Need to make contact with others using baclofen

[Stevo]

Re: Need to make contact with others using baclofen

[MENTION=9868]guardian[/MENTION] I would really like the chance to talk with you more about this.

Please continue to post here or maybe a PM?

A quick little update on me:

I messed up ordering more bac in time and have had to titrate down again, I was fortunate to have had 2 repeats left on the final prescription my doctor gave me but if I hadn't have begun going down again I would not have made it through to the next order arriving.

One order has arrived and the other should be here any day now. I have been ordering from 2 different pharmacies as one is closer to me and the prices are better (Inhouse) but they only stock 10mg bac, the other is in Europe (Goldpharma). The orders from Goldpharma take over a month to get to me, whereas Inhouse arrive in about 10-14 days. I have already put new orders in with both even though I have not yet received my first order from Goldpharma. I will not be making this mistake again.

Over the last 12 months with the medical episode which is still undiagnosed, my doctor wanted me to titrate down so I followed his advice. I was at 210 at the time, I can't remember how far I went down from there before deciding to start going up again. I then got up to 300 but my doctor cut me off after getting a call from a pharmacist enquiring why I was filling the prescriptions so quickly. I had to titrate down again rapidly as my doctor only gave me 5 repeats likening me to someone addicted to endone. It was a huge shock as he had been so supportive for many years and was my prescribing doctor the first time I found indifference at 130mg. There is a lot more I can say about this but won't. As I was titrating down too quickly I spent quite a few weeks in a sort of withdrawal, not too bad but no fun at all.

I was thankfully pointed in the direction of the online pharmacies by a member on here almost immediately after posting the scenario and placed orders. I continued to titrate down until the orders arrived and then began going up again, I have been through various SE's which are considered normal for HDB several times now. They always go away or evolve into a new SE which is associated with whatever dose I am on, I have been through these stages several times now and recognise them or seem to be getting to know what SE is coming next.

I had gotten back up to 300 when I realised I may have left it too long to order again, especially from Goldpharma as I knew it would take approximately a month to get to me. I still had some of the previous order from them left and the 2 repeats I spoke of earlier yet felt to be safe from withdrawal it would be wise to start going down again, I got down to 235 before my order from Inhouse arrived and began going up again. I am now on 270 again.

I suspect all this titrating up and down over the last year has messed with the program, over the last week or so I have noticed my drinking is increasing. I am starting to wonder if I need to go all the way back to 0 before starting to head up again, it is not something I want to do but it is something I am wondering about.

Anyway, this wound up being much longer than initially intended, the good thing to end on is my latest orders online are both already on their way. They will be here far before I have to start to worry again about possible withdrawal, I will continue to go up with the hope of beginning to drink less again, but if it doesn't seem to be working I am prepared to start all over again. I will continue to order online even if I am heading back down to 0 so I have a stockpile here for further use.

Cheers Steve.

[_serenity_]

Re: Need to make contact with others using baclofen

Hi [MENTION=22203]Stevo[/MENTION],

Please don't go back down to zero. I have seen others on here do similar things and it really messes things up. If you go back to zero you will likely fall into a hellscape of drinking and it becomes ever so much harder to get back out of that hole. As you have mentioned you are likely drinking because you had to rapidly decrease your dosage. I would strongly suggest getting back to 300 or so and making plans for ordering so you don't have to scale back. Keep it steady and simple. I would also suggest looking into antabuse. It pairs well with baclofen and can give your body a break from the drinking for a week or two at a time.

[guardian]

Re: Need to make contact with others using baclofen

[MENTION=22203]Stevo[/MENTION]

Absolutely. I'd be happy to.

[Jod]

Re: Need to make contact with others using baclofen

Edit- I have also noticed people can't like or thank for my posts anymore, does anyone know why this may be?

[MENTION=22203]Stevo[/MENTION]

Seems to be working Steve.

Not all users are aware of the facility.

[crocster]

Re: Need to make contact with others using baclofen

Hi Stevo, fellow Aussie here. I remember you from the last time I was on here in 2016. 6 years in the wilderness for me but I have had a shift in attitude. I have been using Baclofen for many years on and off because I have found it to be head and shoulders the best anti-anxiety medication I have ever tried and my drinking started 45 years ago to self medicate acute anxiety and has gone on to be a tenacious habit I have not been able to shed now I am semi retired, living quietly and free of many old sources of anxiety.

I have had a shift in attitude recently and started to string together sober days up to a week. Thought I would come back on here as the forum was helpful in the past.

Anyway it's nice in a way to see some familiar names like yours here and I look forward to catching up on unread threads. I feel different this time and hope to make sobriety stick. Best wishes on your journey too.

Crocster

[Stevo]

Re: Need to make contact with others using baclofen

Welcome back [MENTION=14374]crocster[/MENTION] It will be nice to be able to bounce off another Aussie who is on the same path.

I have only ever met a couple on here.

[Stevo]

Re: Need to make contact with others using baclofen

No one has said anything on here for nearly 2 months so I thought I'd write a quick update.

It has been an interesting couple of months, my drinking went up and became out of control again as I had to titrate down. I don't even know how low I went now I think of it. My orders from Inhouse were consistent but from Goldpharma not so much, I came very close to running out. On top of that the area I live in has been through 2 devastating floods with many homes and lives destroyed, including that of my children and their mother. The only way I can describe it is it was unprecedented here and thousands of people have been left homeless, the city has been destroyed. We had a second flood just as people were cleaning up which took everything out again, although not as bad as the first one. We have been through Australia's version of Hurricane Katrina, if that makes sense?

On a brighter note, I have found a new doctor who is happy to prescribe bac for me. He has no issues with the doses I am taking and is very interested in seeing the outcomes.

I am now back up to 280mg a day and my drinking is beginning to ease off again. I am so glad I didn't have to go back to zero to start all over, and drinking less is very welcome.

This is all I have time to write at this stage, hope to update with a little more detail sometime soon.

Many thanks to all who have responded along the way, and [MENTION=9868]guardian[/MENTION] I am looking forward to responding to your PM soon. [MENTION=14524]_serenity_[/MENTION] you too.

Cheers Steve.

[guardian]

Re: Need to make contact with others using baclofen

[MENTION=22203]Stevo[/MENTION] Sorry to hear of your troubles mate. But I am very encouraged to hear that you were able to secure a physician to supervise your baclofen use, and still more that your drinking is coming under control. Baclofen users' experiences are so interesting. I've become indifferent twice. The first, I drank heavily until I reached the "switch" at 175mgs and had no desire thereafter until I stopped taking baclofen. My second and current success with it, I was abstinent due to probation, but continued to crave until I lost the desire. But this time I needed 375mgs. Never had a waning of desire or consumption until I just stopped drinking or wanting to drink upon awakening.

I've reduced my dose to 110mgs from my high of 395 and have been sober and mostly abstinent for 3.5 years now. I have not however had much luck with finding a physician to supervise my use. To be fair, I haven't really pursued it aggressively. But, I realize that it's very important.

May I ask how you went about finding a doctor, including what information you gave them about yourself and baclofen? Did you narrow your search to people that work only with addiction?

[Stevo]

Re: Need to make contact with others using baclofen

It's been a while, I thought I'd give a bit of an update.

I'm now on 325 mg a day, my drinking is getting less as I continue to go up. I only go up 5 mg a week as I noticed if I go up too quickly I spend a night or 2 nauseated, it's not much fun. SE's like insomnia have stopped which is a welcome change, I was taking phenergan to combat this but it wasn't helping much in the end and I'd spend half the night smoking cigarettes. I can't drink any more than 7-8 beers, some nights it's less. I just get to a point where I don't want them anymore. It is rare I open an 8th and I never finish it, it gets tipped down the sink.

[MENTION=9868]guardian[/MENTION] firstly I'd like to apologise for my tardy response, I have known you posted for a while now. I have a new job and it's wrecking me, I have always been a shift worker and this one is 9-5. I am getting use to not having any energy at the end of each day and not getting anything done because I work the same hours as everything is open, on my day off I am running around trying to tie up everyday stuff.

Finding the doctor was serendipitous, I had no choice but to find a doctor who would prescribe bac. I was running out and my orders from Goldpharma had been lost in transit, I fear bac withdrawal big time. I've read too many stories on here to know it's something I don't want to have to go through. I called my local doctor and made an appointment. I went in there thinking I'd have to convince him and show all the research I did with the last one, lo and behold, he was aware of bac as a treatment for AUD. It was funny, he thought I'd need 30 mg 3x a day. When I told him what I was doing it became obvious he had heard of it yet didn't understand the full extent of how bac worked. He played it cool and I gave him a crash course in what we all know on here, he was receptive and told me he had no problem with prescribing for me even at the doses I am taking.

All the orders from Goldpharma arrive a couple of days later, I wound up with 5 repeats for 10 and 25 mg bac and 1500 25 mg bac from Goldpharma. I still have over 500 25's left here and have only been filling the scripts for the 10's. I've seen the doctor several times since and have been completely transparent, he knew I was ordering from overseas anyway. He doesn't care, he knows I know what I'm doing and much like the last doctor is letting me titrate up as I see fit. He has told me I don't need an appointment to get scripts, just call and he sends them to my phone in a text message. I haven't had to ask for another prescription for bac yet. It's been insane when it comes to bac over the last few months.

For anyone who may be reading this for the first time thinking about whether bac is a good fit for them, when I decided to do this again I was drinking a minimum of 16 stubbies a day 375 ml. It's been a roller coaster of getting fucked around and a bunch of strange occurrences since I started again a couple of years ago, but I attribute the decline in my drinking completely to bac. I switched the first time at 130 mg, I think? This time has been different yet I hear from others who've done it more than once that this is normal. I should never had of stopped taking it the first time, I was going through some life changing stuff and was determined to drink myself to death. I consciously made a decision to stop, it was a bad idea. Baclofen works, I don't think I will have to go much higher. With every new 5 mg I find I am becoming more indifferent, then to find a maintenance dose.

I have been fortuitous and I know in other countries it is much harder to access, I am not saying this with hubris. I'm not thinking everyone can find this situation but am very glad I have, it's been a roller coaster. Mainly because of dealing with doctors. If you have the means to order online it's an efficient source of bac, I think my issues with Goldpharma were due to being in Australia and covid.

Any weapon available to combat the scourge that is alcohol is worthy, and bac is safe with a very long history. I hope the research that needs to be done to make this accessible to everyone continues to be done.

Wow that was a long one,

Cheers Steve.

[Stevo]

Re: Need to make contact with others using baclofen

Quick update,

As of today I am on 365 mg a day, I go up another 5 mg every Sunday here in Australia. It is happening as meant to, I am starting to switch and the onset seems rapid with every new titration. I can't drink any more than 5 beers of a night when I am home alone, I had a visitor last night and thought I'd open a sixth. I had 2 mouthfuls and tipped the rest down the sink. I physically just don't have it in me to want to drink any more than this. It's easy to put the last beer down and as I tip them down the sink I wonder why I even opened the last one, I guess that even though the bac is working as it does I have some neural pathway stuff which is still trying to catch up to the new normal.

I will probably post more often as this process plays out, it is hard to find switch stories on here using the search function. It's a word which has been used so often over the years. Certainly wishing there was the level of interaction there was on here many years ago, [MENTION=9868]guardian[/MENTION] and [MENTION=14524]_serenity_[/MENTION] if you guys are around your input will be greatly appreciated.

Until next time,

Steve.

[guardian]

Re: Need to make contact with others using baclofen

Quick update,

As of today I am on 365 mg a day, I go up another 5 mg every Sunday here in Australia. It is happening as meant to, I am starting to switch and the onset seems rapid with every new titration. I can't drink any more than 5 beers of a night when I am home alone, I had a visitor last night and thought I'd open a sixth. I had 2 mouthfuls and tipped the rest down the sink. I physically just don't have it in me to want to drink any more than this. It's easy to put the last beer down and as I tip them down the sink I wonder why I even opened the last one, I guess that even though the bac is working as it does I have some neural pathway stuff which is still trying to catch up to the new normal.

I will probably post more often as this process plays out, it is hard to find switch stories on here using the search function. It's a word which has been used so often over the years. Certainly wishing there was the level of interaction there was on here many years ago, [MENTION=9868]guardian[/MENTION] and [MENTION=14524]_serenity_[/MENTION] if you guys are around your input will be greatly appreciated.

Until next time,

Steve.

Thats all great news. Are you merely drinking out of habit at this point? Or is there a strong compulsion each day still? Have you tried taking a night off yet?

[Stevo]

Re: Need to make contact with others using baclofen

[MENTION=9868]guardian[/MENTION] I think it is more out of habit, this job I am doing is super stressful and when I come home I go straight for a beer.

I haven't tried for a night off completely, I'm not in the headspace to do this. I am seriously considering looking for another job, the whole of the last 3 months has been ridiculous to say the least. I have been doing this sort of thing for the best part of 20 years and this organisation is without a doubt the the worst onboarding I have ever been exposed to. I can't switch off and having a few beers seems to help.

370 mg a day as of 2 days ago, it will be interesting to see how my drinking changes over the next week. I tipped most of the 5th beer down the sink last night.

[Stevo]

Re: Need to make contact with others using baclofen

Quick update,

375mg as of Sunday Aussie time, I can only drink four beers. I opened a 5th last night and tipped it down the sink after a mouthful or two.

The night before that I woke up in the morning and found the 5th still sitting on the bench with only a mouthful taken out of it.

The pharmacist is the problem here, he's the one who stuffed me up with my last doctor. When I picked up my scripts yesterday he treated me like he suspected I had a problem and looked at me very disapprovingly, I am considering ordering online again in case I have any problems.

I'm so close.

Cheers Steve.

[Stevo]

Re: Need to make contact with others using baclofen

Quick update,

So the pharmacist is scaring me, I live with c-PTSD from childhood trauma...hence my life of AUD and other drug addictions. I present really well and most people would never know, it is how I have been able to create a career and have managed to stay away from most mental health systems; instead I work in them. That being said I quietly live with all the recognised traits. The pharmacist has already caused terrible fractures in my life which will most likely never be mended. I got a new script filled today, I am going through a bottle of 25 mg bac a week at the moment with the 10's lasting approx a week and a half. I know he is just doing his job but I don't think he understands how bac has changed my life and if he was to cause any new issues I could possibly be plunged deep into withdrawal.

To mitigate the situation I have begun to titrate down again, 5 mg every three days starting about five days ago. I am on 370 mg a day at the moment with my next drop tomorrow to 365. I have also put an order in to Goldpharma and Inhouse to hopefully keep my supply up and lessen the amount of times I use the prescriptions. It will take about two weeks for the Inhouse to get here which are 10's and about a month for the Goldpharma which are the 25's. Once they arrive I will be able to cut down the amount of times I have to go into the chemist to something they see as more acceptable.

The upside is I am seeing no change in my drinking due to the smaller dose so far, how long this lasts I don't know? I do suspect the switch was already taking effect far before I hit 375 and hopefully I won't have to go down much further.

I am tipping most of my 5th beer down the sink and the indifference has not changed, I am sleeping really well and wake up feeling fresh. This is a far cry from what I had gone through whilst titrating up; insomnia, nausea and a bunch of different SE's associated with HDB. It has been a two year mission for me because of dealing with doctors and the pharmacist, titrating up and then down, and then up and down again to satisfy my doctors. Getting really sick, which is still undiagnosed in March/April last year was another factor which caused my doctor to freak out, it took the best part of 10 months to recover...and was the the catalyst for me beginning to post in here again.

With a light at the end of the tunnel and knowing it's not an oncoming train I feel I am so close to switching and living with complete indifference for a second time it scares the crap out of me to think this could be being jeopardised now. My first switch with bac was at about 130 mg a day, I have learned since the second time generally takes a lot more which in my case has proven to be true, even though I am completely comfortable with this it is apparent the pharmacist is not.

I see my doctor again on the 13th of next month and although he has been supportive he may prove to be otherwise when I tell him what I am on now, I was on 270 when I spoke to him about this last.

I could be overthinking the whole situation and hope I am. I have found writing all this therapeutic though and hope to have better things to report next time.

Cheers Steve.

[Stevo]

Re: Need to make contact with others using baclofen

Quick update,

360 at the moment, 355 tomorrow. Still can't drink any more than 4-5 beers with the 5th mostly being tipped down the sink. I'm hoping my orders from overseas arrive quicker than they did previously now most of the airlines and whatever shipping modalities used are all back in full swing.

Back to the pharmacist tomorrow no matter what, I'm sure to be greeted with an opprobrious expression. It is what it is.

Cheers Steve.