Baclofen advice required

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Hi Danathos.



Glad to see that you're feeling somewhat improved.



After reading Knobert's post, it reminded me to look over what you've gone through in the last 8 days since you joined us here. It's a lot! It was 5 days ago that you were in the hospital? And just before that is when you had your last drink?



I think the anxiety you're experiencing may very well have to do with the withdrawal from alcohol. Hopefully in another week, or maybe even less, your sleep will normalize. You'll stop waking up in the sweats or cold panic. And your body and brain will adjust to a whole new world. Man, I relished every waking moment for that first year or so. The sun was brighter, (though I'm gonna guess you guys don't see a lot of the sun! Ha!), the trees were greener, everything was lovely. I still had pangs of anxiety, especially when I was tired. And things didn't always go my way. But still, as painful as very early sobriety is, lots of people have a honeymoon period after that. I hope you do, too.



That's SO GREAT that you don't feel like drinking. Sometimes abstinence is the key to helping the baclofen work. Congratulations.



Hang in there.

[Danathos]

Hi Danathos.

Glad to see that you're feeling somewhat improved.

After reading Knobert's post, it reminded me to look over what you've gone through in the last 8 days since you joined us here. It's a lot! It was 5 days ago that you were in the hospital? And just before that is when you had your last drink?

I think the anxiety you're experiencing may very well have to do with the withdrawal from alcohol. Hopefully in another week, or maybe even less, your sleep will normalize. You'll stop waking up in the sweats or cold panic. And your body and brain will adjust to a whole new world. Man, I relished every waking moment for that first year or so. The sun was brighter, (though I'm gonna guess you guys don't see a lot of the sun! Ha!), the trees were greener, everything was lovely. I still had pangs of anxiety, especially when I was tired. And things didn't always go my way. But still, as painful as very early sobriety is, lots of people have a honeymoon period after that. I hope you do, too.

That's SO GREAT that you don't feel like drinking. Sometimes abstinence is the key to helping the baclofen work. Congratulations.

Hang in there.

I'm just about managing with anxiety, just though I wouldn't want to try anything too daring at the moment. To be honest I just feel flat, I don't look forward to anything, nothing seems interesting, everyone seems cruel and hateful, myself included and the world seems like a dark and evil place. and as such I'm just bored of it all

[knobert]

Hi Dan

It's good to hear you're improving. It should just keep getting better.

One question for you. When, at anytime not drinking did you not crave a drink?

Your quote is "I just don't want to". If I'm right, probably never because that's the way it was with me. That's the Baclofen,.
I could stop drinking with pure will power and suffer terribly through withdrawls, but I craved a drink and had to constantly fight it and my abstinence was short lived.

The "not wanting a drink" was such a revelation to me as I had never experienced that. To me it was simply amazing.

However, keep in mind, just because you're not drinking, that doesn't mean every other issue is solved. You are still going to have what ever pressures and problems you were dealing with before, which might have been a huge factor in your becoming alcohol dependent in the first place.

Even though you will still have work to do, at least you will be dealing with it without that GORILLA on your back, drinking. Your brain will be able to work for you again so you can tackle this.

I'm confident you will continue to improve and feel better and at least be physically able to get on with life. Get out there and try to be active. One thing you have to consider is what will you do with all that time you used to spend drinking?

Just keep up the effort and know that baclofen will stop "craving" from being a reason for relapse.

As Dr. A tried to explain to his friends in his book, it wasn't him, baclofen had made not drinking effortless because it stopped the cravings.

As you continue to work and struggle, always recall and never forget how good it feels to say "I JUST DON'T WANT TO"

You're doing great.
Keep posting

Knobert :goodjob:

[lex]

You guys are so lucky you can tolerate the baclofen. I couldn't get up any higher than 40 mgs due to panicky-type side effects (I don't get panicky or even very anxious except from certain medications). Count your blessings!

[neophyte]

Danathos, sounds like you are going through classic PAWS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-a...rawal_syndrome

it gets better with time

[Ne/Neva Eva]

I'm just about managing with anxiety, just though I wouldn't want to try anything too daring at the moment. To be honest I just feel flat, I don't look forward to anything, nothing seems interesting, everyone seems cruel and hateful, myself included and the world seems like a dark and evil place. and as such I'm just bored of it all

Dan, what do you think is going on? Can you think of anything that might make it better?

[Danathos]

I don't know. I seem to be suffering classic depression and anxiety symptoms, but is it that? Or PAWs as suggested? I don't know but I am scared

[lex]

I don't know. I seem to be suffering classic depression and anxiety symptoms, but is it that? Or PAWs as suggested? I don't know but I am scared

Dan- In my case-and maybe solely in my case-the baclofen caused depression. I had titrated up to 40 mgs. over two months before the side effects of panicky feelings and weird depression became too much for me. Depression and panicky feelings gradually subsided altogether as I titrated back down again at about 5-10 mgs per week.

Maybe it's just me, I don't know, but the baclofen has earned my respect as a very powerful drug not to be messed with. I even had weird closed-eye hallucinations for a couple of days when I hit 40 mgs. Was meditating at a retreat 8 hours a day when that occurred so maybe that played some small part in sensitizing me. Who knows.

Lex

[knobert]

Hey Dan

I do think a lot of it is from withdrawl. One of the times I quit drinking cold turkey I went through severe withdrawl for 12 days before I started to feel better and my anxiety and depression began to ease. It was longer than that before I felt what I would consider somewhat normal, but with terrible craving. I didn't know about baclofen then.

If you're still not drinking, don't start. You have come so far already and I truly believe you will begin to feel better if you just hang in there.

How are the bac SEs? How are you sleeping? Be careful with the sleep meds. They aren't meant to be taken every night for a long duration. They can cause head disorders all their own. Hopefully, you won't need them for too much longer. When you do stop the sleeping pills and if you still have sleep problems, don't forget Valerian Root. It calms and relaxes and is safer than medication.

Stay with it
Everyone's pulling for ya

Knob :thumbsup:

[nicnak68]

I'm on 150mg a day and my daytime anxiety is ok but night time is pretty bad.I wake up for work at 4.30 am and I'm contracted 3 days a week but regularly do overtime and I keep waking up on my days off in a panic thinking I'm late for work and not remembering what day it is and if I'm working or not.

[nicnak68]

I'm also feeling very very sick and have even thrown up

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Good morning/afternoon, people.

So Dan, I feel pretty confident that what you're experiencing is PAWS. You weren't experiencing this before you quit drinking, right?

You can look PAWS up, and I know there is a thread here that discusses it. If you don't feel up to that, I'll link some information later today. Medical help would be very helpful. Can you make an appointment with your doctor and explain what you're experiencing? I know it seems like the medicos aren't always helpful, but I think in this case, s/he will have some suggestions or solutions. This IS temporary and directly related to quitting alcohol cold turkey. Baclofen actually helps with these symptoms, but sometimes it's not enough. Obviously in your case, it's not enough.

Nic, how much baclofen are you taking? When did you start? How often are you titrating up? And how much are you taking when you do? Those are pretty classic symptoms of TMB. Too Much Baclofen. I would know! Ha. Not to make light of your situation. It can be very disconcerting and uncomfortable. But there are also some pretty simple solutions if that's the case.

Both of you, hang in there. This is a marathon, not a race. And things DO settle down and become normal again. Really. :hug:

[nicnak68]

I'm on 150mg now,my switch before was 180mg.I am leaving it much longer between going up about 15mg a day a time.Dont really know how to go up slower than 0.5mg at each dose and I'm taking 3 doses a day

[nicnak68]

Last time I went up quicker and didn't feel this sick.But I did have a lot more SEs.

[knobert]

Hi Nic

I read your posts. When your sick to your stomach and throwing up occasionally during the day, that gets hard to deal with.

Just some thoughts FYI.
You could try taking your bac 4 times a day. For me, taking it more frequently made it easier to increase as it seemed to make the increase less noticeable with less physical impact, if that makes sense. I went as high as 350mgs. I went to 5 times a day and then 6. My records are a little sketchy but it looks like I went to 5 times a day at 150mg and 6 times a day at 300mg. 6 times a day was cumbersome but it helped.
When I took it more frequently, the doses seemed to hit me with less of a punch, if you know what I mean and the increases seemed to be less noticeable. I was at 5 times a day for a long time. That worked pretty well for me. My escalations were 15 mgs. But I often would stay at a level for longer. Also, don't be afraid to escalate slower or with lesser amounts, but it sounds like you've got a hold on that. Whatever is right for you.

This may help your stomach as you will be taking less per dose. Also, try to avoid taking it on an empty stomach. Take it with a light snack like crackers or something. I tried to avoid having an empty stomach for very long. I don't want you to gain weight, but frequent healthy snacks like crackers or vegetables, things I could easily take with me helped a lot.

Keep at it and keep us posted.(No pun intended)

Knob :thumbsup: