My Story New to My Way Out

[jrlundy]

:new:I have been using Baclofen for months but just got turned on to the My Way Out book and community. I was prescribed 80mg a day of Baclofen from my Psychiatrist to help with my addiction problems and for anxiety. I had been relapsing quite a bit. I noticed an immediate positive effect of Baclofen regarding helping my cravings and help with my anxiety. I went on my own journey and started ordering more Baclofen online while still getting them from my doctor. I could not be honest with my doctor because she had already warned me not to take more than prescribed. I began experimenting with raising my dose, without any prior knowledge of all these people that apparently doing the same thing and My Way Out and so forth. I just kept raising my dose and I would get side effects that would be bad and that would be good. One time in the later stages I was at about 200-250mg per day and i went up in one day to 325mg and had the worst reaction. I ended up in the hospital. I could not be woken up and felt messed up for a week trying to find my way back to normal levels again. I went from overdose symptoms to withdrawal symptoms very quickly. I say all of that to say the overdose made me get online and research the drug and that is where I found all the wonderful experiences that validated my good experience with Baclofen. I have been totally abstinent from all illicit drugs and alcohol since Oct 23rd and have not had one craving since. Yes, my ride with Baclofen has been bumpy with bad side effects along the way but I have not had one craving to use drugs or drink since and that is a BIG deal. I was a real bad addict, one of the worse cases that i know and with the help of Baclofen i have been abstinent since Oct 23rd. My wife of 22 years did not approve of me at first taking more than my doctors prescribed dose but after seeing the good results, mind you the bad effects scared the crap out of her, she doesnt get on me anymore and is holding her breath and she doesnt care what is helping me at this point because my addiction problems were literally killing me. I am excited to know of My Way Out and all of your stories and feel like I was on the right track all along and am excited that it is still working

[Alky]

My Story New to My Way Out

My wife couldn't believe it when after hitting my switch, we went out to a wine bar, and I was about to leave a third of a glass of beer. Stuff really works. Best of luck to you.

[neophyte]

My Story New to My Way Out

Jr, great story and congratulations on staying sober. Indifference is a wonderful thing. Especially when you are a poly drug addict. Such as myself, if i stop drinking then its opiates or benzos. I always seek the relaxing high to help with my anxiety. Baclofen seems to address the cravings for drugs and the anxiety, it is amazing.

Its a shame we have to go behind our doctors backs to go down this path, especially since at higher levels of bac, the side effects can get scary.

Can you tell us more about your hospital visit at 325mg? What kind of side effects did you suffer and how fast were you going up in the dose? Anything else of interest?

I had a very bad reaction when i went from 295 to 320. I became dizzy and I had racing thoughts, I felt like i was going to have a panic attack. In hindsight, i had been too aggressive going up. At lower doses it was fine, but when i reached doses 220 plus. Going up that fast got a bit scary. I stuck it out at 295, but it took a lot longer for the sides to go down compared to lower doses.

[Mandiekinz]

My Story New to My Way Out

Welcome Jr!!

What an honest story. Thanks for jumping the gun and showing your face with such honesty...this is a wonderful forum full of insight and information, as well as great support.

I'm sorry you had to go through such a rough road by yourself. However, it sounds like you found indifference with just baclofen and not much support. Well done!

I do agree with Neo, please indulge us on that information and help give some insight for newbies that may come across and see your posting.

How long have you been on baclofen for?

Cheers, friend.

[jrlundy]

My Story New to My Way Out

Reply

I started taking baclofen several months ago and at first I took it as prescribed, 80mg per day. Again, I noticed something good. It eased some anxiety and I didn't crave as much..however, after a couple of months I would relapse but my relapses would be for a shorter amount of time and would be on less hard of drugs. I also take zyprexa and Zoloft for bi -polar II. I started to take more and more baclofen, maybe adding 20mg every few days or a week sometimes..I didn't pay much attention back then, sadly I did not respect the drug as I should have. When I got to the 140mg-160mg range I would feel kind of buzzy and would fall asleep sitting up while watching tv but happy and content but odd. I kind of got scared that I might be seeking a high and up to my old ways and maybe I was but for some reason I knew it wasn't quite the same with baclofen. I wasn't high in that way and it touches a part of my brain especially after 160mg where I don't think about wanting to use other drugs. I kept taking more until I was around 200mg-220mg a day and I would nod off while watching tv and I would wake up feeling kind of high and content and not craving any drugs. One night I messed up and kind of lost track of how much I had taken and ended up taking like. 320mg or 340mg and I panicked right after I took my last dose and thought that might not be too smart and I had racing thoughts and tried throwing up but could not and felt anxious and panicky and heart was racing and I fell asleep and my family tried waking me and if I did sit up I could not speak and would lay back down and sleep and the effects lasted well into the next day and I would finally wake up after much coaxing and could not speak correctly and had trouble walking too. I was very dizzy and not thinking good. Then I felt symptoms of withdrawal like anxiety and electrical buzzing in my ears and twitching. So to me I felt overdose symptoms and withdrawal symptoms all at the same time. It is hard to explain but after researching the internet I now know I was going through both overdose and withdrawal very close together..I waited as long as I could before taking more baclofen..maybe 24 hours then would take 40mg and would do that every few hours and just felt it out for a while but I was way out of whack at that point and ended up panicking after a few days and went to the ER and was fine really and was released quickly and then I realized the experience had pushed me into a hypomanic state which is not a pleasant place for me, it comes as anxiety for me so I double up on my zyprexa and a few days later I stabilized and got back to 250mg a day of baclofen and still nodding off while watching tv at night and feeling dizzy and a bit high during the day but still not craving drugs. I go to work and come home and watch too much tv but I am making good progress. A year ago I was unemployed and unemployable and in the throws of drug addiction and dying. I hope to titrate down and get away from the tv at night and do a little more but I am making huge progress