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My Baclofen Experience

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    My Baclofen Experience

    I decided to create my own Baclofen experiment thread.

    Today, Day 1.

    10am - first 5mg dose. At about 15-20 minutes, felt this kick in. Fairly strong muscle relaxant effect. At about the 3 hour point, tired sleepy set in. Not too overwhelming, managed to stay awake and work. I felt on and off, my anxiety get both a little better and a little worse. Probably just normal. Nothing much to note.

    2pm - 2nd 5mg dose. I want to drink a giant keg of beer the size of an aircraft carrier. Cravings hitting a little early here. Probably nothing, but I do feel a little tense. At one hour past this, I defintely feel agitated and tense. Is this common early on? Well, it's almost beer o-clock. Grabbed a beer. At the 2.5 hour point, tired sleepies have hit again. On 2nd beer, ooops, time for another, anxiety down a little of course.

    I cannot find the Baclofen guide that was here. There's a link, but it doesn't work. Found one on the Baclife site. Reading up on titration, seems simple enough. I started at 3x5mg daily, at 10am, 2pm, and 6pm. That's a slight variation on their dosage timing of 7am 12am and 5pm. For one, I don't get up at 7am. No chickens to feed. Until there are chikens to feed, I get up at 9am. I went 4 hours instead of 5, because I wanted to get in dosages before peak cravings hit. Not sure if 4 vs 5 hours apart is a mistake. Thoughts anyone?

    The only 2 side effects I've seen are dry mouth about half hour after a dose, and sleepies about 3 hours after.

    I skipped my 250mg Phenibut, because I don't know if it's a safe or advisable combo or might cause a negative reaction on the efficacy of the Bac either on cravings or anxiety, or both. If anyone can advise, please do. Also, one thing I do know, do not take Phenibut after drinking, always before and wait a few hours.

    Oh, another note on the Phenibut / Baclofen compare. With Phenibut, I either feel nothing at all, or mild to strong euphoria. After these 2 small doses of Bac, I feel a muscle relaxer type of effect, zero euphoria. So at this dose, I can't imagine Baclofen being abused for it's effect. Maybe at higher doses there is anxiloytic effects, but at this dose, none at all. I either feel zero anti-anxiety effect or slightly more anxiety.

    6pm - 3rd 5mg dose. After 1 hour, I feel sedated. It's not euphoric or anything, just sedated. I can tell that any stopping effect to my daily dose of alchohol is over and now I'm heading for passout land once again. Well, I didn't expect anything to happen for a while. Don't really have any side effects going on. I'm just sort of like sedated indifferent to most everything. I don't want to do anything, but I'm no longer feeling any anxiety, which is nice. I'm quite relaxed. Reading lots of chemical pharmocological stuff about Baclofen on the internet, pretty much none of which I really understand. Interesting thought that Phenibut and Baclofen are almost exactly the same chemical except for the addition of some chlorine thing on one of the molecules in Baclofen which gives it such a different effect. I can tell you already, the effect of these two substances is absolutely nothing alike in any way for me. Thankfully, zero nausea for me so far with Baclofen. That would be the one thing that would make it hard for me to continue, I can fight past the drowsiness. On my fifth beer now, feel no bad effect at all, just relaxed in a sedated type way and probably less buzz than usual from the alcohol, but nice and relaxed, which is sort of nice and no anxiety. Sleepies coming on again...

    #2
    Re: My Baclofen Experience

    Hi [MENTION=24625]Journeyer[/MENTION],

    Glad you're doing a personal bac thread. This site used to be teeming with them!

    I was going to write yesterday about the Phenibut, and I'm relieved to read that you skipped the Phenibut dose. Since they're both Gaba-B agonists they're going to compete with each other. And Phenibut is addictive. I've seen a lot of people on the Reddit forums go up to wildly high doses of Phenibut, then they use baclofen to get off the Phenibut, and when they continue to have severe withdrawal symptoms they blame the baclofen. That stuff is messy and shouldn't be used on a regular basis. The one time I experimented with it, I didn't have any euphoria but I did feel like I'd OD'd on baclofen (which I had accidentally done a couple of times in the past).

    Here is a link to the French prescribers' guide. When I started on baclofen the doctor advised that I go up by 20 mgs per week. I would always get hit by side effects a few days later. The French doctors recommend going up by 10 mgs every 3-4 days, which is a little more sane. Don't try to rush your way up. By the time the side effects hit you 3-4 days after you increase your dosage, you could be in for some really bad times.

    As far as spacing out your dosages, you definitely don't have to take it at 7 a.m. but you should try to keep the dosages spaced as evenly as you can throughout the day. Bac has a short half-life and while you're titrating up you will respond best if you have a steady dose in your system. I would keep your doses pre-sorted in a pill container or something, as forgetfulness is a definite issue while you're titrating up.

    It's encouraging that you're already seeing anxiety relief! It took me a while before that happened to me, if I recall. The sleepiness usually goes away as you adjust to the meds.
    Last edited by _serenity_; March 10, 2021, 07:43 PM.

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      #3
      Re: My Baclofen Experience

      Originally posted by _serenity_ View Post
      Hi [MENTION=24625]Journeyer[/MENTION],

      Glad you're doing a personal bac thread. This site used to be teeming with them!

      I was going to write yesterday about the Phenibut, and I'm relieved to read that you skipped the Phenibut dose. Since they're both Gaba-B agonists they're going to compete with each other. And Phenibut is addictive. I'ver seen a lot of people on the Reddit forums go up to wildly high doses of Phenibut, then they use baclofen to get off the Phenibut, and when they continue to have severe withdrawal symptoms they blame the baclofen. That stuff is messy and shouldn't be used on a regular basis. The one time I experimented with it, I didn't have any euphoria but I did feel like I'd OD'd on baclofen (which I had accidentally done a couple of times in the past).

      Here is a link to the French prescribers' guide. When I started on baclofen the doctor advised that I go up by 20 mgs per week. I would always get hit by side effects a few days later. The French doctors recommend going up by 10 mgs every 3-4 days, which is a little more sane. Don't try to rush your way up. By the time the side effects hit you 3-4 days after you increase your dosage, you could be in for some really bad times.

      As far as spacing out your dosages, you definitely don't have to take it at 7 a.m. but you should try to keep the dosages spaced as evenly as you can throughout the day. Bac has a short half-life and while you're titrating up you will respond best if you have a steady dose in your system. I would keep your doses pre-sorted in a pill container or something, as forgetfulness is a definite issue while you're titrating up.

      It's encouraging that you're already seeing anxiety relief! It took me a while before that happened to me, if I recall. The sleepiness usually goes away as you adjust to the meds.
      Hey, serenity, great to hear from you. Yeah, I feel like I should do this so I can keep track of things. Any responses are greatly appreciated.

      I'm probably going to titrate up again tomorrow, as I am experiencing zero side effects at the moment. I'm only going to titrate up by 5mg a day. So tomorrow, I'm trying to decide whether to titrate up to 10mg on my 2pm dose, or my 6pm dose. Anyway, I'm going up to 20mg tomorrow and will stay there for 2-3 days if I have no side effects. Like I said, I am having zero side effects today at 15mg.

      Also, so far, like I said, I just want to drink more, but I didn't expect anything yet, so onward I go.

      Also, thanks for the info about Phenibut. I think most of the problems with Reddit reviews is that it seems most people are taking massive doses to get high, so sure they are going to suffer the consequences. Still, I'm leaving Phenibut out of the equation right now, as I don't know of any evidence it helps alcohol cravings, although it IS used for that in Russia and also for anxiety.

      I'll update again tomorrow and thanks so much for your feedback, really hope you stick around here!
      Last edited by Journeyer; March 10, 2021, 07:14 PM.

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        #4
        Re: My Baclofen Experience

        Day 2 - Baclofen

        I noted this morning, that I drank 5 beers yesterday. Now this is less than I typically do. I typically drink from 6-8 beers during the week. When I say beer, I'm not talking a 12oz American stye beer. I mean a pint, which is typically a 16.9oz can or bottle. So approx 8-12 American beer units, each day. And last night, I drank about 7 American beer units. So a slight to pretty significant reduction.

        I do biphasic sleep, also known as the first and 2nd sleep. This basically ended for me, a couple decades of insomnia.

        So, last night, when I woke up from my first sleep...

        Some more detail. I typically fall asleep around 10pm and then I wake up around 2am. In my current state of drinking, you may as well say I pass out around 10pm. Then I wake up again about 2am.

        Anyway, last night, I didn't wake up until around 3:30, aftera falling asleep around 9-9:30pm. When I did wake up and got up as usual, I was very ... not awake like I typically am, very groggy. I stuggled to wake up, but finally did. I felt a little upset stomach, but not too bad. I went back to bed and asleep around 5:30am. When I got up this morning at 9am, I was very groggy. My eyes felt glued shut. Eye drops, coffee, and I finally woke up and go to work.

        First dose - 5mg 10am

        No noticeable side effects at all. I feel fine.

        2nd dose = 5mg 2pm

        I feel a little more calm than I have since yesterday, still zero side effects.

        4pm - I want to drink a battlship full of beer. Pops beer, now on 2nd one. Now on 3rd. I feel OK.

        5pm - I want to drink THREE battleships full of beer. Still on 3rd beer.

        Is a significant increase in cravings normal this early on?

        My 3d dose is about 45 minutes away and I am full on cruising towards inebriated city, no stop signs or speed limits. I actually feel pretty nice. No euphoria, just a noticeable decrease in anxiety.

        6pm - 3rd 5mg dose. Seatbelts fastened. I am on my 5th beer aleady. Oh man, I'm I drunk... 10 beers ... zzzz
        Last edited by Journeyer; March 11, 2021, 01:24 PM.

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          #5
          Re: My Baclofen Experience

          Day 3 - Baclofen

          Last night, went to sleep (passed out) around 10:30pm. Did not wake up until 6am. I NEVER do that, not ever.

          Hungover badly.

          Dose 1 5mg - 12:30pm, still feeling a little hungover.

          Dose 2 5mg - started drinking, 3 beers on, feel better now.

          I want to titrate up, so I think my 3rd dose will be 10mg. Saving the blade of my new fangled pill cutter you know. Anxiety is markedly lower today. I know because my wife got really mad at me and it's like I didn't really feel any anxiety at all and so did not elevate it by reacting. That's good. I really hope this stuff will stop me from drinking so much, sooner than later. Again today, it's just making me want to drink more. Apparently, 15mg a day is not enough.

          I'm going to go for 10mg on my 3rd dose. Tomorrow, if I don't have any nasty side effects, I think I will try to go for my 2nd dose being 10mg. Maybe that will slow down my maniacal drinking.

          Did not titrate up because passed out from beer at 6pm. Maybe tomorrow. 5 beers.

          It's hard to drink more when you are asleep of course. Passed out at 6pm. Up at 10pm. Back to sleep at 3:30am and up at 9:30am. That's a total of 10 hours of sleep. I have not done that in many, many years.

          Comment


            #6
            Re: My Baclofen Experience

            That's great about getting more sleep! And your body really needs it. I would say that taking that 10 mgs at night sounds perfectly reasonable. You'll sleep better too.

            I suspect that your brain is wanting to drink more since it knows that its way of life is being threatened. What they call an "extinction burst." You know that this won't last forever so you're getting your last hurrah in while you can. You don't have to cut back while taking baclofen, but the hangovers are going to get way worse as you titrate up. For that reason alone you might want to see if you can limit your drinking, but if you can't the baclofen should still work.

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              #7
              Re: My Baclofen Experience

              Ah, yeah, sleep. After a couple more days, I am really getting a LOT of it. Right now my thinking is maybe it works because people are not able to sleep 24 hours a day, or because they are sleeping so much, they don't have time to drink. A little sarcasm there. I know it's too early to judge any results.

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                #8
                Re: My Baclofen Experience

                Day 3 - Baclofen

                Last night, went to sleep (passed out) around 10:30pm. Did not wake up until 6am. I NEVER do that, not ever.

                Hungover badly.

                Dose 1 5mg - 12:30pm, still feeling a little hungover.

                Dose 2 5mg - started drinking, 3 beers on, feel better now.

                I want to titrate up, so I think my 3rd dose will be 10mg. Saving the blade of my new fangled pill cutter you know. Anxiety is markedly lower today. I know because my wife got really mad at me and it's like I didn't really feel any anxiety at all and so did not elevate it by reacting. That's good. I really hope this stuff will stop me from drinking so much, sooner than later. Again today, it's just making me want to drink more. Apparently, 15mg a day is not enough.

                I'm going to go for 10mg on my 3rd dose. Tomorrow, if I don't have any nasty side effects, I think I will try to go for my 2nd dose being 10mg. Maybe that will slow down my maniacal drinking.

                Did not titrate up because passed out from beer at 6pm. Maybe tomorrow. 5 beers.

                It's hard to drink more when you are asleep of course. Passed out at 6pm. Up at 10pm. Back to sleep at 3:30am and up at 9:30am. That's a total of 10 hours of sleep. I have not done that in many, many years.

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                  #9
                  Re: My Baclofen Experience

                  Day 4 Baclofen

                  Decided to titrate up today.

                  I think this is really day 5. I've somehow lost a day. It's hard to remember when you've sleeping half of a 24 hour day.

                  So, sleep. Yesterday which I'm sure now was day 5, I titrated up, but on my first dose. I felt a little woozy about an hour later. No real worries, I don't drive anymore, probably a good thing right now.

                  I drank a few beers, starting 12pm. Then I had to take a nap for about 3.5 hours. A nearly 4 hour 'nap', lol, in the middle of the day. I don't, I mean didn't take naps.

                  Anyway, back up and managed to drink about 5 16.9oz beers, again. So my daily alcohol for a weekend, has about been cut in half last couple of days, because I can't drink in my sleep. Back to bed at 8:30pm, after 2nd and 3rd doses of 5mg. Just woke up at 1:30am and warming up soup on the stove. I feely oddly rested and rejuvenated. My anxiety flared up a couple of times yesterday.

                  No real side effects except for the sleepies and a couple brief bouts of anxiety, and a little stomach upset late last night. I mean around 8pm, lol.

                  Going to stay at 20mg again tomorrow. Not sure about which dose to titrate on, but probably the first again.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: My Baclofen Experience

                    Hi Journeyer,

                    It's great to see you cracking on, and your journey. It's wonderful to see you getting more sleep.

                    Usually, baclofen doesn't so much affect 'regular' sleep (though the French forums are awash with complaints of insomnia). Rather, as you're titrating up, you can get struck by 'thumps' of tiredness that can almost make you drop off your chair. Then they pass. That freaked me out on several occasions. I literally fell asleep in the middle of a sentence reading a bedtime story to my little girl.

                    Just to reassure you (so ignore if reassurance not needed), I think what you're describing sounds 'right'. Although baclofen didn't make me generically 'bedtime' sleepy, I did find that if drinking on baclofen, then I was 'sleepy' tired. That happened each titration. Once on any established dose, I found all side effects went away. Getting drunk on baclofen made me more 'drunk' drunk; ie, bouncing into things walking round the house, falling asleep by 9pm and waking up with harsher 'beer fear.'

                    Amanda Stafford suggests this titration schedule - which is slightly faster than yours. You'll find your own pace. I dithered about for ages (because I loved booze and was frightened of giving it up) before I just cracked on with her titration schedule - going up about 30mg a week. Practical Protocol for Prescribing Baclofen in Alcohol Addiction – Baclofen Treatment for Alcoholism There's a wealth of pragmatic information across her site.

                    I would suggest making your 'lead' titration dose the one that is in the lead-up to your normal booze time, rather than the morning dose. If you're a worker, then that's usually 4pm-ish. Just a suggestion.

                    If titrating up does give you a funny tummy/nausea and make you nap, then maybe wisest to do that later in the day for that reason, too. [MENTION=22732]Baclofenman[/MENTION] advised me to make the final dose substantially larger, and I think that had a positive effect.

                    Keep on keeping on!

                    GeorgeSmiley
                    Last edited by georgesmiley; March 20, 2021, 03:32 PM.

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                      #11
                      Re: My Baclofen Experience

                      How's everything going for you, [MENTION=24625]Journeyer[/MENTION]? Would love an update.

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