started with baclofen..

[lewis123]

Dear,

i'm a 25y old and i live in Belgium and i wanna apologize in advance for my bad english.

To make a long story short: I'm struggling with alcohol addiction since i was 16y old, but it's not a real alcohol addiction i'm just addicted to "things" like alcohol, marihuana, coke, sleeping pills, gambling, ...
I go to psychiaters since i'm 20y old. I'm diagnosed with heavy ADHD, i take rilatin since my 18y old. Beside the problem with my addiction i also have a real problem in live, i have a good job but every day i wonder what i do in live, if i wouldn't do another job, what will make me happy, .. I just can't control my thoughts, i didn't find some rest in my head for the last 7 years.

I tried to quit drinking when i was 20y old and it worked for 3 months, but than i smoked marihuana for 3 months. When i was 23 i took antabuse for 6 months, but the cravings were so hard to take "something" that i smooked pot, took sleeping pills, etc..

My craving to take something always starts in the evening, it's never during the day.

I read olivier ameisen his book, i wanted to take baclofen for more than a year but i don't know why i didn't tried it.

It's maybe hard to explain but i haven't been drunk in the last couple of months. But i'm just addicted to it in the way that i really need something every evening.

I started today with 3x5mg, and i'm gonna move up slow, so i think after 5 days moving up to 3x10mg a day.

Do you guys have any other questions to me? Feel free to ask.

Do you have any advice when most of u take your last pill? Just before going to bed? Or around diner time?

I hope this will work for me. Because nothing else did (rilatin, concerta, strattera, antbase), I also tried Naltroxen, but i was soooo tired when i take a pill that i didn't take it more than twice.

Lewis

[Jazi's Mum]

started with baclofen..

Hi Lewis. So good to meet you :welcome: Don't worry about your English. It's just fine.

There are many many posts here in the Baclofen/naltrexone section and if you have some time I would suggest going way back to the beginning pages and read as many of the ones on baclofen that you can, moving forward to the newer ones. That's what I did when I first started taking balcofen. That way when I started I wasn't afraid of what would happen. That made the side effects understandable and better to handle.

I would also suggest another book for you. It's called The Heart of Addiciton, by Dr. Lance Dodes. This man is a psychiatrist and has worked with addicts all his career.

What you will learn from Dr. Dodes is that it is NOT the substance, it's the need to take something, or do something that is the addiction.

You are right to move slowly. There have been many who were so anxious for good results that they went up too fast and had to quit taking baclofen.

You will get lots of good advice here. Just don't be afraid. You are doing the right thing to help yourself.

You have ADHD which makes a big difference. Many of the things you do and feel are things that go along with that problem. I have ADD and I know just how you feel. This will make it a little harder for you to quit drinking but it will happen so try to be patient. I know that's hard when impatience is part of our ADD problem :H

Good luck and please keep in touch and let us know how you are. :h

[skullbabyland]

started with baclofen..

Hi Lewis- welcome- one thought is to perhaps consider going up slower than you've said- it seems so many people go up too quick and SE's become a serious problem. Keep in mind that a jump from 15mg to 30mg, while still a low dose, is a 200% jump to your system. That could present problems.

I seem to be one of the "go slower!!" voices around here but I think it's important. SE's scare me and have really derailed so many of us who are so desperate for a way out. I for instance only go up 5mgs a week for this reason. Just a thought... Welcome and good luck to you, keep us posted!

[spiritwolf333]

started with baclofen..

lewis123;1620046 wrote: Dear,

i'm a 25y old and i live in Belgium and i wanna apologize in advance for my bad english.

To make a long story short: I'm struggling with alcohol addiction since i was 16y old, but it's not a real alcohol addiction i'm just addicted to "things" like alcohol, marihuana, coke, sleeping pills, gambling, ..
.
Beside the problem with my addiction i also have a real problem in live

I tried to quit drinking when i was 20y old and it worked for 3 months, but than i smoked marihuana for 3 months. When i was 23 i took antabuse for 6 months, but the cravings were so hard to take "something" that i smooked pot, took sleeping pills, etc..

My craving to take something always starts in the evening, it's never during the day.

It's maybe hard to explain but i haven't been drunk in the last couple of months. But i'm just addicted to it in the way that i really need something every evening.

I also tried Naltroxen, but i was soooo tired when i take a pill that i didn't take it more than twice.

Lewis

Hi Lewis -good to hear from you. I hope your efforts take you to where you want to be. For me, and many others, extreme somnolence is par for the course when taking baclofen. Eventually, this tiredness/sleepiness wears off -but it takes time. I hope that this reality does deter you from your efforts to be "non-addictive" -because, at least for me, baclofen works.

[neophyte]

started with baclofen..

lewis - im exactly the same. since i was 17 i've always craved something at night time, never during the day, usually something to relax. at first it was marijuana, alcohol, codeine then i started mixing in benzos and really getting in to trouble.

since on baclofen the desire to seek out drugs has diminished greatly. Before i would spend a lot of time trying to seek out drugs but that is no longer the case. I no longer drink either.

[lewis123]

started with baclofen..

Hey,

thanks for the respones. I'm really happy that i have the feeling u guys understand me. I did order the book, and i will read a lot about it, and i will go up very slow.

When i only have cravings in the evening, is it really necessary to start taking a pill in the morning?

Really really thanks you for the replies. I will come back here often and give reports about how i feel.

I now take 10mg a day, one in the afternoon, and one in the evening. Next week i'll take 15mg.

Lewis

[neophyte]

started with baclofen..

lewis123;1620580 wrote: Hey,
When i only have cravings in the evening, is it really necessary to start taking a pill in the morning?
Lewis

yes it is, baclofen takes days for it to work. its not so simple that you take a pill and an hour later your cravings go down 10 points. not an expert here, but generally having a stable blood level of the medication is ideal, at least during tritation up. I've read that some members here take their dose all at once at one point during the day. some people spread their doses out 6 or more doses. I do 3.

[lewis123]

started with baclofen..

Hey guys,

i take 3x5mg and i just feel normal. I'm not feeling any somnolence, i will move up to 20mg a day in 4 days. So than i move up very slow. I didn't drink anything yesterday btw.

Have a nice weekend and i'll keep things up to date in a couple of days.

Lewis

[skullbabyland]

started with baclofen..

Great job having an AF day yesterday. The more AF days you can get, the better the bac works and the less SE's. And glad to hear you're increasing dosage slowly.
Have a good weekend Lewis-
Skull

[Wildjaq]

started with baclofen..

Congratulations Lewis - glad to hear things are working out. looking forward to reading how you get on.

[Samandkatharine]

started with baclofen..

Hi Lewis,

I was on Ritalin for a short time, but it made my cravings worse. ADs were of no help either. My main issues were social anxiety, which I've come to find was my main problem all of my life. Baclofen reduced my anxiety and my need to self medicate.

I hope you keep posting!

Sam
:welcome:

[neophyte]

started with baclofen..

lewis, in regards to not feeling side effects yet, they will come as the doses get higher, for me the sides got nasty 200mg and up. the side effects were virtually non existent for me below 100mg.

[neophyte]

started with baclofen..

also, think about using this thread to track your progress, ask questions in here, people will answer

[lewis123]

started with baclofen..

neophyte;1621948 wrote: also, think about using this thread to track your progress, ask questions in here, people will answer

Ok? thank you for the advice!

[lewis123]

started with baclofen..

Samandkatharine;1621921 wrote: Hi Lewis,

I was on Ritalin for a short time, but it made my cravings worse. ADs were of no help either. My main issues were social anxiety, which I've come to find was my main problem all of my life. Baclofen reduced my anxiety and my need to self medicate.

I hope you keep posting!

Sam
:welcome:

Hey Sam,

what dose are you on now?

Lewis