Brittany's Hope - Baclofen Journal

[greathopebrittany]

I ordered Baclofen from River Pharm. The order arrived quickly and they were great.

My body typically reacts intensely to meds, so I started very slow, 10mg a morning, 10 in the afternoon for four days. This morning I jumped up to 20mg in the am, wow, huge difference. I was so sleepy that I feel back to sleep and couldn't wake up. I'm still very groggy. Does this sleepiness get better? Other than, no real side effects, and I am the kind of girl that gets sick off of meds, so that is a really good sign.

I weigh 120 pounds. Does anyone have a recommended doseage that got them to the switch. My plan is to get to 20mg's in the am / 20 in the afternooon / 20 in the evening. Will people please let me know what worked for them? Also does the sleepiness subside? One more thing If I take it at bedtime, will the effects hold over through the next day? How long does it take to actually feel the AF symptoms?

I have been thinking of trying Baclofen for a long time. I've been a heavy drinker for the past 20 years. I am lucky if I am able to not drink for two days. I wake up the up in the morning hung-over, so sure I will not drink today, but when 4p rolls around I start thinking about that drink. It is total insanity. I can not explain how or why I am unable to resist that first drink, but I'm not. Once I have that first drink (no matter how many times I tell myself I'm only having one) I drink until I black-out. The first time I drank at age 12, I drank till I blacked-out. I'm so tired of this ruling my life. I am hoping and praying that Baclofen will give me that edge I need to say no to that first drink. I know social drinking or moderation is out of the quesiton for me, but I can't seemt to resist that first drink.

[kronkcarr]

Brittany's Hope - Baclofen Journal

Hi, greathopebrittany,

Welcome. Baclofen is so different for each of us. I started at 30 mgs/day and went up by 10 mgs every 4th day, but my dr didn't want me to go above 80 mgs. I didn't over drink after I started. I was sleepy many times and I got so sick of trying to keep track of side effects. Then I got where I was waking up early and staying up late. I just accept however my sleep is.

So increasing by 10 mgs every 4 days is pretty common and certainly on the conservative side IMHO. I hit my switch at 80 mgs, but when I had just started at 80 I had a night where I wanted to get trashed and I just didn't. I was at 80 mgs for 6 weeks or so and realized I could take or leave alcohol.

Others who have more experience than me will chime in soon. Welcome again.

[bleep]

Brittany's Hope - Baclofen Journal

Hi Brittany, and welcome.

There is no telling, especially from weight, what dose will be required unfortunately. The sleepiness can be countered by a few things, I know Modafinil has worked for some people, there are other things around as well. It does subside, but it can take a while. The best thing to do is a short walk when you feel it coming on, even a brisk walk to the toilet from your office can help. Either that, or a nap, but that's not always feasible. The one thing you absolutely cannot do is to remain staring at a computer - I will almost always fall asleep if I do that!

Best of luck.

[StuckinLA]

Brittany's Hope - Baclofen Journal

What's up Brittany, :welcome:

I'm kinda in the same boat as you, starting out on the slow-ish side. 10mg/day for a couple days then going to 20mg/day. It's probably best not to change anything quicker than four days, and 10mg increments are pretty good.

The sleepiness does sort of shift around a bit. Sometimes it's dropping stone asleep in the evening, but then being wide freaking awake at like 4 am. You get used to it, and as you stay at a steady dose for a while it sometimes subsides. The working on the computer or reading are killers, though. And that's my entire job description, so I'm really hoping to find a fairly low, comfortable dose. I'll let you know how it goes, but it's different for everybody.

Oh and BTW I've been on this ride before. But it's time to try again 'cause the drinking roller coaster isn't working so well these days.

Welcome again, and keep posting--it really does help.

[greathopebrittany]

Brittany's Hope - Baclofen Journal

bleep;1492063 wrote: Hi Brittany, and welcome.

There is no telling, especially from weight, what dose will be required unfortunately. The sleepiness can be countered by a few things, I know Modafinil has worked for some people, there are other things around as well. It does subside, but it can take a while. The best thing to do is a short walk when you feel it coming on, even a brisk walk to the toilet from your office can help. Either that, or a nap, but that's not always feasible. The one thing you absolutely cannot do is to remain staring at a computer - I will almost always fall asleep if I do that!

Best of luck.

Thank you for your reply. I quick walk seems to work well! I just need to refresh my brain

[greathopebrittany]

Brittany's Hope - Baclofen Journal

Thank you so much for your reply! It's nice to know there is support and others going through the same thing....

[greathopebrittany]

Brittany's Hope - Baclofen Journal

Day two (real day two)– Thank you for your reply’s. Your reply’s have made me realize I might be taking too much too fast. I made a written schedule I followed yesterday:

8am – 20mg
Noon – 20mg
5p – 20mg

I wanted to build up my dosage to help with my witching / drinking hour - 5p. That being said, I drank last night. 4 glasses of wine.

I’ve come to the conclusion, if I’m not completely honest on this post; it’s no good for me, or anyone who reads it. So confession time. I am not only an alcoholic; I am also addicted to Ambien. Now, there is no doubt in my mind I’m alcoholic, but addiction to Ambien might be too strong of a word. I take a half an Ambien before bed at night. Some time I wake up around 2am and take the second half. The problem is, I cannot sleep without. I feel dependant on it. I know that I have to stop both the alcohol and Ambien use is truly be clean. They play into each other in my pattern of addicted thinking. I am working towards total abstinence. I’ve tried moderation; it simply is not an option for me.

All that being said, I took my 20mg this morning and am very wacked-out. I am so tired, more importantly I can’t think straight. I feel dizzy and confused when I am walking. But the most important thing is, I can’t say it is the BAC that is causing these symptoms. I have these same symptoms from the Ambien and alcohol mix all ready. It just feels even more pronounced. I just really need to get a day or two of no alco or Ambien. Why can’t I even make it a few days? Stopping the Ambien is a total nightmare for me. I have horrible withdrawals and I don’t sleep for days. I am dreading it. Every time I go through the process I tell myself I won’t start that cycle again, and just like alcohol, I go right back to it.

For the record here, I am not opposed to AA. I have been in AA before and was success for a whole year (about 4 years ago) but feel back into the trap of drinking. AA is just not enough to stop me. When the urge to drink comes on, I can’t control it. I like AA, I love the philosophy, I wish it worked for me, and it doesn’t.

I am hoping, I am praying, BAC will help me, even just a little bit. I will work hard to abstain. I now I have to do my part as well.

Also for the record, I am a 40 year old, working professional. I hold a public, important position in my community. What I’m trying to saying is I am not an unmotivated, unintelligent person. Alcoholism / addiction don’t discriminate. I’ve worked hard to hide my addiction; clearly it is not working for me. I appreciate the anonymity of this forum.

Pray I don’t drink tonight. Thinking about dropping the Ambien also tonight….just dreading it.

[emily]

Brittany's Hope - Baclofen Journal

Hi Brittany

Bac has worked wonders for me. I see you've just started and taking 60 mg per day - I'm pretty new to this too, on about week 10 now but I only started, and I think most folk seem to start, on 30 mg for the entire day. That's only 10 mg x 3.

As Kroncarr said in the post above, go up by 10 mg every 4/5 days seems best.

I'm sure you'll have more experienced folks coming along to help you out but I know I could not have coped with 60 mgs way back at the start.

I'm on 80 mg per day now but have went up very slowly.

Good luck on your journey and welcome to the forum.

[bleep]

Brittany's Hope - Baclofen Journal

60 on day 2 is considered pretty hectic, I would perhaps drop back a little, or stay there for a while. If you go up a little slower, you give your brain time to adapt to the baclofen, and the SE's are a little less pronounced. Also, I would consider ordering liquid baclofen, it seems to be much cleaner, with fewer SE's.

Don't panic about the Ambien for now. Just focus on one thing at a time, and for now let that be getting baclofen into your head. For the same reason, I wouldn't stress overly much about drinking. You will feel much better if you don't drink, but it is not a requirement for success.

A word of caution about posting your email address like that - spambots can pick it off the screen, and you will find yourself getting tons of junk mail. Rather write it out: johnsmith at yahoo dot com, for example. I believe that helps to avoid them.

[TexasAg]

Brittany's Hope - Baclofen Journal

:welcome: Brittany!

Agree that 60mg on day 2 might be much. I started on 30mg and went up 20mg every 7 days. I was in a hurry to find out if it really worked. Now that I know it does, I probably would've done 10mg a week increase to keep SE's low. Hindsight and all that. Also, liquid bac is better but not sure what the status is now for that....

Cheers!

[greathopebrittany]

Brittany's Hope - Baclofen Journal

Thank you for the advice, to the email down

A word of caution about posting your email address like that - spambots can pick it off the screen, and you will find yourself getting tons of junk mail. Rather write it out: johnsmith at yahoo dot com, for example. I believe that helps to avoid them.[/QUOTE]

[greathopebrittany]

Brittany's Hope - Baclofen Journal

Thank you for your feedback. I made it through day three on my 20/20/20, I'm having side effects, but am willing to continue on at this level in hopes of positive results. That being said, I am not going to step it up for some time so my "brain can catch up."

Day three -
20mg/20mg/20mg
Last night I managed to cut drinking to 2 drinks (very good for me, but I had to work hard not to).
1/2 an ambien (also very good for me).

I think the BAC is helping me sleep. I know that one of the reason I drink too much and take the ambien is to make myself go to sleep, so knowing that the BAC will help with that is helpful.

The good news, its 9pm and I haven't had a drink tonight! Don't get me wrong, I thought about it a lot, but I had to work late, then go to a function at my daughter's school, so it would have been hard to squeeze a drink in. And I didn't have any alcohol left in the house.

I have only a 1/2 ambien left, I will take it tonight.

Side effects today: some mental confusion and a little sleepy. Honestly, nothing I'm not willing to go through if this works in the long run. Also, nothing I don't have to deal with regularly with bad hang-overs. The good news it my doesn't hurt my head like a hangover and I am not sick to my stomach. When I get really hung-over all I want to do is sleep and pray the day will end so I might feel better the next day. I don't feel like that on BAC. Just foggy and sleepy, and some interesting dreams (not nightmares though). A bad day on BAC bets the best hang-over day

Questions, how long do you think it will take to have cravings subside a little? Also, where can I get liquid BAC as people are advising it is purer? (that sounds like a crazy drug buyer question

Thanks again for all your support. I will keep you posted on my progress.

[Juan BH]

Brittany's Hope - Baclofen Journal

Hi Brittany-

I completely agree with Texas on the 10mg increase per week. That's what I'm doing now and it is a much more realistic approach as I am working and am completeing a probationary period for a promotion I got last year. I have to be on my game too.

On the Ambien, I wonder if you might be able to begin to wean off of it. Many posters have indicated that the BAC helps them sleep at night. You can't make big jumps in your Baclofen dose or it will actually cause insomnia (trust me on this one), but a conservative titration should prevent that. I was taking 300mg of Wellbutrin and tapered off completely because it is contraindicated with Baclofen. No problems there.

You are 100% correct on the honesty thing. I have come to that conclusion, too. It is best for you and it is best for the group as a whole.

Hang in there, this stuff works!

[MaryGoRound]

Brittany's Hope - Baclofen Journal

wrote: I am not only an alcoholic; I am also addicted to Ambien. Now, there is no doubt in my mind I?m alcoholic, but addiction to Ambien might be too strong of a word. I take a half an Ambien before bed at night. Some time I wake up around 2am and take the second half. The problem is, I cannot sleep without. I feel dependant on it. I know that I have to stop both the alcohol and Ambien use is truly be clean. They play into each other in my pattern of addicted thinking. I am working towards total abstinence. I?ve tried moderation; it simply is not an option for me.

You would not be the first alcoholic that resorted to Ambiem. It is quite common (and I include my case study of 1 into the mix). I got to Ambien because of problems caused by alcohol but also because I really had trouble sleeping.

My opinion mirrors Bleeps..."focus on one thing at a time." In my case, the Ambien is a side issue. The alcohol is the prime issue. IMO trying to take on both at the same time will be difficult. Once you feel you are entirely free of AL, you can deal with Ambien. By the way, going with a half pill is a good way to ween off, but do not beat yourself up about it. If you need a full pill, so be it.

As a fellow alcoholic and Ambien taker, my vote is to lose Alcohol and then try losing Ambien. The alcohol may be the reason you need Ambien, and if so, once you are AL free, being Ambien free may be easy (minus the ween off period). Ultimately you need to decide where your mind is at this point.

If you choose to lose the Ambien you WILL have rebound insomnia. It is almost certain. Just be prepared and be ready with good books and TV series/Movies to get you through the initial nights. No one dies due to a lack of sleep but many alcoholics relapse due to a lack of sleep.

[Juan BH]

Brittany's Hope - Baclofen Journal

Mary I think you are correct. One thing at a time is probably best. I am hopeful for you Brittany Keep us posted.