Where is that cursed switch? :(

[Danathos]

been on 150mg Baclofen for a little while now. decided to go up to 180mg today. Side effects all tolerable, except maybe... Well depression but I'm not sure if thats because I am simply just depressed or whether Baclofen is contributing to it negatively.

Having not had any huge drop in anxiety by 150mg has left me disheartened though... any encouragement?

[Eloise]

Have you been able to stop drinking?

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Hey, Dan. It's out there in the ether somewhere, just waiting for you!

It took me 4 months and 320mg of baclofen. It took my husband about 3 months and the same amount of baclofen. Others have had to take more (or less) both in terms of time and milligrams. You just gotta keep at it, sorry to say.

[Danathos]

Yeah I'm able to avoid drinking to an extent. I still drink a little but I do not tend to binge so much and get to the point where i've 'had enough' to drink much sooner than I used to.

[Spiritfree]

been on 150mg Baclofen for a little while now. decided to go up to 180mg today. Side effects all tolerable, except maybe... Well depression but I'm not sure if thats because I am simply just depressed or whether Baclofen is contributing to it negatively.

Having not had any huge drop in anxiety by 150mg has left me disheartened though... any encouragement?

Hi Dan -
It was only when I reached 180 mg p/day that I began to notice a true reduction in my life long anxiety.
Regarding the so called 'switch'; I personally prefer to call it the "transition" phase
As for me, I slowly began to realize that I wanted to do other things and that alcohol would prevent me from doing these 'other' things that I had begun to take interest in at the time.

Dan, please understand that when this occurred, I was 30+ days no alcohol, taking 180 mg of Baclofen, and had begun to research and explore interests and ideas that I had long forgotten about or 'thought' that I had lost interest in. Perhaps the baclofen had begun reshaping/rebuilding my brain up until that point in time and I had no idea that Baclofen was actually the root cause of this brain change. I never will forget the night (30 +/- day), at a bar/grill -near the ocean, sitting outside the bar/grill, music playing, people drinking --type atmosphere, and my first thought was "wow, would not a little alcohol help to make this situation a little bit better". Immediately following that thought was "no way, I have too many things that I want to research tonight and other things that I want to do the tomorrow and I can not do any of this alcohol in my brain or body". Following that experience, It became more and more effortless not to drink -anytime, anywhere -period.

At least for me Dan, Baclofen did not remove my thoughts or memories of alcohol (even to this day)l, but I do believe that it somehow changed my brain to analyze more rationally and more realistically and to think about how much better things were without alcohol .

--sf--

[Danathos]

I thought you were against Baclofen, SF?

[neophyte]

SF has used baclofen in the past, lets not argue any further in this thread with SF otherwise itll just turn into a 10 page shit show, plenty of other threads where this can be done.

As to the OP

If uve stopped drinking, then sounds like the baclofen is working. as to depression and anxiety these can be attributed to PAWS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-a...rawal_syndrome and potentially as was in my case, its just another hurdle you need to deal with in life.

I'm a life long suffer of anxiety and depression, primarily anxiety and it runs through my family. I did CBT which helped but i ultimately required medication. it may take you many different attempts to find the right one but they can and do work for many people.

[Danathos]

Oh I'm familiar with it. I've been on nearly every depression and anxiety med there is. Back on amitriptyline now. Jacked in the olanzapine. I haven't stopped drinking I'm just drinking a lot less. And the Bac isn't really doing what I hoped yet which is take away the motivation to drink as Ameisen describes. Anxiety, that's the nub of it and always has been

[Mom21961]

Dr. A was in the upper 200s.

[Mom21961]

BTW, jumping 30 mg in one day is certainly not recommended.

[Danathos]

Yeah I believe he was at 270mg with 20-40mg PRN and eventually dropped back to 120mg. wonder how long one should stay at the 'switch' dose for?

[Danathos]

oh yeah Iknow 30mg is a fair jump in a day as well, but thats how much the doctor's tend to increase it by every few days. then again they aren't exactly promoting what we're doing with Baclofen are they? :P

[_serenity_]

Hey Dan,

Usually the recommendations for increases are from 10 mgs - 20 mgs. Depending on who's prescribing, those increases can be anywhere from every 3 days to once a week or less. The side effects from a jump in dosage usually take a few days to hit, so it's always best to take it slow and steady. In any event, it sounds like the bac is working. Everyone has their own switch dose, and it is hard to predict what the dosage will be for any given person. (It's not related to weight, gender or length of drinking history.) I know it's hard, but ttrust the process and do what you can to take care of yourself (via exercise, nutrition, sleep) in the meantime.

[Danathos]

I'm just worried my switch dose will be so high (if it ever comes at all, i'm at 200mgs per day now) that I won't be able to afford the baclofen to maintain it