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    #1

    6 weeks on Bac

    Hey Guys, Happy Monday! I am beginning my 6th week on Bac and I am currently taking 90 mgs (30 every 7 hours or so). When I first began the Bac at 30 mg per day, I experienced immediate, significant relief from both anxiety and cravings. However, over the past week or so, I have been experiencing anxiety again. Also, I have been drinking more as well. I speak to my doctor tomorrow, and I think he'll be ok with me bumping up to 120 mg/ day. My question is, when you hit the switch, did you know right away, or did it take a few days at the switch dose. I'm getting nervous because I'm not sure how much higher my doc will go....Thanks guys!
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    #2
    6 weeks on Bac

    Hey Shamrock...

    I'm 6 weeks in myself. I'm at a higher dose myself (200) so I'm not in the right position to probably be giving the best advice. Baclofen done nothing at all for my anxiety. To be honest anxiety isn't really my biggest problem. I drink because I like it and over the years have become addicted to it. Simple as. Baclofen actually made me anxious. At about 150 when I started to really feel the effects the full blown anxiety kicked in. Like a bad hangover type of anxiety where you get paranoid thinking everyone is looking at you... Thinking a panic attack is coming on... Balance going out of whack. All that shit.

    I had a relapse at around 100 (big time) and went on a 2 week binge. After the detox I upped my dose and from about 150 I've mostly had things under control. You might likely have to go higher but your lcuky that you have a GP at hand although I hear they're likely to not want to go higher than 120mg for the most part.

    I'm not sure if I've hit "the switch" as such. I always thought of some magical epiphany happening but I've just lost the will to want a drink. The cravings have more or less gone. I used to think about drinking 24/7. And when the cravings hit there was no fighting then, they were were fierce. I'm doing it on my own so I can go as high as I need but I honestly think I'm there or there abouts. I've had a couple of glassed of win here and there and a couple of beer but its rank and I just get bored. I used to go on 24 hour benders for weeks on end. Destructive blackout balls to the wall drinking with an almighty crash at the end with 4 days of hell to pay even with benzos at hand. Hopefully that's all in the past.

    I hope you stick with it. This is my 4th attempt in 2 years!

    Comment

      #3
      6 weeks on Bac

      Hi Randall,

      I guess I drink to alleviate anxiety and because I like it a hell of a lot too! When I started the bac, it did wonders for my anxiety, but now the effect is lessened... that could be because I've been drinking more. It sounds like you're doing well... sometimes it takes multiple attempts for one finally to stick. I have a tendency to have to learn things the hard way though. Do you plan on going up more or are you happy at 200 mgs?

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        #4
        6 weeks on Bac

        I'm happy enough to sit at 200 for the time being. This could be my dose for all I know. I'm not over come by cravings. I had a bottle of wine 3 nights ago and only managed just over half. I always drank to get drunk. Never seem the appeal in a "few" so if I can't get drunk I don't really see the point.

        Did you notice you anxiety levels dropping when your drinking levels went down? I hear alot of people saying they drink because of anxiety. I was the other way around. drinking gave me anxiety and more cured it but once I cut it out the anxiety goes with it. It could well be that its actually the booze that's giving you the anxiety so bad. I know after 2-3 days of hard drinking I'm an anxious mess and have to take detours away from main road to make it to the off sales for more drink. Then I have to deal with trying to not have a panick attack. After about a week booze free I'm usually totally anxiety free.

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          #5
          6 weeks on Bac

          When I first started Bac, I didn't drink at all for 2 weeks and my anxiety levels did drop. I guess back works best with no booze at all. With me, it's a double edged sword: I drink because of anxiety and drinking gives me terrible anxiety.

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            #6
            6 weeks on Bac

            Hi shamrock. Man, I'm painfully familiar with that drinking to alleviate anxiety, only to have the alcohol cause anxiety. It's likely that that's what is happening rather than the bac no longer working. And if you're still having cravings, then no, you're not at your switch dose yet. I'm still not quite at my switch dose yet either, but I'm pretty damn close, and I've found that at these pre-switch doses, the level of cravings can be inconsistent. Sometimes it feels like drinking is the most unimportant thing in the world, and sometimes you just have to have it.

            For me, things have gotten steadily better with each dose increase in that my cravings have become less frequent, and my attitude towards drinking has become less positive in between the cravings. What I mean by that is at 120 mg I drank (albeit a much smaller amount than I used to) every day out of habit, even though most days I wasn't actually craving it. Now at 160 mg, on the days I'm not craving (which are most days), drinking is completely unappealing and there's no part of me that would want to do it.

            My point is don't worry too much about the fact that you're still having cravings. It's just a sign that you haven't reached indifference yet.

            EDIT: I'm sorry if this post makes no sense. It makes sense in my head, but I'm having trouble wording it properly.

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              #7
              6 weeks on Bac

              Hi Lost. Thanks for your reply. It makes perfect sense to me. During my first week, I titrated up quickly: 3 days at 30, then 3 at 60 and then 3 at 90. I guess I felt best when I was constantly titrating up. Since the beginning of the second week, I've been sitting at 90 and some of my old shit has been creeping back in... anxiety, cravings, all that fun stuff. My doc said that 90 is a moderate dose, so I'm nervous about asking him to bump me up more. I'd like to do maybe one week at 120 and then bump up to 150. I think the bottom line is that I've been sitting at 90 for too long and I just need more. I hope I get to the level that you're at...Having it be unappealing sounds like a dream. Do you plan to keep increasing?

              Comment

                #8
                6 weeks on Bac

                I went up 25mg every 5th day Shamrock until I got o 150 them I tried 12.5mg increase every 4th day. The key IMO is keeping your dosing steady. Find a schedule that works for you and stick to it. I find a spit of 7/11/3/7 work best for me. You seem to be on the track that might see you reaching success at around 180.

                The french site baclofene.com did a survey of 800 users and the average indifference dose was 170mg. IMO the site if invaluable. The Google translate isn't great but the jist of it is easy to get to grips with.

                The survey thread is on the right had side if you scroll down a bit under the sub section healing. The title is...Survey baclofen - 800 patients

                Is IMO the best piece of info and most helpful any newbie can read. Its a must read.

                Also the PDF of the prescription guide from the french can be found over at..


                http://www.sciencedomain.org/abstrac...9#.VCFj3_ldUlK

                Also another fabulous read.

                Please stick at it Shamrock. I think I already said this is my 4th or 5th attempt from early 2013. The shit I would have saved myself and pain isn't worth dwelling on but I think I've finally got there (touch wood) in the end. Its a liberating feeling mate

                Your GP sounds cool but if needs must an extra 50 or so mg is easily got online it you have to go that route

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                  #9
                  6 weeks on Bac

                  Thanks, Rand all! I should show that info to my doctor (he's actually a shrink not a GP). I think you're right, I just have to increase my dosage until I find the switch. I'm hoping my doc will be cool with increasing the dosage. He says he has patients that take higher than 90 mg... but, I'm not sure how much higher. And I don't plan on quitting! I had to much success even taking the initial 30 mgs. When you say attempts, do you mean you actually quit taking bac all together? Did you have any bad SEs?

                  Comment

                    #10
                    6 weeks on Bac

                    Yeah mate. The first few time I went about it all the wrong way titrating up way to fast and not splitting my dose enough. SEs where out of this world. I've taken my fair share of drugs and this was like being on some kind of hallucinogenic. This time I've stuck to a plan of 4 dose an exactly the same times(7/11/3/7) The key is getting your body to adjust as easily as possible. Messing with dose schedules and jumping about with upping your dose is a sure fire way to f**k the whole process up imo.

                    You should have much trouble getting you psychiatrist to up your dose. GPs tend to play it by the book and basically just go with what their PC tells them when they look up Wikipedia

                    Stick at it and most of all listen to your body... You'll get there. From what you've posted your on the right track. My best advice would be to try and cut back on the booze any way you can. It makes it SO much easier were SEs are concerned.

                    Best of luck man

                    Comment

                      #11
                      6 weeks on Bac

                      I'm actually a girl, but you would never know it by the way I boozed! I guess I've been lucky in the way of side effects. With the exception of some afternoon sleepiness, it hasn't been too bad. You're definitely right about cutting back on the booze. I have a lot and will try to continue to... Just hoping I'll hit the switch sooner rather than later. Best of luck to you too! I can't believe you are at 200 mg after 6 weeks. It sounds like you're doing great where you are. I have my doctor's appointment in an hour and a half so fingers crossed...

                      Comment

                        #12
                        6 weeks on Bac

                        I hope your doctor appointment went well today, shamrock. To answer your question, I'm still undecided if I'm going to continue going up or not. My doctor's not willing to increase any further, so if I go any higher it would have to be by supplementing my prescription with bac that I buy online. Unless, of course, I can somehow manage to convince him to change his mind. For the most part, I'm quite comfortable with where I'm at. My cravings are pretty rare these days, and the majority of the time, I could care less about drinking. Plus, I've had absolutely no side effects up to this point. I'd love to get rid of the cravings completely, but right now I'm just waiting to see if that will happen on its own without a dose increase. I've been told by a few people here that success with bac is a matter of both a high enough dose AND enough time on bac.

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                          #13
                          6 weeks on Bac

                          Shit sorry Shamrock... Thought you were a bloke

                          I think 200 might be it for me. Although the SEs are manageable they are still very noticeable and since I've been a few days AF the little thoughts I had had about drinking have more or less dissapeared.

                          Lost..... 160 might be your dose. Like me the longer you can string a bit of AF time together you might just find that its not really cravings as such but more of just breaking the habit of a life time and forgetting about it. I walk past an off sales every morning on my daily walk and it used to get my thought process going into over drive. I now find that I no longer even take it in half the time. Its just like walking past just another shop.

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                            #14
                            6 weeks on Bac

                            Haha, no worries, Rand all! Lost, have you tried providing your doc with any info on high dose bac? I'm thinking I may do that if my doc won't up my dosage after a certain point. However, my appointment yesterday went well and he is fine with increasing it to 120.

                            Comment

                              #15
                              6 weeks on Bac

                              That's awesome, shamrock! 120 mg was the dose at which I started to notice that I was drinking more out of habit than from cravings, more often than not. Everyone's different, of course, but hopefully you'll start to notice a similar change soon. And yes, I have showed my doctor studies on high dose bac, but I'm his first bac patient, so he's being pretty cautious with me. As it is, I'm already taking twice the maximum recommended daily amount, so I can't really blame him for not wanting to go higher - especially since I don't drink at all most days, and only drink a fraction of what I used to on the rare days that I do drink. I think he's seeing it as a problem solved kind of situation.

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