Q for Baclofen users

[Hudstar]

Hi - I'm new to this forum and so far I'm amazed by the generosity. intelligence and compassion I've read here so far.

I'm here to learn about other's experiences with baclofen for alcoholism. Having done all the research that most of you have done, I have begun self-medicating, with careful titration, until I'm now up to 75mgs for the past two weeks. Since last week I have begun to feel the first stirrings of the benefits of bac. When I found myself mid-week staring at the beer fridge at the store and feeling NOTHING... I realised that there might be something profound about baclofen, just as I'd hoped. But that was midweek. By the time the weekend arrived, the cravings staged a comeback and I sunk into a three day bender, just as before. What was interesting was that I actually put up a mental fight before I took the horrible plunge, as if for the first time in ages my reason was actually standing up to my addiction. I don't need to tell you what a powerful revelation that is for an addict to have. It wasn't enough to prevail of course, but I put that down to early days in my baclofen protocol. I haven't finished titrating by a long shot yet.

Cut to this week and I haven't quite made it to weekend without a drink. And I'm a bit downhearted by that. My bac dose is the same with a little extra 15mg in the evening to move me gently towards the next stage.

So my question is probably a daft one and I've probably answered it for myself, but I could use some reassurance from you guys. Am I expecting too much from baclofen too soon?

Thanks for reading

P.S. If you're curious, my side effects so far have been tangible but no worse than intermittent somnolence and a slight buzzy headache. So far, so lucky I hope

[kronkcarr]

Welcome. First off I love the word daft, so thanks for that. Your journey on baclofen sounds good so far. It's amazing, to me, that you've made it to 75 mgs with so little side effects. And it sounds like it was quite different for you (as far as talking with yourself) prior to starting on your weekend bender.

I went up 10 mgs every 3 or 4 days. So if it feels right go up to 85 mgs. I was lucky and switched at 80 mgs. For quite awhile that was great and I only drank with friends every other week or so. More than 3 drinks made me sleep so I kept my amount at 2.

Then before my second year on bac rolled around I sort of forgot about choosing and started having a glass or 2 of wine at night. I didn't do anything stupid until last Thanksgiving when I drank with friends and had no thought about what I was doing. I wrote about this on Lostinspace's thread. I just didn't think and I drove home drunk. Part way I called a friend to come and get me but couldn't reach her. I made it home but absolutely shouldn't have been driving. I rescue bugs and put them outside. I don't want to hurt anything but that night I could have killed someone or myself.

So, for me, baclofen is a tool but I have to put work into it too. Again, welcome.

[Lostinspace]

Hi Hudstar :welcome: That’s so great to hear that you’ve had such huge benefits of bac so far! Please don’t be disheartened by the fact that the effects you initially felt haven’t kept up. I myself reached a state of (almost) indifference at 160 mg, where I was only drinking about once every week or so (this is coming from a woman who used to drink a liter and a half of vodka/bourbon a day, but carefully tapered off, at least to where I didn’t drink for five straight days, when starting on bac). I was absolutely amazed at how little I cared about booze!

But then, suddenly the relative indifference was lost, and I started drinking again daily. I am still in the process of going up in dose to find what works best for me. However, I have remained greatly improved compared to what I used to be. I drink only at night, as opposed to 24/7 drinking (I have literally never once drank during the day since then). And the total amount that I drink is now less than a third of what is used to be. I’m not fully there yet, so I hope others with more experience will chime in. But, Fred’s experience says it all. I do know that, if it had such good results for you so far, you will most likely continue to have good results.

Another thing - I have had no side effects at all up to 275 mg. (I don’t say this to scare you. You may not need to go as high as I am). My point is that, for all you might read about other people’s side effects, we’re all physiologically unique. It sounds like you might be similar to me. You take pretty well to baclofen. Don’t let the side effects of others scare you because it might never happen. If it does, then OK, you’ll deal with it and then decide what to do. But, in the meantime, enjoy the benefits.

I will qualify this by saying that I’m not a doctor, but, I would say if you’re doing well, you’re ready for another dose increase. In the meantime, I would recommend reading back in the archives of this forum, maybe two or three years ago when the medication forum was a lot more active - lots of good stuff there! Good luck to you, and keep us posted on how you’re doing

[_serenity_]

Hudstar, you are on the right path. I think it's pretty normal to feel frustrated when you still want to drink, but be patient and just keep taking the pills. You should find fairly soon that you can't drink anymore. I remember that feeling of frustration when I was going up in dosage.

It only took me two months to the day I started taking the pills to reach indifference (at 190 mg/day). Hang in there! Baclofen is a miracle drug and you are on the most wonderful path to freedom!

[neophyte]

I found baclofen to be more like a light dimmer rather than an off switch on cravings. at lower doeses it works first by reducing the high, so i drank more trying to get to that place which appears to be common with those taking baclofen. This continued until I got much higher in dose, 300mg was the point where I felt I hit the switch. At this stage alcohol tasted vile, I had no cravings. This lasted for some months and I slowly began drinking again. To the point where I was drinking daily but no where as much as before. Before baclofen I was drinking 350ml to 700ml of whiskey a day now i would be drinking half a bottle of wine.

Baclofen works but its not the be all and end all to stop drinking, it does 90% of the job. The rest relies on the individual to practice abstinence or strict rules around moderation. Even Amiesen said that baclofen allowed him to practice the psychological techniques he learned after years of failed rehabs and therapy.

There won't ever be a pill that 100% stops you drinking but baclofen is as close as we have at the moment. There is research on going right now into other gaba-b targetting drugs which might give better results. It's a very exciting time in pharmacology.

[terryk]

Hey Hudstar-

I've been on Baclofen for almost 5 years now, and indifferent and sober for more than 4. Slow and steady wins the race... You can find some useful links in my signature below, including my story recounted through the past 4 anniversaries of my switch (with links to some of the more useful posts I've written here), some medical articles proving the safety of high-dose Baclofen, and a piece I wrote about making sure you can titrate up and down safely and comfortably and the importance of keeping enough Baclofen on hand in case of an emergency. Good luck!

-tk

p.s. because of the forum upgrade, some of the formatting, links and pics are broken, and many of those can not be edited unfortunately.

[Hudstar]

Thanks everyone for your comments!

I think I read some here say something like: "it's a marathon, not a race." I'll keep taking it slowly and not put pressure on myself. Lord knows that, as a suffering alcoholic, I give myself a hard enough time as it is :-)

[dundrinkn]

Welcome Hudstar. I had lots of early success at lower doses. But I've found that I can always push through and drink anyway. Compared to how I drink without it, Baclofen is a magic pill. It does just what you said, gives you time to think about it. There is a great youtube video about MRIs on cocaine addicts' brains and shows just that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byain0Vo5mo. I do think that when you hit your switch if you either abstain, or keep controls in place on your drinking, the baclofen is life saving/life changing. I am still tinkering with it all a few years later. I have stopped and started a few times. Still trying to find what will work best for me longterm -- total abstinence, or drinking on occasion. So much of it is mental once you use the Baclofen for the chemical part. For me, my mind is a terrible place to spend too much time. So I like the suggestion of Fred in terms of replacing the drinking with other things. Not thinking things, but doing things. Keep posting and keep taking the pills.

[Hudstar]

Had some great news today. I found a doctor to prescribe me Baclofen - which is almost unheard of in the UK.

Better still, the doc in question is none other than Dr Jonathan Chick, the Edinburgh doctor who first endorsed Dr Olivier Amiesen! I found his email and was timid about contacting him. But he was more than happy to help me. I have a consultation in a fortnight.

[Lostinspace]

That’s excellent news, Hudstar! Good luck with your appointment