Need to talk to other people treating their addiction with Baclofen

[Stevo]

Once again thanks for your input guys.
I decided last night that as I believe that I am now indifferent to alcohol I don't really need to worry myself too much about the drinking experiment.I am not going to go out and buy beer just to see if I have indeed lost the obsession and compulsion,I am just going to wait without concern for the opportunity to have a drink to pop up.
I started thinking to myself that the controlled drinking experiment idea is becoming for me slightly obsessive and maybe I have not reached a place of indifference.I actually walked into the bottle shop part of a supermarket yesterday to see if I had any thoughts of excitement or craving.I definitely didn't have excitement or craving,I actually looked at all the prices and went "wow,the price of my favourite beer has gone up".This began the thoughts of maybe I really do not need to worry too much about this.
Kronkcarrs words that "alcohol doesn't run him anymore" were a revelation to me.I have done so much AA and NA that I believe that I have in a sense been brainwashed to believe that nothing could ever achieve what Baclofen can,short of a spiritual experience(I have no problem with the spiritual aspects of the fellowships).I actually believe that God(whatever that is)could and can provide a medication that can and does do what most alcoholics are essentially searching for ie.Baclofen.I have begun to understand that even though I might get decades of AF time up in the fellowships I would still be to some extent under the control of alcohol.I would like to say here that I know that the fellowships have changed countless lives for the better and am in no way trying to belittle the great changes to so many lives that they have made.I definitely like the idea of having the power of choice back.
I have been where you were too Spiritfree and do not want to go back there,I see this as a motivator at this stage to know until I am convinced of my indifference to be careful,but as I said in the beginning of the post I am not going to give much thought to it and feel that I don't need to either until the opportunity arises.
Thankyou again for your input guys(meaning everyone who has contributed to this thread) and I am glad that this topic is considered interesting for others out there.What began for me as a thread to find out others opinions on whether controlled drinking was possible with Baclofen has now become for me(and hopefully others) a thread about achieving a true freedom from alcohol.
Cheers Steve.
P.S. Hudstar I hope that you achieve it too mate.

[Spiritfree]

Again, Steve -thanks for the thread and your truthful feedback.

Edit (Add):

Steve, I think that the words in your last sentence are a great summary : "Achieving true freedom from Alcohol". Whether this freedom comes in the form of total abstinence or moderation, I believe that the ultimate objective for most all of us on this web site is to achieve this freedom -and Baclofen and other non-addictive medications can help us do this.

[Stevo]

Hi there guys,
I have just been reading some other threads and saw that indifference has been or still has not been reached at very high doses of Baclofen(300mg a day).I was aware that this is possible and willing to go there if needed.
I am on 142.5mg a day and definitely know that I am not really concerned with drinking therefore suspect that I have achieved indifference.
Do you guys know of other people that have switched at a relatively low dose and at what doses did the switch happen for you?
Once again I am hoping that these questions are not out of line.
Cheers Steve.

[MeJustMe]

I have today started on a Bac trial at RPA in Sydney. I might have to careful what I say about my progress, but I really hope this works.

[Stevo]

Hello and welcome MeJustMe,
I understand that you feel that you may have to be careful about what you say as I have had to be almost secretive about my journey with the Baclofen too.For me it was like the doctor didn't want for me to say too much and create some sort of hysteria.Anywho I have been doing this now for about 8 months and I decided to reach out on here because I thought that I was the only person in Australia doing it,I have learned in my short time on here that I am not.
Can you tell me anything about how you came to be part of a trial at RPA and do you know if there are others that are involved aswell?
It is great to see you on here and I hope that you can post some more.

[kronkcarr]

I switched at 80. That was the limit my dr would allow and I was at 80 for awhile. Initially 80 wasn't my switch--I still wanted to drink. I'm not sure how much later it was that I switched at 80.

[Stevo]

That is so good for me to hear Kronkcarr,I was starting to think that maybe I was fooling myself and it required a much higher dose.
On a day to day note,I still have not come across an opportunity to have a few drinks and it doesn't matter to me one little bit.I have had some crazy things going on in my life and when I think back to my drinking days although I didn't really need an excuse to drink I would have certainly used events like I am having to endure as a reason to drink(any excuse would do).
Thankyou very much once again Kronkcarr.I was reading through some old posts yesterday and now have the impression that you are female.I refered to you in a previous post as "he"I apologise,your name on here made me lean towards you being male.I don't know why,maybe it is an ignorant aussie thing haha.
Cheers Stevo.

[MeJustMe]

Stevo thank-you for the welcome. Bac is basically the last hope for me, tried everything else.
When I said that I didn't want to say too much, I meant that I didn't want to mention anything that might be detrimental to the trial. I really hope it will be a success. I found out about it through a friend who saw a press release on the NSW Health website. It is a joint trial between NSW Health and a Uni, I'll post the link when I can find it.
I was disappointed to discover that my friend had to go off Bac recently, having started on it just before Xmas. A black mood came over her and it was thought it may be the Bac. Prior to that she was saying that it appeared to be working, with many alcohol-free days and much less when she did drink.
There is a 33 per cent chance that I am on the placebo, but I am sensitive to drugs. I think I'll know if I have the real deal. Only day 2 so far, taken 1 pill a day so early days...

[Stevo]

Glad that you have posted again MeJustMe,
I had a bit of nausea in the beginning but that was to be expected and a few other minor things like for a period there I was forgetting simple things and the ringing in the ears that I have heard others talk about in here.They all passed and now I would say that I really have no unwelcome side effects,I have nothing but positive things to say about Baclofen.I really feel like it has saved my life not just from drinking myself to death but my anxiety levels are much lower and I can deal with life much better.
There is hope for you!
I think that one of the reasons that I had very little side effects was that I increased my dose very slowly.I would only see the first prescribing doctor every 6 weeks and we would only go up whatever the next easy dose increase was according to how the Baclofen is manufactured ie.10mg tablets are easy to break in half so I would go up 5 mg and 25mg tablets can be broken into 12.5mg etc.So my body had a lot of time to get used to whatever dose I was on before I would go up another increment.I don't know this for sure but I do suspect it.
I hope for your sake that you are receiving the Baclofen as it has been like a miracle for me.It is so good to hear that a double blind randomised test is happening here in Australia and would love to take a look at the link when you find it.I did a quick google search this morning and did find the page about the lady who is conducting the trials with RPA and I think it was University of Sydney.
Although Baclofen has been a miracle for me it does pose problems for some people with the side effects and therefore is not the answer for everyone but I am hoping that it is for you and you too will know a new life.
Look forward to getting to know you a little more and reading your posts
Cheers Stevo.

[MeJustMe]

Glad that you have posted again MeJustMe,
I had a bit of nausea in the beginning but that was to be expected and a few other minor things like for a period there I was forgetting simple things and the ringing in the ears that I have heard others talk about in here.They all passed and now I would say that I really have no unwelcome side effects,I have nothing but positive things to say about Baclofen.I really feel like it has saved my life not just from drinking myself to death but my anxiety levels are much lower and I can deal with life much better.
There is hope for you!
I think that one of the reasons that I had very little side effects was that I increased my dose very slowly.I would only see the first prescribing doctor every 6 weeks and we would only go up whatever the next easy dose increase was according to how the Baclofen is manufactured ie.10mg tablets are easy to break in half so I would go up 5 mg and 25mg tablets can be broken into 12.5mg etc.So my body had a lot of time to get used to whatever dose I was on before I would go up another increment.I don't know this for sure but I do suspect it.
I hope for your sake that you are receiving the Baclofen as it has been like a miracle for me.It is so good to hear that a double blind randomised test is happening here in Australia and would love to take a look at the link when you find it.I did a quick google search this morning and did find the page about the lady who is conducting the trials with RPA and I think it was University of Sydney.
Although Baclofen has been a miracle for me it does pose problems for some people with the side effects and therefore is not the answer for everyone but I am hoping that it is for you and you too will know a new life.
Look forward to getting to know you a little more and reading your posts
Cheers Stevo.

Stevo, here's the link below. It is actually a Uni of Sydney press release. It sounds like the same trial you found on Google.

http://sydney.edu.au/medicine/addict...t-research.php

[Stevo]

You are part of something that if is successful will have great implications for the still suffering alcoholic in Australia and possibly the rest of the world MeJustMe.
Actually it will be good for the people who have already found Baclofen as a treatment too.If it becomes accepted by the medical community it will make it much easier to get prescriptions.

[MeJustMe]

You are part of something that if is successful will have great implications for the still suffering alcoholic in Australia and possibly the rest of the world MeJustMe.
Actually it will be good for the people who have already found Baclofen as a treatment too.If it becomes accepted by the medical community it will make it much easier to get prescriptions.

Yes, I hope so Stevo. For so long where it comes to alcohol dependance, it was the AA way or the highway. I have had problems with alcohol since starting to drink at 16. By 21 I was in my first detox. I stayed sober for 3 years, then 11 years in AA. Then after 5 years of drinking, I stayed sober another 5 years, a bit with AA and mostly by myself. We had kids, so when my wife stopped drinking, so did I. Made it easier. But now I've been drinking again for about 5 years, and there is no joy in it, that's for sure. It has made my daily life hard work.

I have been taking SSRIs for about five years for depression. That appears stable. From all that I have read, Bac doesn't work as well when suffering mental heath issues other that alcoholism (obviously) or stabilised depression.

I have been trying to stop for 3 years. I have tried Campral and Naltrexone, but only for a few weeks. Neither reduced my cravings one iota. Also have been using Antibuse off and on - and that's the problem, it is when the cravings drive me crazy that I stopped taking it, and within a few days it wore off and I could drink again.

I can't bear AA anymore, it just seems so... I'll leave it at that.

I am busting to tell you all about my progress in the trial, but will wait to ask at my next appointment next week about the appropriateness of posting on a public forum about it. What I have mentioned so far about the trial is in the public domain anyway, and I'll shout about that from the rooftops if it helps the trial. Yet as I said, I do not wish to put any part of the trial in peril. It is too important to risk that.

[Stevo]

Fully understood MeJustMe,and respected.

[dundrinkn]

The trial sounds great. I think you'd know if you were on the drug as the side effects are pretty pronounced -- even when mild. I too have had many sober stretches through the years including 9 years with AA. I won't do AA anymore either. I know it helps a lot of people, but it was just too much of a racket for me.

During my last round of drinking, things seemed worse. Not just that I drank more (which I did), but that I had bad withdrawl symptoms when I tried to quit. Had a psychiatrist tell me this was a normal part of long-term alcoholism. Bummer. With Bac, I have no symptoms when I stop drinking.

I have been on bac for 2 years, and although I have a prescription, I am still self-medicating as my psychiatrist doesn't know squat about Bac. She's just willing to prescribe and let me figure it out. I go into my appts with tons of literature and know myself and my drugs really well.

Anyway... I have switched a few times. I have on at least one occasion drank right over my switch. I had lost the taste for alcohol altogether about 4 or 5 months after starting bac and didn't get the "high" feeling from it either. I had gone down to a maintenance dose that was half of my switch dose. I had a stressful thing happen, and just sat down every night for a week or 10 days and drank even though I didn't want to. Eventually, I got the taste back. Since then, I have gone up and down a few times. Switching and not drinking, going down in Bac and drinking again, and also staying sober without switching but getting enough relief from the bac to withstand the cravings (though in retrospect this was pretty miserable).

For me when I have those stretches of relief when I've switched, it is really blissful. I am in a stretch like that right now. I am currently at 100 mg, having had to only go up 20mg from a long stretch of being sober and fairly miserable. I drank for a week, went up 20 mgs, and now have been AF and super duper o.k. with that for 10 days or so. The difference once the switch is hit for me is night and day. (thus the term switch -- as in the lights go on, or the cravings shut off, whichever analogy you prefer.)

Will look forward to hearing more of your experience in the trial once you can talk about it.

[dundrinkn]

Stevo -- haven't seen whether or not you decided to test your switch yet with a few drinks. Did I miss the post, or did you decide to wait or move on?