Twinsmommy Baclofen/Naltrexone hope this is not a honeymoon

[twinsmommy]

So yesterday was my first full day of Baclofen. The day before when I first got it I had taken my naltrexone and had already been drinking. I took 5mg but continued my usual.
My usual is "maintenance" drinking. I drink most of the day but usually not enough or fast enough to get drunk. As soon as my kids were home I would start. The evening is when it would get bad if it would get bad. Mind you things are different when I work outside the house. Have been unemployed for a bit. So yesterday I took the Baclofen in the AM but took 5mg at like 5 Am b/c I had the shakes. When I got up later I tried to cut my pill for another 5gm but it broke so I took the whole thing. (what was left. probably close to the 10mg) Felt great and did not want a drink.. Thought about it but I think that is just because I am an alcoholic so I always think about it. So I took it again in the afternoon 10 mg still feeling good and no desire to drink. At about 4 pm I took my Naltrexone because I wanted to have a glass of wine later. Did not have a drink until 6pm. By the time my kids went to bed, they were up late stalling like crazy, 10pm I had only had 3 maybe four drinks. I did have a couple more but not bad. Took my 10mg and went to sleep. Didn't feel great this AM but not awful. So it would seem to me that the Baclofen/Naltrexone is going to work very well for me. I just hope this is not a honeymoon faze that sometimes happens with other tactics. (is that the word I want? HMMM) Also, Bill P. had posted that he does not plan on stopping the Baclofen. I do not mind taking the Naltrexone for life if and when I drink but once this is under control I would rather stop the Baclofen. For various reasons but one being I believe it filters through your kidneys and I want to keep them is as good condition as possible. My son was born with chronic kidney failure and will at some point need a transplant. Hopefully I could be a donor. Do you have to take Baclofen for good!
Sorry so long! Thanks for reading.
TM

[billyb]

Twinsmommy Baclofen/Naltrexone hope this is not a honeymoon

Hi TM, good to hear that you are starting out on baclofen!

My drinking was very similar to yours - heavy daily maintenance rather than binges.

For me any sort of willful abstinence was impossible, since I would have crippling anxiety, and I would get moody and angry and generally miserable to be around. My wife actually told me to START drinking again after about a week of abstinence the last time I tried to stop drinking. Since I would never get really drunk and black out or turn into a monster, I was always a much better family man with a buzz than when sober and miserable.

(obviously this high-functioning alcoholism was unsustainable in the long-run, but I had not yet hit "rock bottom" - but I could see it slowly and relentlessly approaching from down the road)

So, seeing as how we might be coming from a similar place, I can tell you that a great thing about baclofen is that you needn't worry about abstinence at this point. You can just keep drinking as normal, and you will eventually start craving it less and less. For me, it started by being satisfied with 4-6 drinks rather than my customary 6-10, and eventually got to the point where I was happy drinking half a beer a night. Eliminating that last half a beer was actually the toughest part, since it was a psychological need rather than a physical dependence, but I eventually weened myself off of it by starting to drink lots of tea instead.

As to taking baclofen long-term, I am not medically qualified to speak about how it affects the kidneys, although I do believe that Naltrexone is eliminated primarily through the kidneys as well, so I am not sure whether one is better than the other. Baclofen certainly should be taken with extreme caution if you have severe kidney problems, yet my limited and possibly mistaken understanding is that it has zero or extremely little impact on healthy kidneys. You would need to see a specialist about this, however, to get definitive answer.

I would definitely recommend consulting with a board certified nephrologist before making any decisions about which medication to take over the long term. Such a person would know better than anyone here, and I'm sure you want the best possible advice where your son's health is concerned.

In the meantime however, you can expect that you will indeed need to titrate up to a rather large dose to achieve baclofen's therapeutic effects, but you will also eventually be able to cut down to a lower dose. Dr. Ameisen took as much as 270mg, but over the course of 5 years he has been able to cut down to only 30mg a day.

I'm looking forward to hearing about your progress!!

[Becky]

Twinsmommy Baclofen/Naltrexone hope this is not a honeymoon

Campral

Anyone here on Campral, I have just started it and am having some success.

Becky:new: