Trapped in Baclofen nightmare - please help!

[panico]

Trapped in Baclofen nightmare - please help!

Another update - and a call for help if anyone is reading. I finally tapered down over the weekend to 5mg, then 2.5mg, then zero yesterday - and for the past couple of days I've felt terrible - really foggy-headed, so tired I'm drinking Red Bulls and still barely functioning. I was wondering what was causing me to feel so bad, then this evening it clicked - is this baclofen withdrawal?

Is tiredness/brain fog a symptom of bac withdrawal in your experience? And if so, how long do you think I can expect this to last? I feel terrible, finding it very hard to function at work at the moment.

I'd be really grateful for any words of advice. Thanks!

[panico]

Trapped in Baclofen nightmare - please help!

Just as additional info to my last post - as far as I can remember, after stabilising at 30mg I did a couple of days at 20mg, then a couple at 10mg, then one day at 5 and one at 2.5, so it was a pretty quick drop. But I was only on the bac 3-4 weeks total.

[StuckinLA]

Trapped in Baclofen nightmare - please help!

I don't know if it's directly related to withdrawal - bac withdrawal mimics benzo and alcohol withdrawal for the most part, so jitteriness and anxiety. But I certainly feel low and foggy-headed, at times, during any of these. So maybe? But probably not?

Give it a day or so and try to get a good night's rest. Up and down - even if only on bac for a short while - is still an ordeal.

[spiritwolf333]

Trapped in Baclofen nightmare - please help!

I am not sure about the baclofen withdrawal symptoms or conditions, but I do know that taking benzos -up or down, can cause significant havoc with the brain/body. Just a thought.

[StuckinLA]

Trapped in Baclofen nightmare - please help!

Oh, one more thing, stay away from Red Bull. I know you're almost off bac entirely but the two - energy drinks and bac - do not mix well together. Switch to coffee or regular soda, or tea, or whatever you gotta do to get some caffeine, but try to avoid the energy drinks. Also, maybe look up 'caffeine exhaustion' or 'adrenal fatigue' or similar. Depending on how much caffeine/energy drink you're using to try and stay awake, that could be it. After a while caffeine (which is not itself a stimulant) makes demands on your adrenal glands that they can't meet, and the more coffee or whatever you drink not only doesn't help but actually makes you more tired.

I had this at least once, I'm pretty sure, and it took DAYS of rest and sleep to get over it. Just a thought to throw into the mix.

[panico]

Trapped in Baclofen nightmare - please help!

Thanks again to all who answered - this forum is a life-saver. After my last post, I decided to stick with it and stay off the baclofen, and thankfully the brain fog went away after a day or two, and now I feel more or less completely back to normal. So in my case at least, it was possible to come off 70mg baclofen with a very rapid taper after having been on it approximately one month in total - I think I tapered off over the course of about a week and a half.

And StuckinLA I'm sure you're right about the caffeine - though my consumption wasn't that high before baclofen - I tried anything to stop myself falling asleep mid-sentence at work! Those were some scary times.

Good luck to all of you on your journey!