Nine months on Baclofen. SE worsening

[Samandkatharine]

Hi everyone.

I'm very proud to say that my journey to indifference is creeping towards nine months. I started baclofen late last summer, found Evan in October, and became indifferent in January of this year. :h

My SEs started with sleepiness and forgetfulness. The forgetfulness abated, but my tiredness is getting worse. It is so bad I can nod off at 5pm and struggle to get up for dinner. I got my son up for school at 6am and went back to bed from 7:15-9:30am. It's 4:16 PM and I could sleep again no problem. I'm on 60mg liquid and I don't know what to do. Should I go down in dose? I have no cravings, but am anxious in the mornings for no good reason.

I thought SEs got better,and I'm worried I'm a freak of nature :upset:

Thanks in advance!
Sam

[kronkcarr]

Nine months on Baclofen. SE worsening

I'm sorry about your SEs. I'm at 50 mgs for months and I've experienced that morning anxiety. It passed with no change in dosage.

You could try going down to see if your tiredness passes. If you're no longer indifferent go back up.

Are you eating well? Taking vitamins or supplements? Exercising? Getting outdoors? I started eating better and added a vitamin, Omega 3 and Chloroxygen and I have more motivation. Let me know.

[Xadrian]

Nine months on Baclofen. SE worsening

Samandkatharine;1661787 wrote: My SEs started with sleepiness and forgetfulness. The forgetfulness abated, but my tiredness is getting worse. It is so bad I can nod off at 5pm and struggle to get up for dinner. I got my son up for school at 6am and went back to bed from 7:15-9:30am. It's 4:16 PM and I could sleep again no problem. I'm on 60mg liquid and I don't know what to do. Should I go down in dose? I have no cravings, but am anxious in the mornings for no good reason.

Do you take the bac in equal doses?

You could for example lower your noon dose and up the evening dose. It doesn't have to be equal doses, as long as you get your daily dose every day.
That way, you can have some influence on the SE's

There are even some people here that take the full dose at once, just before going to sleep or so.

[terryk]

Nine months on Baclofen. SE worsening

My afternoon somnolence lasted at least a year after I found indifference, so at around 19 months on baclofen I was still nodding off around 5pm most nights. I overcame it by staying active in the early evening and drinking lots of good coffee. It eventually went away and my coffee consumption has dropped to a more reasonable level (still about four 8 oz cups a day).

It may take some time to resolve: one of baclofen's best qualities as a medication is that tolerance to its therapeutic effects does not usually occur. It would stand to reason that the associated side effects might take a while to dissapate (they did in my case - I'm currently on 180mg/day from 280mg/day in 9/2010).


Hang in there!
-tk

[Cassander]

Nine months on Baclofen. SE worsening

kronkcarr;1661967 wrote: ...
Are you eating well? Taking vitamins or supplements? Exercising? Getting outdoors? I started eating better and added a vitamin, Omega 3 and Chloroxygen and I have more motivation. Let me know.

Yep. I totally agree with kronk. Especially the exercise. If you haven't been doing much, start by just walking around the block with your ipod. Then just do a little more every other day or so. Then increase.

Based on what I have read and seen here, and thought alot about, the bac will make us indifferent to alcohol. But it won't make us "healthy". We still have to do all of the things (normal) people do to get and stay healthy.

The more I read and live, the more convinced I am that good health is difficult to achieve and maintain without regular exercise and good diet, work, leisure, social and sleep habits. Its all "of a piece".

I don't mean at all to be preach-y. You probably know all this already.

Best o' luck. Indifference is huge. You are well on your way!

Cassander

[bkyogagurl]

Nine months on Baclofen. SE worsening

Hey Sam-

You know I know nothing of Bac but wanted to send you a good ole girlfriend hug...
:huggy

So proud of you for sticking with it and doing the best you can..

And another...:huggy

Cause that's how we roll...

[Samandkatharine]

Nine months on Baclofen. SE worsening

Wow..Thanks everyone!!

I will try and answer everyone's questions w/o quoting...

I eat super clean..I may overdue it and will add more complex carbs in. I also take about 15 pills(supps) a day including omegas, magnesium ect...Added Lithium orotate too.

I have been walking about 5 miles a day, along with yoga 3 times a week. This does help with the mood, but I also found that for some odd reason the yoga exaserbates the sleepiness during the day. Not sure if the twisting and bending is tweaking the baclofen in the spinal fluid. I'd love to know if others have experienced this.

I have been "hiding" from my friends, except for my son's baseball parents. I lost a good friend that lives across the street because she put my son's life in danger along with other kids in the carpool due to her haphazard way of living..left the kids in the car for 45 minutes while she ran into Walmart...not good judgement. We used to have a great friendship but I had to let it go. I get all sad thinking about it.:upset: My best friend lives in SF and is single. She and I have little in common but I'm trying to make it work. I need to get out more, I know.

I will try tweaking my dose and aim for more at night, less during the afternoon. Thanks to all who recommended these areas to dwell. I appreciate all of you, really.:l

Baclofen has been a lifesaver, for me and others I've been in contact with. Thanks!

Sam

[spiritwolf333]

Nine months on Baclofen. SE worsening

Samandkatharine;1661787 wrote: Hi everyone.

The forgetfulness abated, but my tiredness is getting worse. It is so bad I can nod off at 5pm and struggle to get up for dinner. I got my son up for school at 6am and went back to bed from 7:15-9:30am. It's 4:16 PM and I could sleep again no problem. I'm on 60mg liquid and I don't know what to do. Should I go down in dose? I have no cravings, but am anxious in the mornings for no good reason.

I thought SEs got better,and I'm worried I'm a freak of nature :upset:

Thanks in advance!
Sam

Hi Sam -congrats on your continued indifference success.

I am holding steady at 200mg/day and most all side effects re baclofen are gone.

My morning anxiety (for "no good reason") became problematic for me as well. I have resolved this anxiety issue by taking a small dose of baclofen a couple of hours before I am fully awake or immediately upon waking.

Late afternoon tiredness was an issue for me as well. I began a cardio workout routine (rac-ball) about two months ago. Everyday between 4pm and 6pm I am physically moving -fast pace. This totally resolved my tiredness. Sounds like you are already doing this.

I hope you find an answer to your situation. Sounds like you have been under a great deal of stress lately. For me, stress is a huge energy killer.

[Samandkatharine]

Nine months on Baclofen. SE worsening

spiritwolf333;1662055 wrote: Hi Sam -congrats on your continued indifference success.

I am holding steady at 200mg/day and most all side effects re baclofen are gone.

My morning anxiety (for "no good reason") became problematic for me as well. I have resolved this anxiety issue by taking a small dose of baclofen a couple of hours before I am fully awake or immediately upon waking.

Late afternoon tiredness was an issue for me as well. I began a cardio workout routine (rac-ball) about two months ago. Everyday between 4pm and 6pm I am physically moving -fast pace. This totally resolved my tiredness. Sounds like you are already doing this.

I hope you find an answer to your situation. Sounds like you have been under a great deal of stress lately. For me, stress is a huge energy killer.

Thanks for the input Spirit. I unfortunately have to get my exercise in during the morning. I am going to try taking the bulk of my dose before bed and see if that helps. I already notice a difference since I've dosed 30 this morning and will not dose again until 9 or so tonight. It may help me sleep better too. Maybe it will help with the anxiety too, who knows.

Sam

[spiritwolf333]

Nine months on Baclofen. SE worsening

Sam - if there is any way that you can try taking a small dose of baclofen a few hours befor becoming fully, please try to do so. If not, try a dose right after waking. This made a world of difference in my am anxiety. This was a real difference, not a perceived difference.

[spiritwolf333]

Nine months on Baclofen. SE worsening

Sam - if there is any way that you can try taking a small dose of baclofen a few hours before becoming fully awake, please try to do so. If not, try a dose right after waking. This made a world of difference in my am anxiety. This was a real difference -not a perceived difference.

[Samandkatharine]

Nine months on Baclofen. SE worsening

spiritwolf333;1662132 wrote: Sam - if there is any way that you can try taking a small dose of baclofen a few hours before becoming fully awake, please try to do so. If not, try a dose right after waking. This made a world of difference in my am anxiety. This was a real difference -not a perceived difference.

I've done both. It does help. I just don't know where the anxiety is coming from. Life, I guess

Sam

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Nine months on Baclofen. SE worsening

I know I'm the queen of shouting about consistency. And for good reason! (I think.) BUT...if something doesn't work for me, I change it. This is not something I think is a good idea for people in the beginning of the adventure, but it seems to work for me now. And of course, making any change with an eye toward being reasonable and rational about it is a good idea.

That said, I agree with Terryk and the rest that was written here. It just takes time for everything to settle down. And consistency is probably a very important key to making it work long term. (I certainly can't speak to that from my own experience, since I have not always been consistent.) I've never had a return to craving, or alcoholic levels of consumption, but I have experienced dysphoria/depression/malaise and side effects as a direct result of going down too far or changing things too much. Just fyi.

Almost all of my friendships changed pretty dramatically after I got sober. Some of them for the much better. (Like with my husband.) But I've let my best friend go. I still love her, and it's still painful sometimes, but the dynamic changed and I can't navigate around it anymore. Some others became less important, and some more important. That's pretty typical of sobriety. And it's still in flux for me even after 3+ years. I don't feel different, but I must be because I don't think they've changed. You know? I'm glad I've got a therapist to help me suss all that out.

Hang in there, Sam!

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Nine months on Baclofen. SE worsening

Here's an afterthought:

I am exhausted. Completely wiped out, even though I had a very active weekend, had a lot of good outdoor family fun, and got plenty of sleep. In fact, last night was the first time in weeks I wasn't awoken by our sick dog in the middle of the night. Because we buried her yesterday. I cannot describe the depth of sorrow. Those of you who've been through it know. But it's not exactly "stress", is it? What we're experiencing emotionally is definitely playing itself out physically. We both feel like we haven't slept at all. Maybe that's affecting you, too? (Not about my dog, obviously. God knows, everyone would be mourning my dog, if they'd met her. But that's not my point!)

xo

[terryk]

Nine months on Baclofen. SE worsening

Oh, Ne I'm very sorry to hear about Goose. I'm sure that she had a great life and was lucky to have you and Ed. -tk