New here - would love some feedback!

[dancinglotus]

Hi Guys

I've been AF for 8 days now after over 20 years of drinking, putting my mind, body and spirit through hell! I started using bac at 5mg 3 times a day and remarkably it allowed me to pass up on my usual stop home from work to pick up a bottle (wine or beer usually). The next day I continued at 5mg but increased my nighttime dose to 10mg, all was well so I increased to 30mg for the next 2 days and it seemed ok, no SE's was sleeping really well. The next day I continued on this dose but started to feel very spaced out with the presence of tinnitus (I suffer from this sometimes) sleep was almost impossible, my body felt like it was buzzing and had a kind of pain and tingling particularly through my muscles. I reduced the next day to 20mg and eventually down to 10mg thinking perhaps I need a very very slow titration. Still the spaced out, body tingling and insomnia continues. It's amazing to me how some folks can take the amounts they take.

Anyway, I'm not giving up but realise my body is very sensitive so will takes things very easy indeed. I have to say even at these low doses I have had no desire AT ALL to drink even though I have thought about it mainly to see how I feel about it.

I wonder if any of you guys had a similar experience when starting out.

Thanks for listening (reading).

[Ne/Neva Eva]

New here - would love some feedback!

Hiya, Dancing.

I can't suggest a particular titration. I can suggest that you don't have to be particularly sensitive to medication to have a reaction to the uuuups and doooowns. In other words, perhaps it's not a sensitivity so much as a reasonable reaction to lots of different levels of meds. In more other words, picking a level and sticking with it for some recommended amount of time, regardless of how you feel, and then changing things, might be really beneficial.

I used to think that I had terrible reactions to the lower doses, and that may be true. BUT I wonder if I was haphazard about when and what and how often I took my meds when I was in the lower doses. I certainly stopped that behavior when I got to the bigger numbers. I got a pill box. And I used my phone to alarm me when it was time...Anyway. I can't give specific titration advice but a baseline and a place to start, along with a plan for the coming weeks and months might help you in the long run.

Hi. Welcome to the forum and to baclofen. I hope you find the success with it that I found! Rock on with your bad-a$$ self and those 8 days.

EDIT: seriously love your avatar.

[kronkcarr]

New here - would love some feedback!

Hi,

Welcome to bacland! I started at 30 mgs and titrated up 10 mgs every 4 days. I got stuck at 60 then 80 because my dr wouldn't let me go higher. I split my doses--even at 30 into 3 or more doses and took them at the same time each day.

I did have side effects--all kinds--crazy sleep, leg muscle fatigue, no appetite, headaches, snoring etc. but I also lost my desire and compulsion to over drink. I also slowed down, gained confidence and self worth. The SEs changed and didn't necessarily get worse with higher doses. My worst SEs were when I titrated down to my maintanence dose.

Take your time. It sounds like it's already helping.

[StuckinLA]

New here - would love some feedback!

I went at about 10mg/every 5 days, and didn't even think about it until I was over 150mg/day. Then things started to get interesting, but until then it was just sleepiness in the afternoons.

:welcome:

[dancinglotus]

New here - would love some feedback!

Thanks so much for your responses guys, it feels great to have some guidance and support with this. Your advice makes perfect sense, I can see now how dithering around with non-specific doses for non-continuous periods of time would make my body react the way it did. I have a week off work this coming week so I am going to continue with a lose dose of 20 mg a day and switch it up to 30 mg on Tuesday all being well. I think being more in tune with my body will help.

I'm so grateful for this amazing opportunity to be AF thanks to the late Dr Ameisen and also to this community for encouragement and advice.

Tonight my son and I are going out for dinner where I would normally have about 4 beers (and the rest when I get back home - duh!). I'm so determined to beat this beast that tonight I'm exerting my will power and ordering a coke before my 'crazy cat' can talk me out of it. I will order a LOAD of food too that will help things along.

Wish me luck guys! I will update with my progress.

Once again, lots of gratitude!!!!!! x. :thanks:

[omahawagon]

New here - would love some feedback!

Just going to echo to take things slowly. And to keep in mind that simply going AF after all these years is going to mess with your system/sleep/way you react to meds as well. Hence going slowly It sounds like you are getting some relief at this dose so who knows, you may be one of the people who hits the switch on low dose Bac. It happens! Good luck!

[joanna_d]

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hi dancing, and welcome!

like the others said.
listen to your body. tiration is different for everyone. some go up like a speed wagon, some have to stay at a certain dose for some time before se's allow them to go up again. confusingly, i've found that going up in dose slightly sometimes diminished certain se's.
as you've started this trip for your overall health and wellbeing, why not start right away with minding those while you're going up? something like that.

i had tinnitus too. it's not an uncommon se. might well be right what palladium wrote about that. i guess his (or her?) remark "These are all symptoms that suggest that your central nervous system is having trouble coping" might quite well fit me. my central nervous system must have been a bleedin' mess at that time

good going girl!

[dancinglotus]

New here - would love some feedback!

Ok so since my rocky start I have been consistent at 15mg a day split 3x5mg at 8am, 1pm and 6pm. This is way better for me, feeling very centered and in control and have had no compulsion to just 'nip to the shops' despite thinking about booze an awful lot. I think I'm just amazed at how quickly and effectively this seems to be working for me, sometimes I think it must be a 'fluke' but I know that it can't be since I would have definitely for sure picked up a bottle or three then four blah blah (you know the story) by now.

I am loving having the patience to sit and focus on things, taking my time, engrossing myself in it, just really being more authentic. No hangovers - WOW!! This is my second AF weekend which confirms my observation that weekends feel so much LONGER when not drinking.

So, still planning on increasing on Tuesday, softly softly and all that. I was so so hesitant before starting this therapy, researched researched and reresearched some more. I kind of thought and half expected it wouldn't work or I would find a way of screwing it up or fucking myself up further. I'm so so glad I took the plunge and I'm also glad I came on here and asked for guidance when it got uncomfortable, that was actually a big step for me because I'm really quite shy (go figure).

I'm sticking around, reading others progress and generally gathering the tools I need to make this truly life changing. 12 days AF!!!!!!!!! Get in!

:h

[joanna_d]

New here - would love some feedback!

that's so great to read dancing. your happiness is jumping off screen

[chelsea98]

New here - would love some feedback!

hi dancinglotus and welcome. I'm glad to hear things are going well for you. i too started at half a pill 3 days a week and over a period of 4 months have moved up to 21 pills per day. my doctor, dr chick would only prescribe up to 100mg (10 pills) per day so i stocked up when on holiday to go over and above that amount. he did tell me that he's had clients who have managed to kick it at as low as 60-80mg per day and if you're getting results at an even lower dosage then thats fantastic. i wish you all the best and long may your abstinence continue!! :goodjob: