Alcohol anxiety

[Samandkatharine]

Alcohol anxiety

Hi Padoo,

Most, if not all Bac users need to have some sober time while on the med for it to work. It will do its magic faster and with fewer side effects. Good luck in your journey!

Sam

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Alcohol anxiety

Hi, Padoo. Welcome to the forum.

I won't speak to whether or not you should abstain or have a goal of abstinence. There is plenty of time to delve into that! Likely you will revisit it for many moons. :H (This is a bit of an inside joke, but it is also true.)

So speaking of plenty of time...

padoo;1660069 wrote: It is my first and I have started on bac only a few weeks ago. On 100mg I had one of my episodes last week and partied and then ended up drinking in my room alone for 2 days after. I have just moved up to 120mg and am suffering fatigue, vertigo and nausea.

Up to 120 mg in a matter of weeks? That's mighty quick. What's your rush? Just kidding. I remember how eager I was just to take the damn pills and be done with it once and for all. But that's not really how it works, at least not most effectively.

Are you following a particular schedule?

[neophyte]

Alcohol anxiety

padoo,

I posted the article because like you said, it articulates exactly what i went through. it seems obvious when you read about it and then look at yourself in hindsight. however when experiencing anxiety from alcoholism I could not step outside myself and acknowledge it was the alcohol as the cause. on the few times ive drunk heavily since hitting my switch, i still become anxious the following day, despite my knowledge now, i still find myself worrying endlessly.

as to your on going anxiety problems. when you finally reach indifference with baclofen, after a few months of not drinking, the anxiety will get better. for me it did at least, but it was not enough. i now take effexor and mirtazapine. the mirtazapine in particular did wonders for me. not saying anti depressants are for you, but alcoholism makes anxiety worse which sounds like what you are going through.

[padoo]

Alcohol anxiety

Thanks very much neophyte, samandkat and Ne for the advice and insight.
Neophyte, it was a bit different for me. I kind of new that the alcohol was causing me anxiety from the age of 20 (almost 10 years ago) but just couldn't stop. This is maybe as after a few days, the anxiety subsides and then I feel completely fine and forget the impact and drink again, whether it be a couple of days (most often) or weeks later, usually in a social setting, and then quite often disaster strikes again. I always manage to convince myself that this time I drink I will be able to do it in a sensible manner. Sometimes I manage to, but it is only a matter of time before there is another episode. As for taking antidepressants, I'm not sure that I would go down that path, as I seem to usually feel quite good when I haven't been involved in a big drinking session in the last week. I do take zanax sometimes though, mostly to help with alcohol anxiety, but when it's lying around I also struggle to avoid taking it even when I'm not feeling particularly anxious (not a good idea I know).
Ne, yes perhaps I am taking too much too fast. I actually suffered SE's from a really low dose and then had improvements as I got used to it, which I guess encouraged me a bit. I also read Dr Ameisen's book and this post and saw examples of people taking high doses quickly and with little SE's. Unfortunately I am not luck enough to fall into this boat. You are right that I am in a hurry. After my episode of last week I was more in a hurry so yesterday moved up from 100 to 120, taking 60 in two goes. I had really really bad SE's last night, passing out, nauseous, really dizzy, tingles and shaking, seeing weird visuals when I closed my eyes. I still feel nauseous, dizziness and somnolence this morning.
Yes I have a program. I am lucky enough, living in Paris (but not French) to have a prescribing pysch. I am probably pushing her harder to go up quickly and downplaying my SE's due to my eagerness. I think you are right that I should definitely slow down as it is much more important that it works in the long term.
How much did you take and how quickly? At what dose did you hit you switch and how were the SE's for you?
Thanks again for the advice and insight guys.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Alcohol anxiety

padoo;1660205 wrote:
Ne, yes perhaps I am taking too much too fast. I actually suffered SE's from a really low dose and then had improvements as I got used to it, which I guess encouraged me a bit. I also read Dr Ameisen's book and this post and saw examples of people taking high doses quickly and with little SE's. Unfortunately I am not luck enough to fall into this boat. You are right that I am in a hurry. After my episode of last week I was more in a hurry so yesterday moved up from 100 to 120, taking 60 in two goes. I had really really bad SE's last night, passing out, nauseous, really dizzy, tingles and shaking, seeing weird visuals when I closed my eyes. I still feel nauseous, dizziness and somnolence this morning.
Yes I have a program. I am lucky enough, living in Paris (but not French) to have a prescribing pysch. I am probably pushing her harder to go up quickly and downplaying my SE's due to my eagerness. I think you are right that I should definitely slow down as it is much more important that it works in the long term.
How much did you take and how quickly? At what dose did you hit you switch and how were the SE's for you?
Thanks again for the advice and insight guys.

I experienced side effects from low doses too! There aren't that many of us, or rather, the ones who do are much more likely to stop taking it early on. For me, everything leveled out after I went up--much too soon and much too much! It's not uncommon to do that, for all of the obvious reasons.

A couple of things to note: We've come a long way since Ameisen did his own experimental titration. Also, keep in mind that he was on baclofen at a low dose for an entire year before he titrated up to reach indifference. And he was sober! Unless you fall into those two categories, it's my humble opinion that using his rapid titration isn't wise. More people reach actual indifference going slow and steady than rushing the process.

It took me four or more attempts before I was able to titrate up and reach indifference at 320 mg after 4 months. Part of that was because of the side effects I experienced at low doses. A bigger part of it was the fact that I didn't keep to a reasonable and regular titration. Some days I took an extra 20++ mg to try to speed the process up. It almost always backfired. And, of course, it didn't help that I was drinking my normal alcoholic amount on a daily basis. Alcohol makes everything worse.

There's one other factor about taking your time. You get the opportunity to prepare your mind as well as your body. Quitting drinking is a HUGE change. I'm glad I did it gradually, because I've seen a lot of people crash and burn when they found that they didn't crave alcohol anymore, but they still wanted to drink. Mostly, they quit taking baclofen.

Give yourself room to imagine life without booze. Then give yourself room to fill the space and time spent with booze. Remember that it takes what it takes in terms of milligrams but also in terms of time.

It really is a lovely world without the slavery of addiction. I hope you'll get here!

[padoo]

Alcohol anxiety

Ne,

Thanks again for sharing your insight. It's really nice of you and very helpful. Good to know that someone had the same problems with SE's and managed to get through. I struggled with the SE's today, went back down to 100 and now feeling a lot better. I will definitely take it slow and take my time because the SE's can really be debilitating and actually seem to cause me anxiety when they are too strong rather than reduce it as happens for some people.

When you were at 300 was it not very difficult to deal with. Or was it ok as you went up slowly? I can't really imagine being able to deal with that much. I think I need to try and drink as little as possible too, and avoid heavy drinking situations as far as possible. Whereas for now I have just been kind of going on as normal and expecting it to work like a miracle.

Thank again!

[neophyte]

Alcohol anxiety

padoo;1660392 wrote:
When you were at 300 was it not very difficult to deal with. Or was it ok as you went up slowly? I can't really imagine being able to deal with that much. I think I need to try and drink as little as possible too, and avoid heavy drinking situations as far as possible. Whereas for now I have just been kind of going on as normal and expecting it to work like a miracle.

for me it went like this 0-100mg of baclofen. little side effects, a bit of insomnia and solomlence. 100-200 same side effects but more pronounced, hang overs get worse here, they just feel weird and well, its been a while since i went through it all but generally its more unpleasant. drinking itself is less pleasurable as well. i found enjoyment from exersize diminisehd and the enjoyment from other drugs too.

200 and up, it was tough. at the time i naievly just assumed my switch would be 200mg or less because my daily consumption was lower than your average alcohol, about 350mls of scotch a night, for a male, no day time drinking. I had very bad anxiety and other drug addictions (benzos and opiates) for years.

I really tried to increase as fast as possible 200 up and thats where hte side effects were the worse. i saw flashing lights, barely slept, high anxiety and felt sleepy all day. i pushed to 320 and really freaked out, decided to settle at 295 and sit there for a while. suddenly one night wine just tasted disgusting and i didnt appreciate the feeling of being drunk.

it will work, and it is a miracle, but it wont feel like it at the time. you will just find alcohol kinda gross, and thats the new normal, however it does take time to adjust to not drinking. the cravings may be gone but you have to adjust your habits, and remember what the hell does one do each night when they dont get sh1t faced?

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Alcohol anxiety

padoo;1660392 wrote:
When you were at 300 was it not very difficult to deal with. Or was it ok as you went up slowly? I can't really imagine being able to deal with that much. I think I need to try and drink as little as possible too, and avoid heavy drinking situations as far as possible. Whereas for now I have just been kind of going on as normal and expecting it to work like a miracle.

Thank again!

Good morning, (here in Virginia) padoo.

There wasn't anything ok about 300 mg. :H Well, except that I stopped drinking against my will. I didn't go slowly or steadily. Even if I had, I'm not sure that an excessive amount of baclofen is a very tenable approach. (Except it worked. There's that.) My husband had a less difficult time, but it was still a daily challenge. He also went over 300 mg. My/our experience was similar to what Neo described.

It does work like a miracle for some people and I drank all the way up. But that (we think) is a particularly painful way to do it. Using all the tools to fight the battle is a probably a much more productive way to do it.

Hang in there, padoo!

[skullbabyland]

Alcohol anxiety

Padoo, just thought I'd chime in and say that I had very similar experiences and agree with all the advice you've gotten here already. Slower and steadier, and careful titration, will make things easier, as will some focused effort. It does take time and effort to learn to live without AL from a mental and habit standpoint, and it's an important part.

Good luck to you!

[neophyte]

Alcohol anxiety

Padoo, one more thing. the SE virtually all of them, will go away with time, but it takes a few months. im trying to think of myself now vs when i was not on baclofen, without the benefit of a good memory, i would say at the 300mg im on now, there are no side effects.

[gabrielle11]

Alcohol Anxiety some people try to soothe their anxiety with alcohol. When dealing with stressful days or nervous situations, you may be tempted to have a glass of wine or a beer to calm your nerves. But alcohol is not a medication. And drinking alcohol especially heavily and for the long term could actually increase your anxiety.

[neophyte]

Fred, I was hoping to get the anti anxiety benefit that Dr Ameisen talked about but it didn't work out for me. I've been playing around with different anti depresants since i got sober zoloft -> effexor -> effexor + mirtazapine -> lexapro + mirtazapine and now lexapro, I also take 50mg of seroquel for insomnia to replace the mirtazapine. I think I'm on to something good now.

What drove me to drinking insomnia and the anxiety from working in an open plan office, I'm a software developer and there are a lot of big egos in my line of work and well people frankly terrify me at times. Like I assume people think what I say will be stupid or they are plotting against me. I know it isn't true, but these thoughts arn't rational and are often unshakable. None of this bodes well for a career in a "collaborative team environment". Booze gave me solace from the daily toil but in the end it amplified the daily anxiety until I had to stop.

It's all clear in hindsight but when I was drinking daily I couldn't draw the connection to my increased day time anxiety to my daily alcohol withdrawal.

[Spiritfree]

BACLOFEN for treating Anxiety and Alcoholism: NIH Clinical Trial -Now Recruiting

Alcohol Anxiety some people try to soothe their anxiety with alcohol. When dealing with stressful days or nervous situations, you may be tempted to have a glass of wine or a beer to calm your nerves. But alcohol is not a medication. And drinking alcohol especially heavily and for the long term could actually increase your anxiety.

Hi gabrielle -I recently came across this on the National Institute of Health's website:

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01751386?term=baclofen+alcoholism&rank=1

Funny thought regarding alcohol as medication. Where I grew up, a couple of my grandparents would say that are taking their 'medication' for their cough, etc. They certainly were not fooling anyone, but I guess it made them feel better to say that. Also, their was a man named Ramblin "Doc" Tommy Scott. He was the last of the traveling 'snake oil' medicine men. He was a huge success. His bottled snake oil was simply moonshine -made in hills of Carolina. My dad, as a kid, was hired by him to help fill the bottles.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/15/arts/music/tommy-scott-singer-songwriter-and-pitchman-dies-at-96.html?_r=0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0ENKRpTGpE

LOL.