Back on bac

[TimberTim]

Hey there,
After about 6 months off, I'm back within the fold. I had a pretty severe bender a couple of weeks ago. I felt like crap for 3 days afterward, so here I am.

I'm up to 160 mg/day already, and based on my past bac usage that seems to be about right. Already have trouble sleeping and some other SEs. Any higher and I become a total zombie!

Look forward to chatting with you all!

TimberTim

[skullbabyland]

Back on bac

Welcome back Tim, glad you're here Keep posting and let us know how things go!

[Lostinspace]

Back on bac

Welcome back TimberTim. I'm glad you got back on the bac and, from what you said on Randall's thread, it sounds like it's working pretty well for you outside of the side effects. Hopefully those will ease up for you soon as your body readjusts to it. I look forward to hearing more from you and getting to know you

[TimberTim]

Back on bac

Thank you both for the welcome! I've been in a daze all weekend from the bac. Not much sleep either. Have either of you tried Kudzu? My wife ordered me some. Just wondering how it works.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Back on bac

Hi Tim! Nice to see you, though sorry for the circumstances. I'm running after the wind right now, so have little time to post. Just wanted to say howdy and be bac(k) later!
:l
Ne

[Lostinspace]

Back on bac

Hey Tim. Sorry for the late response. I wasn't able to get on this site at all yesterday. Anyway, I have not tried kudzu, but there seems to be at least some studies which show that it can help people cut down on drinking. There's no reason not to try it if you have it coming anyway. Let us know how it goes for you.

[TimberTim]

Back on bac

Hey there Neva Eva!
Hey there Lost!
Yeah, the kudzu will be interesting. I'm hoping to be able to take a lower dose of baclofen when combined with the kudzu. I really do not like taking baclofen. The side effects get to be too much for me at levels above 100mg. I'm sure you know what they are...sleeping/not sleeping, dry skin, dry eyes, etc. But the alternative, drinking alcohol, is much worse!

I'll keep you posted as I experiment with the kudzu.:confusedmonkey:

[Rand all]

Back on bac

Keep motoring on with the Bac if you can Tim. The SEs can be brutal but I'm seen people going through hell and getting there in the end. Its definitely no walk in the park and I sometimes thing Dr Ameisen's book paints it like its a piece of piss. Most find its far from a cake walk.

The sleep thing can be hard. Thankfully I'm not working but I couldn't imagine what it might be like with a job. If I sit down for for more than 30 minutes I look like I'm nodding out on opiates. I'm sure it wouldn't look good in a workplace environment.

Kudzu. Well I'm a skeptic so the less said the better but different stokes for different folks and all that. I personally think Campral is snake oil so what do I know?

[TimberTim]

Back on bac

I agree, Campral is bogus! I tried it once and it did nothing for me.
I'll be sticking with the bac, but I'm trying to stay in the 150mg/day range. Not going back to over 200mg. No Way!
We'll see how the kudzu goes. I'll keep you posted!

[Rand all]

Back on bac

It will be interesting to see how much campral is pushed now that the patent is finally running out.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Back on bac

Hiya, Tim. I'm very wary of the holistic thing. There are several threads in the holistic healing section dealing with kudzu. It seems to me that it offers a short term benefit, maybe. So grab hold and go with it! (Look for a thread started by beatle. She had amazing results initially and goes into great detail about kudzu in general.) Even though I avoid almost all the holistic stuff because I'm very wary based on the science and the inherent danger of them, there's real science behind taking B vitamins and maybe vitamin D, too. (And for people who are still drinking, some other vitamins are probably a good idea, too.)

Honestly, I'm surprised that you were still having trouble with side effects, and that you are again this time around. I find navigating the new site a little laborious so I'm not going to fact check, but did I see that you went from 0-160 in two weeks?

I've never been completely off of baclofen, because I've only ever seen one person do that without a similar experience, but I did go down to 80 mg from ~220. I went back up to 225 recently (about 25 mg a week) and didn't have any really noticeable SEs. I did have some, but nothing debilitating or even annoying really. It's so funny how different it has been for me now that it's not so scary. And of course, I'm not drinking alcoholically! That certainly helps! It is still the case that I can't take too many pills at one time, though. I often forget and will have to take ~100+ mg at night before bed and I definitely feel it. I wish I was one of the people who could take it all in one big dose.

I guess I'm suggesting that maybe it's a matter of titration and regularity. I hope, anyway. That's at least an easy fix.

Are you drinking regularly or is it still a binge pattern? I'm really sorry about it, either way. It's a scary thing...This disease sucks for sure. And in so many dangerous and insidious ways. (So great to hear that your wife is supportive. She's cool. )

Hope all else is well.

[TimberTim]

Back on bac

NE, I'm not drinking at all now. And the SE's are stabilizing. I've been at 160 for a week now and it's fine.

I could never take 100 mg at once. I've taken 50, but even that is really tough. I take 40 mg periodically, but most of the time I'm a 20mg ever couple of hours.

Yes, this disease sucks, for sure. Why the bac yo-yo for you? 80 to 225? Well, whatever works. Glad to hear your doing well. Thanks for the encouragement. Looks like your still sheparding the flock! Good for you.

[TimberTim]

Back on bac

I couldn't find the kudzu post by beatle. Regardless, I'll give it a shot.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Back on bac

Hi, Tim! Yep. Still here.
I went down for a couple of reasons. The first is, why not? The second is that we were thinking about maybe having a baby, and bac is dangerous.** Obviously we didn't do that. But my goal was zero, just to see. Then life happened and I got super-stressed and yadda yadda and the fundamental anxiety (whatever that is) went into overdrive again. Strangely, I didn't start drinking alcoholically. But I was completely miserable.

It is funny that I can take so much baclofen at one time now. Bac(k) in the bad old days there is no way I could have done that without having serious repercussions. I've been on bac for 4 years now, and I'm sure that has something to do with it.

I'm glad you're not drinking. I'll see if I can find the link. Oh. You know what? It's about 4 years old. I bet it didn't make it over here. That would make me sad.

Glad the SEs are dissipating. Hope it's a good day for you!

**EDIT: Bac is dangerous for fetal development.

[TimberTim]

Back on bac

Not sleeping? Kinda early there...