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[Lostinspace]

Ok. This is my third attempt to post. I guess my first two messages were too long, so I got logged out before I could post. Anyway, new member here, long time lurker. I need help. I went through a medical detox several months ago and got my doctor to prescribe baclofen. Never reached indifference because he'll only prescribe up to 80 mg. Anyway, things at work got real busy and stressful, I forgot my dosing schedule, lost all help from the reduced cravings that baclofen provided. I relapsed hard. Started drinking all day, every day, once again. I managed, a month and a half ago, to detox myself by reducing my drinking by a few shots a day until I was down to zero. Well, the next day, I started drinking yet again because I'm an idiot. The baclofen never made me indifferent at that dose, but it did help. How do you baclofen users remember to take it as many times a day as you do? I'm having trouble getting back into a routine.

[StuckinLA]

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:welcome:

Pill box. Like a geriatric person. Pick a day of the week, Sunday or whatever, and divide your daily doses into the 4 containers in each strip of the pill box. Then in the morning take that day's container and put it in your bag or whatever, and set alarms on your phone. That's the easiest, safest, most fool-proof way to do it. You'll always know how much you've taken that day and how much you have left to take, based on the container.

I tried to do that shit, but ended up forgetting or f**king up somehow or just having kind of a feel for when 4 hours were up and it was time to take more. Didn't always work perfectly though just sayin'.

[Lostinspace]

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Thanks, Stuck. I did that the first time around. Unfortunately, my job keeps me moving a million miles an hour, and it's easy to get lost in what you're doing. (How do I even manage that as a drunk? I've been fired before for drinking on the job, but this boss doesn't seem to notice - a good thing, but not a good thing. I need to do this for myself!). In short, I suck. But, I will change. I know I will eventually. That's why I'm here. But, thank you. I take the bus, so I carry a big ass backpack with me. Maybe the big pillbox in there could help remind me.

[StuckinLA]

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No they're tiny. Just a little rectangle - each day comes out individually of the whole thing.

EZY Dose One-Day-At-A-Time Weekly Medication Organizer Tray | Walgreens

A big ass backpack can only help though. I did that myself for a long time when I took the bus every day.

The other thing you could try is taking fewer doses. Depends a lot on how bac affects you, but the effects on drinking are more a product of the level in your CNS, not necessarily in your blood stream at any given time. Especially if you're taking 80 or less, try 2 doses. One guy around here (bleep) takes his whole dose once a day - something like 150 or 200 I think. I would never do that, but hey, to each their own right.

[Lostinspace]

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I may have to order one. Could it fit in my lab coat pocket? Is it that small? Or, better yet, maybe I should just keep the damn pills in my pocket, so every time I reach to get a pen, I'll feel them. Good food for thought. Thank you. Such a simple idea, yet it never occurred to me until you brought up the pillbox!

[Lostinspace]

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I have to apologize for my stupidity. My mind has been adrift as of late.

[StuckinLA]

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Yeah it'll fit in a pocket. Maybe 1"x1"x4" or so?

No stupidity at all. We've all been there.

[Lostinspace]

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Thanks, Stuck. I feel stupid even posting here, as I'm not sober yet. I can't just stop. I've experienced life-threatening withdrawal in the past (DTs, seizures, etc.). I don't want to post before I'm clear-headed, but I have no choice. I just started on my own program of cutting back, little by little, while I increase my bavlofen dose at the same time to help with the cravings. I hope no one here judges me. I'm not trying to inundate the board with drunk posts. I could just use a little support while I do this. Detoxing yourself is HARD. It takes discipline beyond anything else I've ever done. You have to view vodka/bourbon as MEDICINE - you take it only as needed - not as your stupid alcoholic brain makes you think you drink it!

[Sprat]

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Have a smart phone? I use the app Med Minder (or something similar). you put in your own time and dose. For example if you take 180mg 3 times a day just put in 60mg @ 9am, 1pm, 5pm. The alarm buzzes w/ visual icon, take your dose anytime after that, swipe to clear. easy.

[Lostinspace]

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Yeah, I definitely need to do that. I've been reluctant because my phone is so heavy in my lab coat pocket. Lame excuse, right? But I actually thought about that and then used that excuse! What?! I'm ruining my life! Heavy pockets aren't going to kill me. God, I'm an idiot. Thank you for reminding me. I will start doing that.

[StuckinLA]

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I posted drunk when I first got here, all the time. I still post drunk when I drink - though that's less and less often these days, thank Christ. So no worries there at all.

And you do whatever you need to do, seriously. I've tried the home detox with booze, and I can't do it. I have to go cold turkey and manage withdrawal with benzos or I'm just on a bender for as long as I keep drinking. God bless you, man, that takes determination and willpower.

[Samandkatharine]

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Lostinspace;1672372 wrote: Thanks, Stuck. I feel stupid even posting here, as I'm not sober yet. I can't just stop. I've experienced life-threatening withdrawal in the past (DTs, seizures, etc.). I don't want to post before I'm clear-headed, but I have no choice. I just started on my own program of cutting back, little by little, while I increase my bavlofen dose at the same time to help with the cravings. I hope no one here judges me. I'm not trying to inundate the board with drunk posts. I could just use a little support while I do this. Detoxing yourself is HARD. It takes discipline beyond anything else I've ever done. You have to view vodka/bourbon as MEDICINE - you take it only as needed - not as your stupid alcoholic brain makes you think you drink it!

Don't feel stupid! We've all been in your shoes.

Sam

[Ne/Neva Eva]

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I'm pretty sure that 97.62% of us have posted drunk. (Margin of error is +/- 2%)

Speaking for myself, for the first year I was here I was either drunk or hungover. The support I got from folks here helped me get to the point where I am no longer drunk or hungover.

Missing doses or taking too much can make for a really tumultuous titration. I did it. I don't recommend it. I had more than one pill box and at one point I needed help figuring out how many pills to take because the abacus in my head was broken. Sometimes my abacus malfunctions even now. It is what it is.

Hang in there and post away.

[Lostinspace]

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Thank you Stuck, Samandkatherine, and Ne, for your very kind and supportive words. I am trying my best. Today was supposed to be day two of tapering down off the booze. I did not manage that. I only managed to do the same as yesterday. I’m buying smaller bottles, plus those airliner shot bottles, to get the exact amount that I need to continue my taper. I take the bus (in a small town with $h!tty public transportation and I live several miles out of town), so I only need to maintain the willpower to succeed for the 40 minutes it takes to get between the bus that drops me off from work to downtown, to the bus that takes me from downtown to home. Unfortunately, tonight, I bought the proper quantity, then panicked 10 minutes later, and ran back to the liquor store to buy three more shots. I suck. . . for now. I’ve done this before in the not too distant past and I WILL do it again. At least I didn’t buy another liter, or worse yet, a half gallon, out of panic of not having enough. That’s a start. I’m a little worried, though, at how things are going. I still truly love the burn of vodka and bourbon going down my throat. And, obviously, I am not good at dealing with reality. I only managed to raise my baclofen dose by 20mg, though, so maybe, it’ll be more helpful as I continue to titrate? Currently, my husband is not speaking to me because of something???!! I did this past Saturday while in a blackout. As bad of a drunk as I am, I actually don’t normally black out. I know my tolerance pretty well. My usual pattern is to maintain the buzz that I always have going on - usually not too much more. I actually hate being drunk and especially hate blackouts. Not my usual. Anyway, I’m sick with sadness at the moment. I can’t stand the fact that I once again pissed off my husband to the point that he won’t talk to me. I don’t even know what I did. Thank you if you made it this far in reading. I know I wrote a novel. I’ll shut up now.

[StuckinLA]

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Dude, you're a chick?

Not blacking out is impressive - that's not my norm at all, at least not the end of the night getting home part. That I nearly never remember. Anyway, good on you for sticking strong to the plan, and especially not buying a whole bottle. Though those airline minis sure have given me hell in their day.

Try not to hang on to the sadness too long. Everybody pisses everybody else off - the point is that you're taking huge steps to change things and it ain't f**king easy.