I think this is starting to happen

[beckty]

I feel like I am maybe close to my ?switch? with baclofen. :yay::yay: Starting to feel some very strange-to-me moments of thinking about a drink?and then deciding not to have one. Not always, and last night I had drinks anyway. Which I shouldn't have, because they catch up much more quickly and I don't really enjoy it nearly as much as I had. Seems kind of a waste.

I am at 110 taken 30/40/40. So far my side effects are minimal. Not much other than EXTREME sleepiness and feeling kind of weirdly tingly (especially when I start to fall asleep?) and also the icky feeling that something is in my throat and snoring! Even when I am awake at times. Bizarre.

Is it typical to still want a drink/think about drinking but then realize you don?t really want one? You just WANT to want one? Which is nonsense, since the whole point is to not want to drink. I am guessing for me it's more that I want to want my daily escape of choice because it did work for that, and I am feeling mildly that it's not working as it used to. Anyway, I?ll stay the course. My blood pressure demands it.

I am really really really hating the sleep'ies. Will I eventually adjust and not feel it so keenly? It makes it so hard to work! (And this is probably an over-share but I literally nearly fell asleep in the bathroom a little while ago.) Hoping another 10 mg does the trick for me. I had in my head this whole time that 120mg might do it for me. I don?t know why, but hopefully that proves true. I don?t think I can handle doing life on any higher dose.

[Lostinspace]

I think this is starting to happen

That's awesome that you feel you're getting close to the switch, beckty! Congratu-almost-lations, or something like that. :yay: I haven't hit my switch yet, so I'm sure some more experienced members here will chime in with their wisdom, but from everything I've read on this forum, I would think that what you're experiencing is perfectly normal. To want to want a drink. Baclofen works on cravings, but unfortunately, no pill can undo habit. New habits have to be built, and, I'm not the best person to speak to about this, so I'll just shut up now. I just want you to know I wish you the best and I'm rooting for you. :l

[Ne/Neva Eva]

I think this is starting to happen

YAY BECKY!

That's great to hear.

I'll be back when dinner isn't getting cold on the plate. (Probably tomorrow morning.)

:l

[Ne/Neva Eva]

I think this is starting to happen

Morning, Becky.

That transition from drinking alcoholically to not needing a drink to not wanting a drink is pretty wonky. Don't get me wrong, I was ecstatic about it and had loads of fun. But what a weird thing?! And yes, I think it takes a long time to figure out how to think about booze when you don't need it anymore. Committing to 30 days of abstinence (which lasted a lot longer) really helped me figure out what to think about and do with myself. It was pretty effortless, but I still thought about drinking quite a bit. (Mostly just thinking, "wow! it's 7 pm and I am not swilling wine! wooohoooooo!")

As to the side effects, they definitely dissipate. I wouldn't be rushing up or down based on that. And drinking makes it much, much worse. You're going to be amazed with how good you feel...

Also, don't be discouraged if the "switch" doesn't happen tomorrow or next week. It's a transition, and can be a dimmer switch, rather than on/off.

[beckty]

I think this is starting to happen

Ne/Neva Eva;1677807 wrote: Committing to 30 days of abstinence (which lasted a lot longer) really helped me figure out what to think about and do with myself. It was pretty effortless, but I still thought about drinking quite a bit. (Mostly just thinking, "wow! it's 7 pm and I am not swilling wine! wooohoooooo!")

Thanks so much for your input! I could see myself being exactly like that. I have already felt that way. Quiet on the inside and partying inside. I sat out with my husband around our fire pit for 2 hours on Sat night. Never had a single drink. I thought about it several times, but it was like you said. More of a "what the heck? Why am I not drinking". Crazy!!!! In a wonderful way.

I think that dimmer switch analogy is pretty apt, for me. And thanks for the encouragement on not basing my dosage on the darn sleepiness. I will continue my titration. Going to 120 today or tomorrow. I am going to stay with my sister in a month, and my sincere hope when starting this was that by the time I got there, I'd not be sad about not drinking or worse, hiding my drinking from her. She's the only person in my life who's mentioned my drinking with concern. It's embarrassing and I REALLY just wanted to go visit and be free from the agony of white knuckling or hiding. I can really see myself being ok with being there and having little to none for that week. And THEN the following week, I go to Vegas for 5 days. Which is obvs the opposite and I was thinking "Man, I will WANT to have fun there though!" but... I think I can see now that Vegas will be straight up fun if I am NOT brown-out drunk all evening and into the night and then icky hungover the next morning.

Anyway, this whole journey is really amazing and I am so very grateful for the friendship that pointed me in this direction.

[beckty]

I think this is starting to happen

Lostinspace;1677580 wrote: That's awesome that you feel you're getting close to the switch, beckty! Congratu-almost-lations, or something like that. :yay: I haven't hit my switch yet, so I'm sure some more experienced members here will chime in with their wisdom, but from everything I've read on this forum, I would think that what you're experiencing is perfectly normal. To want to want a drink. Baclofen works on cravings, but unfortunately, no pill can undo habit. New habits have to be built, and, I'm not the best person to speak to about this, so I'll just shut up now. I just want you to know I wish you the best and I'm rooting for you. :l

Thanks Lost :heart: The new habits thing will be tough in some ways, but I keep trying to remember when I used to do before I drank. I was an evening crafter, reader, puzzler worker. I miss that. Drinking wrecks both ambition and skills to do any of those things! My reading is pathetic. I just don't concentrate. Hopefully that will heal as I go along. I've been drinking this way for about 8 years. Not the whole of my adult existence, for sure.

Rooting for you!!! You're going to get this. Can't wait to celebrate with you.

[zampa75]

I think this is starting to happen

Hi all,
I haven't been here for a while as I was abroad for a month, and my mind was on vacation too (not that I did not have access to the internet, of course!) I kept my Bac intake at a minimum for half of the vacation, then started going slowly up. Side effects are not terrible but definitely very annoying - but I take they decrease in time? I am back here today b/c I find my impatience threatens to make me stop altogether, as if, since it isn't happening then why bother with the damn side effects?? I know it does not make any freaking sense b/c I just started, so I am here to ask you guys to tell me to keep taking the damn pills and be patient! And not to feel alone... Feeling alone in this is risky: it makes it less real, less of " a fact" that this works, and, again, you find your brain is telling you to just quit.... Ok - done with this rant! Hope you're all good. I am at 75 mg now, which makes me feel 'high' and not in a good way...! I still drink my usual, and smoke a lot more than a month ago, but that might be b/c I've just spent 4 weeks in Europe surrounded by smoking friends....

[tee111]

I think this is starting to happen

Stick at it if you can zampa. This is my 3rd try after 2 failed attempts last year. I wish I had motored on as a year has passed in which my drinking got way worse. I get those SEs where you feel sort of high and not in a good way. I actually feel a bit more anxious instead of feeling less like some people post. I also feel a touch paranoid when out and the intrusive thoughts seem to be running more than usual in my head.

I'm currently not drinking as I have issues with my insides so that has helped. I'm at 75mg and really feel like its working. I'm not consumed with cravings like before. I still think about drinking from the moment I wake but the baclofen seems to block me from letting the voice over run my thought process. If I've any advice it would be to stick to a dosage plan. Jumping about with doses is a recipe for disaster. I did that the first time. I've stuck to a steady rise every 4 days this time round and my body seems to be tolerating it better.

I've tried everything. The last while back I've sort of felt a touch frightened as I feel like I can't control the cravings by will power alone even though I'm drinking through pain and know I'm doing damage. I can't imagine how things might pan out if I don't get this under control.

Its a trip alright.