Consolidated Baclofen Information Thread

[Lo0p]

Baclofen

Dr Olivier Ameisen’s website:
• Olivier Ameisen, MD

His books:
• Macmillan: End of My Addiction: Books: Olivier Ameisen, M.D.
• 'Heal Thyself: A Doctor at the Peak of His Medical Career, Destroyed by Alcohol--and the Personal Miracle That Brought Him Back' by Olivier Ameisen (Dec 2009)

Wikipedia entry:
• Baclofen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An interview with Dr. Ameisen, the first doctor in this news clip, Dr James Garbutt, is a researcher that did a study with alcoholic patients and low dose baclofen (3x10mg/day). He found that it was effective, but not completely successful. Dr. Ameisen lost all craving for alcohol when he reached a dose of 270mg/day, nine times the dose used In the study. He continues to take 50mg/day now, five years later:
• A Cure for Alcoholism? - ABC News

YouTube video of PET scan showing reduced cocaine craving in the brain. Baclofen works for alcohol craving via the same mechanism:
• YouTube - Baclofen dramatically reduces cocaine craving

• CASE REPORT
COMPLETE AND PROLONGED SUPPRESSION OF SYMPTOMS AND CONSEQUENCES OF ALCOHOL-DEPENDENCE USING HIGH-DOSE BACLOFEN: A SELF-CASE REPORT OF A PHYSICIAN
OLIVIER AMEISEN
Alcohol & Alcoholism Vol. 40, No. 2, pp. 147–150, 2005
(PDF)

• BACLOFEN EFFICACY IN REDUCING ALCOHOL CRAVING AND INTAKE: A PRELIMINARY DOUBLE-BLIND RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED STUDY
Alcohol and Alcoholism Vol. 37, No. 5, pp. 504-508, 2002

• CASE REPORT: SUPPRESSION OF SYMPTOMS OF ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE AND CRAVING USING HIGH-DOSE BACLOFEN
WILLIAM BUCKNAM
Alcohol and Alcoholism 2007 42(2):158-160

• Baclofen: a new drug for the treatment of alcohol dependence
Int J Clin Pract, August 2006, 60, 8, 1003–1008
(PDF)

• Baclofen in the Treatment of Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome: A Comparative Study vs Diazepam
The American Journal of Medicine
Volume 119, Issue 3, March 2006, Pages 276.e13-276.e18
(PDF)

• Baclofen suppresses motivation to consume alcohol in rats
Psychopharmacology (2003) 167:221–224
(PDF)

• Effectiveness and safety of baclofen for maintenance of alcohol abstinence in alcohol-dependent patients with liver cirrhosis: randomised, double-blind controlled study.
Lancet. 2007 Dec 8;370(9603):1915-22.
(PDF)

• Acute interaction of baclofen in combination with alcohol in heavy social drinkers.
Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2009 Jan;33(1):19-30.
(PDF)

• Dr. Phillip Thomas' website:
www.baclofen4alcoholism.com

• Informative and educational threads on this forum complete with factual information, titration schedules and personal experiences:
Dr. Ameisen's Baclofen Cure - Relevant Information
Consolidated Baclofen Progress Thread
Consolidated Baclofen Success Thread
Side Effects and Adverse Reactions to Baclofen




A HUGE thank you to UrbanFool for the domain by which we can download these PDF's!!

[Lo0p]

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[billyb]

Great work loop!

[brightlite]

Very Good...Lot's of work was involved, I'm sure.

[beatle]

This is great -- no, it's priceless.

Let's keep it up at the top (everyone-- let's do our part).

[cowgal]

Loop, that was alot of research, you are awesome........................would love to see a clinical trial, as would Dr Ameison, hell, I used to run clinical trials....................dying to get back into an exciting field!!

good job, again, sorry I didn't see it sooner.

and thanks, i am bored as hell and that helped me, good reading is appreciated!!

MA

[billyb]

Following loop's lead, I though I'd share a few more references. The first three links only have abstracts attached, but if there's interest I can post the full articles like loop has done above. Just let me know.

The first link is a guarded review prompted by Ameisen and Bucknam's case reports. I think it's a good one example of how a skeptical but still open-minded doctor might interpret Ameisen's claim. I think he's definitely understating the its effectiveness, but at least he takes the drug very seriously.

The 2nd link is the most recent review of baclofen by Addolorato and his team. It's more recent than the other review by Addolorato posted above, and it notably includes a bit more discussion about high-dose baclofen.

The 3rd and 4th links are clinical studies on low-dose baclofen by Addolorato's group. Yes, they only deal with 30 mg doses, but at least they are double-blind studies, and they show how effective it is even at only 30 mg a day.

Complete suppression of craving in alcohol-depende... [CNS Drugs. 2009] - PubMed result

Role of the GABA(B) receptor system in alcoholism ... [Alcohol. 2009] - PubMed result

Effectiveness and safety of baclofen for maintenan... [Lancet. 2007] - PubMed result

BACLOFEN EFFICACY IN REDUCING ALCOHOL CRAVING AND INTAKE: A PRELIMINARY DOUBLE-BLIND RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED STUDY -- Addolorato et al. 37 (5): 504 -- Alcohol and Alcoholism

[Lo0p]

Thanks Billy! I'll edit those into my original post when I get home later today.

[Anna B]

Thanks LoOp & Billy. Great idea to put everything in one place!

-Anna

[Zenstyle]

I just saw this!

Way to go Loop!!!