Need help starting (baclofen)

[JDizzle]

I have read a ton on baclofen. My doctor is on board with the max 60 mg. I am doing this on my own. I took 60 for a while but only got the benefits the first day. My body immediately adapted. After reading your posts, I realize I ramped up waaaay too fast. I doubled my 60 to 120. I've been here for 3 days. I'm still drowsy but mainly, my breaths are short at night. I know this is a common side effect. I'm not too worried about my health. I know 120 isn't extremely high. My dr ramped me from 0-60 the first day. I do feel like I need to consult a physician that has direct experience with this. My doc is wonderful but he doesn't want anything to do with anything over 60....and I totally understand. I read about a Dr L on here... A couple of other letters too. Is that an anonymous thing for the docs in this community or something? Anyways, can someone get me in touch with one of these docs?

I've been an AA loser since I was 17. I'm 37 now. I had 2 yrs of sobriety twice, but I don't think it will ever work for me again....maybe I won't ever work it again. Either way I love and respect AA. That is my couple of sentences on myself

[StuckinLA]

Need help starting (baclofen)

Yo JDizzle, :welcome:

Fantastic name, btw. I wanted to make some kind of adolescent rap joke, but it's like you already beat me to it. Anyway... A script for 60mg/day is a great start, and will save you a ton of money. If you want to just go ahead and get a script for as much as you need, well you might have to ditch your doc but not necessarily. You'll find the info here:

https://www.mywayout.org/community/f2...sen-41531.html

We abbreviate the last name because... I don't frankly know why, actually. Maybe I think so that we don't show up on search engines--at least that's why I do it--and you know, we're alkies... we're used to hiding?

Dr L is a pain in the nuts to deal with, in my experience. So I would also suggest that you keep your script for 60, and top it off with orders from either River Pharmacy (advertised at the top of this page) or Goldpharma. I've always used goldpharm and never had a problem. The other thing about Dr L is that he's not going to really what you might call help. He denies that there are any SEs, doesn't really explain the process, and just tells you to keep going up until you stop drinking. And then he says to stay at that dose for the rest of your life--and he's I believe the only person in the world who says that. It's ridiculous. But, he will prescribe you a lot of bac.

The night breathing sucks. I get it too--my sympathies. And 120 is nothing to sneeze at. So just hang around and post with any questions. Cheers! :l

[StuckinLA]

Need help starting (baclofen)

JDizzle;1508318 wrote: Weird turn of events here. I am new and just read the whole post. I realized about half way through it was from 2012 and I was bummed cause I thought they prob aren't around anymore. It was so cool to see an update from yesterday. Stuck you had written they were treating bac carelessly (not trying to bring up old shit ). How do u get information on what is not careless? No one really seems to have an answer on what a correct or suggested titration is. No one really seems to define a "switch"..... Aside from man I hit my switch and I'm all good. Wonderful....wtf is a switch? I could prob tell u what it is but how do u know? Once u hit it, how do u know what level to go down to?

My prob is I am not an everyday drinker. It's hard for me to tell if its working because I may just not feel like drinking today. Problem is I when I drink (usually once a week), there is a good chance I'll end up in jail, I will bring shame on my family somehow,.... U know what, I'm 100% alcoholic. I always feel life would be easier if I was the everyday variety drinker. Anyways, please help me. U all seem to have answers and I really need them. Also there is the issue of needing a secondary doctor. My dr gave me 60 mg a day 3 month supply. He will give me more but just 60 a day. The first 50 or so days, I was terrible with it. I'd take it, then get drunk and not take it. I decided to try harder so I started taking 120. I have been here for 3 days. I posted all this on another new thread but ....I don't know.....ur conversation here grabbed me. Anyways, thanks for the post here. And just keep in mind I know nothing about this. Please don't assume I will know simple inside lingo or acronyms. It took me a bit to figure out MWO when I was registering.

OK--that thread was... well JB is cool but there were issues with another person.

The common wisdom here is to increase (or decrease) your dose in 10mg increments, no faster than every 4 days. Some people go faster, some slower, but that's a good, safe rule of thumb. What you should never do is not take your bac after drinking. Never, ever, ever stop taking it--you need to move down (or up) slowly and steadily. Even if you get wasted on booze, find yourself on a bender, and wake up next to the pool on a cruise ship in the Caribbean with a Mai Tai in your hand. You should still be taking your bac.

Now that we've got that out of the way... The "switch." It's bizarre, and weird, and different for everyone, but seriously you'll forget to drink. Even if you have a thought at work about wanting a drink really bad when you get home, you'll forget to stop and get booze, or you'll look in the fridge right past the beer and grab a soda. It's difficult to explain. And at some of the higher doses that aren't "the switch," you'll find yourself taking forever trying to get drunk--so long that you probably won't even get there. I sat in a bar working on some papers, and it wasn't until I packed up and left the bar that I realized it had taken me 2 hours to drink 1 beer. And I really had a taste for beer that day.

So that's kind of what it's like. Just go slow--hang around at 120 and see how you feel, and it sometimes takes a day or two or three for the SEs to show up. So just don't go jumping around, K?

[EDIT: Oh and for what it's worth: https://www.mywayout.org/community/f2...ule-52878.html]

And as always, keep posting and asking questions!

[man on mars]

Need help starting (baclofen)

It sucks that your doctor won't prescribe more than 60 mg/day, but the fact that you have a prescription at all is awesome. You are now free to obtain baclofen through other sources and take whatever dose you want, and you will always have that prescription to fall back on if one of your online orders doesn't go through, or if you travel somewhere and your meds get scrutinized by customs/TSA/etc. I use alldaychemist, personally; I've ordered medication from them a half dozen times and never had a problem.

StuckinLA;1508309 wrote: We abbreviate the last name because... I don't frankly know why, actually.

Everyone abbreviates everything all the time on this damn website! Typing out the whole word is apparently way too hard. I get it, mostly, especially with "AF" for "alcohol free" and "SE" for "side effect," but "AL" for "alcohol" is just awful.

[Colin]

Need help starting (baclofen)

man on mars;1508375 wrote: ... but "AL" for "alcohol" is just awful.

I agree with you.

[ifulovelife2]

Need help starting (baclofen)

It took me ages to work out what the f**k AL was. I just couldn't understand why everybody hated this guy.

[Colin]

Need help starting (baclofen)

I thought AL was a girl. Who the fuck is ALICE?

[JDizzle]

Need help starting (baclofen)

Thank you so much for the help. Stuck I notice you have been on here a long time after you were changed. That tells me a lot about you as a person. I hope I stick around and help people after I get what I need. I think you have inspired me to do so. How long ago did you hit your switch and do you still drink... a lot, a little, not at all? I can tell you since 120 mg of baclofen (I want this to hit google... that is how I found help. So no "Bac" abbreviation), I have not felt like drinking at all. But this is not at all what I want out of my life. I hope this is my switch and I can taper down a little. I am far too spacey and light headed. I notice too I am telling old people stories that have no point and go nowhere.... well I broke my hip yesterday and I really hate mashed potatoes. I am glad to hear about waking up on a cruise ship with a drink in hand....I'm in good company. Someone probably tried to take it from you and you woke up long enough to tighten your grip on it. Anyways, that is my update... 120 a day, short breathing at night, annoying people with long stories, overly emotional, doped up a little (I like that part though ). Since I dont drink everyday, I figure it will be hard to tell when this works. I still crave cigarettes though. Shouldn't it stop that too? Actually I am smoking because I am a little doped up and bored.... maybe I'm not "craving" a smoke. Anyways, one thing at a time and booze is top of the list. I was just thinking maybe I could use cigs as a measuring device since I do smoke everyday.

Anyways, back to work. I'm listening to Pandora and Rocket Man is on...Life is good today. Thank you again for the help.... I really need it and really appreciate it. I hope this made sense...as I said, I am very cloudy.

JD
JD was either too short a user name or it was taken...hence JDizzle. My name is John David. I am in Alcoholics Obvious at the bar every week so I stopped giving a damn about being Anonymous a long time ago.

[JDizzle]

Need help starting (baclofen)

BTW, does Dr L give scripts? If so I don't have insurance right now, but you can get 180 pills at Walmart with no insurance for 20 bucks. That's over 100 days. And if you spent less than that on booze in one night, you need to get off baclofen and go be the social drinker that you are. Also, does he charge a consultation?

[StuckinLA]

Need help starting (baclofen)

I'll go with JD. I like capitalized initials--they look so mysterious. Anyway, to your point(s):

It's a long story with me. I hit my switch last August-ish, at 240mg/day, though I drank myself to the hospital at that dose, as well. And there was one day where I doubled (tripled?) a dose because I was so spacey. So anyway, that's when I stopped drinking and realized that I didn't give a shit about alcohol. I'd realize suddenly that I hadn't had a drink in like a week, even though I was going to the bar every night... then I'd drink, and realize that I hadn't had another drink in like a week, that kind of thing. It got so bad that I actually had to come clean to my bartender and tell her what was going on, about the pills, and the lack of cravings/interest. She was really freaked out...

But anyway I went off bac for a lot of reasons and went on some benders and stuff, and right now I'm on only 80mg and sober for... 8 days, 9? Whatevs. Learn from my (and others') mistakes.

Bac doesn't work for crap when it comes to smoking. I guess in the rat studies, it did at extremely high doses, but if you worked out the math for mg per kg, it would be something like 500 or 600mg/day. I don't know about any of that--you'd have to ask bleep.

Dr L does give scripts. It's a "take as directed" script, which sometimes is confusing (aggravating/infuriating) for the pharmacists. He'll ask you how many pills you need for 30 days at your dose, and he'll prescribe that # of pills. You have to figure it out. And in my experience, just about every time I've been on the phone with him (grand total of 3 or 4), he's sent me a bill for $130. I think I paid most of them... You have to understand that he's a different breed. He's a believer. He will prescribe bac to anyone who calls him and says they're an alcoholic, pretty much no questions asked. I have no idea how many "patients" he has. He'll never remember you or your name, or how many times you've spoken to him.

Oh, and I'm still around because 1) I like it here; 2) I went through some troubles the last few months and am on bac again--I wasn't around for a while; 3) this is kind of like my 12th step work

[kronkcarr]

Need help starting (baclofen)

Hi, JDizzle,

Welcome. It sounds like you've come to the right place. You asked about the correct usage of bac. StuckinLA has given good guidelines. My dr started me at 30 mgs and 4 days later I went to 50 and then 60. My dr was reluctant to go higher so I sat at 60 mgs for awhile. He did let me go to 80 mgs. See further down anout 80 mgs.

I called Dr L and I got a script for a lot of bac. The "office visit" was $140. I'd already hit my switch and didn't need Dr L for guidance.

The switch, I think, is different for each of us. So read lots of threads here. My switch came at 80 mgs and I would have gone past it but my dr wouldn't let me. To better explain: After I started bac I didn't over drink and at the start of 80 mgs I was dying to get and drink a bottle of wine. I didn't and weeks later (still at 80) I realized that I could do without over drinking. I used to love red wine and now it often doesn't taste all that delicious. Plus on the 2 occasions I've had 3 drinks I've taken naps, had nightmares and had that breathing issue you mentioned.

Keep posting and asking. Good luck!

kronk

[JDizzle]

Need help starting (baclofen)

Ok one major question....does anyone quit/moderate and stay that way? I know it's only been going on a few years. AA doesn't work for some people but there r many that have stayed the course for 20 years. I get it, it's different but being a 20 year AAer, it's hard for me to listen to a lot of posts when people r like I haven't drank in 20 days, this totally works. Yeah whatever I can do that on bad bender fear. I am absolutely not talking about u btw...honestly I'm not. U know what I mean though? It's nice to have those damn old timers around. I just really haven't read anyone with real long term effectiveness. In AA at least I know it can work...it did for me for 2 yrs twice. I just really want to exhaust this avenue before I go back to meetings. At least then I can tell them...don't try it, it doesn't work. In fairness, I will call them bragging like a mofo if it does work. I hope I am not coming off as negative, but hell we're doing something the medical community doesn't accept. I want to believe...I do. Well I'm gonna try it. I hope my skepticism is unfounded. Hey why does everyone's story include it was working but then I quit taking them? If it works why stop? I'm not talking about the folks that quit because of bad side effects.

[JDizzle]

Need help starting (baclofen)

Thank you for the post kronk.

Stuck, I hate to ask this but u knew the mg/kg for cigs. Do u know what it is for coke? Sorry to ask....some of us r sicker than other

[RedThread12]

Need help starting (baclofen)

Yo', JD! And welcome to MWO. Land of the free, or trying to be free, and home of the brave. I mean, really, desperation drives us to do incredibly courageous things to save our lives. I started taking baclofen in Oct. '09. Not so many of us, then. The image I keep seeing is of a few brave souls jumping off a cliff, illegally-obtained baclofen in one hand and laptop opened to MWO in the other.

So the really, really good news for you is that a LOT of water has gone under the bridge, carrying INCREDIBLE information and experiences about taking baclofen to come out from under the lash of alcohol, and a little bit about other addictions, and most of it still remains in these threads. AND there are more than a few folks who pushed the envelop that post regularly, or loiter in the background around MWO, prepared to help you.

I've been incredibly fortunate with my bac path - and most of my life, actually - to the extent that a D.O. sometimes refers her patients to me to help them with their baclofen protocol. She knows she doesn't really know sh**t about the whole scenario, but she trusts me. And I've seen and been a part of a thing or two, as well, here at MWO. And all of that leads me to believe that the more informed and prepared, (and maybe desperate) one is, the higher the probability of success. I'm sure others disagree, and I welcome any discussion. This is just my personal observation.

So - are 'ya ready to put some stuff in your bac-pack? 'Cause if you are, and if you are, indeed, addressing multiple addictions, there's a lot of reading that can (IMO) make a huge contribution to your success with any and all of it.

Reality is, (as far as I know, today): no one knows how much baclofen it takes for any given individual to find freedom from the lash of any addiction, including alcohol, which has had by far the most "researchers." The only thing I know about baclofen and cocaine is the YouTube piece about the doctor doing fMRI studies around this issue. I don't suffer from cocaine addiction (any more), but if I did, I can guarantee you that seeing those few minutes of video would have me seeking every place for every possible bit of information I could find.

Which is exactly how I came to MWO, regarding alcohol, after a brutal, "classic" relapse 4 years ago, this month (wow, that was an interesting, quick calculation!). It has taken all of the resources I cultivated in a decade of adult sobriety, PLUS spending what, to everyone who knows me, thinks is an inordinate amount of time on this forum, to collect the information and tools that have, literally, saved my life, and no-telling how many hundreds of thousands of dollars of medical expenses.

We ARE here to help you, in more ways than you can probably imagine you might need. And I'm here to tell you that what you want to do, and need to do, is totally achievable. But 'ya gotta' put on your big-boy pants for this ride. Read, read, read. Keep posting. Ask questions. Get totally into getting totally out! But the map ain't the road, as they say (or did I just make that up?). I've seen a lot, and for the most part, it's a different path for everyone. This is Your Way Out. I wish you all the best!!

[bleep]

Need help starting (baclofen)

Hi JD,

I am one of the ones who baclofen worked for, and then stopped taking it. Unsurprisingly, it then stopped working. I'm back on it now, and it's working again. I stopped, mostly as an experiment, but also because it messed around with my libido. This time around I am hoping to balance that out somehow.

Weight seems to be completely irrelevant with baclofen. What is relevant hasn't been worked out yet. The general approach is just keep going up until it works.