac as a tool for not picking up the glass. I've struggled at 60mg for 2 weeks but have been spacing out my doses 4 times a day and taking my biggest dose at night. That has curbed the wine intake a LOT and I'm hoping it will allow me to up my dose without increasing the SEs too horribly.
I feel like a new person with 8 hours of sleep!

Mary Ann

[skullbabyland]

Baclofen and alcohol cause insomnia, not baclofen

Great post, Mary Anne. Sleep is just as important as food, water, and air. 8 solid hours a night will soon make a person feel fantastic! AF time definitely facilitates that.

Also, sounds like bac is starting to work well for you... keep going and good luck

[Samandkatharine]

Baclofen and alcohol cause insomnia, not baclofen

Skull, it is working! 60mg in and the 5pm rush to the wine isn't so rushed. 20mg of Bac puts a damper on things, and little to no wine makes night time more bearable.

My dream was hilarious.

[Fred_The_Cat]

Baclofen and alcohol cause insomnia, not baclofen

This is very, very true. I never thought of it in terms of different GABA receptors being hit, but anecdotally I'm guaranteed to be shorted on sleep if bac and alcohol are combined.

[Samandkatharine]

Baclofen and alcohol cause insomnia, not baclofen

Fred_The_Cat;1560937 wrote: This is very, very true. I never thought of it in terms of different GABA receptors being hit, but anecdotally I'm guaranteed to be shorted on sleep if bac and alcohol are combined.

I will never take anything extra for sleep again(when Bac is used) because the memory of laying there physically unable to fall asleep is too weird.

[tronic]

Baclofen and alcohol cause insomnia, not baclofen

Lying in bed at night without being able to sleep is the probably the bane of my life. Baclofen can be touch and go whatever stage I'm at whether moving up or down. It can sometimes keep me awake all night or I might get an "alright " sleep. To be honest I haven't had 8 hours of sleep in years.

Alcohol is a different story. Unless I get totally blacked out drunk I'll wake up at around 2 or 3 and thats me unless I start drinking again.

Benzos stopped working long a go along with other sleep aids.

Whats I'm trying to say is I'm not sure If I totally agree. Baclofen on its own can certainly cause insomnia imo. Its a bit like the anxiety thing where as its never done anything for my anxiety.

[Mandiekinz]

Baclofen and alcohol cause insomnia, not baclofen

True story. The only nights I wake up in a panic gasping for air are the nights that I do drink...although it's much easier to get up and go in the morning. On nights I don't drink, I sleep like a rock and refuse to wake up. Too much debt sleep, perhaps?

[Samandkatharine]

Baclofen and alcohol cause insomnia, not baclofen

On the two nights I slept well, I took a 1st morning dose of Bac at 3am when I got up to go the bathroom. 10 minutes later I was asleep. Weird that it works that way. I know when I have alcohol I don't sleep well at all.

[Isolde]

Baclofen and alcohol cause insomnia, not baclofen

I don't find that this is the case for me, at least at higher doses. Once I start getting north of 140mgs, insomnia always rears its ugly head, and this is with not drinking at all.

[Samandkatharine]

Baclofen and alcohol cause insomnia, not baclofen

I think it's different for everyone at whatever dose you are at. I got stuck at 70mg, hD to backtrack, and am ok at 80mg for now. My cravings are way down, but I drink out of habit, not from craving. Consumption is way down, thank god...

[Isolde]

Baclofen and alcohol cause insomnia, not baclofen

Samandkatharine;1564654 wrote: I think it's different for everyone at whatever dose you are at. I got stuck at 70mg, hD to backtrack, and am ok at 80mg for now. My cravings are way down, but I drink out of habit, not from craving. Consumption is way down, thank god...

Yeah, it takes me a few days to overcome the habit part of it. But once I do, it becomes pretty darn easy to be AF.