Skullbaby's Progress

[kronkcarr]

Skullbaby's Progress

skullbaby,

You'll get there. I went up 10 mgs every fourth day and I sat at 80 mgs because my dr wouldn't let me go higher. Turns out it was my switch.

You do have a plan and I'm anxious to hear how it goes.

[skullbabyland]

Skullbaby's Progress

Thanks for that, Kronk- that's great to hear that you switched at a low dose... I would really love it if I had a similar experience (knock on wood). I'll keep updating as things move along...

[StuckinLA]

Skullbaby's Progress

Believe it or not, having a plan is one of the very most important things.

And thanks for the book recommendation. First time I read it I was like "of course I've read The Art of War, duh!" And then I was like "g**dammit, I f*cking hate dyslexia!"

[bleep]

Skullbaby's Progress

10mg every 5 days is just fine, there's no rush.

[skullbabyland]

Skullbaby's Progress

john doe;1514828 wrote: You seem to have all bases covered. Getting your drinking down any way you can will only help you on your way up. Regarding titrating up.. listen to your body but give each jump 3 days to let settle would be my advice.

Thanks JD... Yeah, 3 days is a minimum for each jump... but I'm actually going for more like 5-6 days each in hopes that it'll minimize the insomnia/short breath/chest thing that keeps me up...

[skullbabyland]

Skullbaby's Progress

StuckinLA;1515158 wrote: Believe it or not, having a plan is one of the very most important things.

And thanks for the book recommendation. First time I read it I was like "of course I've read The Art of War, duh!" And then I was like "g**dammit, I f*cking hate dyslexia!"

Ha... Yeah, I still mis-call it "Art of War" instead of the correct "War of Art". Man, I can't recommend the book highly enough- it's a game changer for me. He's got a couple companion books that are worth reading too, if you're inclined- amazon has more info.

And yup... feeling hopeful about my plan and I'm gonna stick with it best I can (historically, sticking with things is not a particular strength of mine... but I'm motivated as hell

[skullbabyland]

Skullbaby's Progress

bleep;1515171 wrote: 10mg every 5 days is just fine, there's no rush.

Thanks bleep, that's my thinking too...

[JDizzle]

Skullbaby's Progress

skullbabyland;1512778 wrote: Hey JD, thanks for the posts.

No No No. I'm gonna have to put a stop to this right here. I'm JD.

Hey I was just reading what you had written and I don't know much about the other medications you are taking. I don't think it is a bad idea to consult the doctor that gave you those and see how Baclofen would react with those. I guess the main thing I would think is your doctor kind of a modern type of doctor? I would hate you to ask him/her and be told to not do it because there is no research to prove it works, or they may not know anything about it at all....blah blah. I told my Dr about it and he googled it while we were sitting there.... he's pretty open like that. I just wanted to throw that out there.

[skullbabyland]

Skullbaby's Progress

Oh right, we've got a JDizzle and a John Doe... I'll differentiate better going forward!

As far as my meds... Yup, all under the careful supervision of my MD, who prescribed them, has cross-referenced them for interactions, and is modern and open minded (she's TSM/Nal savvy, and thanks to me bringing in OA's book and requesting bac, is now on board with trying bac too. She's an out of the box thinker).

Thanks for the thoughts, great advice for sure... meds are nothing to be trifled with.

[JDizzle]

Skullbaby's Progress

Ok awesome Skull. In that case the best advice I got here was Keep Taking The Damn Pills!!!

How long have you been going again? Did you post your titration history? I can't see it from here.

[skullbabyland]

Skullbaby's Progress

JDizzle, in response to your questions-

Today is Day 40 on bac, which is a long time to have been on such low doses. I'd hoped to be at much more than that by now, but my uber-slow titration is due to the sleep SE's that are bothersome, which I'm trying to minimize, coupled with a few days here and there where I forgot to take my PM dose, which cut my bac intake for the day in half. (I know, I know... I'm trying real hard to never forget to take the damn pills).

Today I add 10 mg to go up to 40 mg.

[skullbabyland]

Skullbaby's Progress

Update-

In addition to my regular bac, last night I re-entered the world of TSM/Nal. I didn't feel much like drinking, but did anyway, after taking 25 mg NAL and waiting an hour. When starting Nal, I find (and was told by my MD) to start out at 25 for a few times before going up to 50.

When starting Nal, I usually find that for the first 4 or 5 times drinking, I am a bit cranky and on edge. Antisocial. Last night wasn't too bad but I did feel it a bit.

I had one beer (although kind of slowly) then promptly wanted another. The drunk voice in my head said "dude, we can go all night, f*ck yeah!". I didn't fight it much, just noticed it. Second beer finished quick. Third beer- drank halfway, kinda slowly... about 2/3rds of the way in I felt like I didn't want it anymore.... I'd lost interest and decided I wanted leftovers for dinner instead. Forced myself to finish the remaining 1/3rd of the beer out of habit and decided I was done drinking and made leftovers, which tasted much better.

This is what TSMer's refer to as "the honeymoon"-- the almost instant disinterest in or aversion to alcohol. It usually lasts about a week. I'm sure my experience will be no different. HOWEVER... My hope is that now that I'm doing the one-two combo of both daily bac and nal when drinking, that I'll have an edge over cravings. At least enough to be able to force my own will over the drunken beast once in a while.

Upside to last night? Slept fairly well (with the aid of 10 mgs melatonin and two teaspoons raw honey). I did wake up a couple times with the shortbreath thing- promptly took 50 mg benadryl. Slept almost 8 hours, felt quite rested this morning, getting up at 6 am (without a hangover )

Today I go up to 40 mg, which I suspect will make sleep difficult tonight. But I'm trying to assume nothing and just take things as they come, so we'll see.

I'm finding early morning is when I'm most likely to write on MWO, as I sip a cup or two of coffee and reflect on the process of recovery.

Thanks all for listening and good luck and strength to you all!

[Littlebluebird]

Skullbaby's Progress

Hi Skullbaby, I was reading your progress and although I have not started Baclofen, I have had issues with sleeping. I have to say I have been taking L-theanine for months now, it dosen't make you drowsy it just helps you stay alseep longer and if you wake up it helps "shut off" all those running thoughts in your head. I'm not sure if you've heard of it. It is actually in tea as well, but nice and concentrated in a capsule. It works like a charm for me and it won't make you feel drugged in the morning. ( by the way I bought it off Amazon, they have the best prices . Good luck !!
LBB

[JDizzle]

Skullbaby's Progress

Skull, I had problems at low doses remembering to take mine too. I got a pill container and kept it where I knew I would see it. For me it was by my cigarettes.... Keys, toothbrush, whatever works. I would take my morning ones and fill the container with the rest of the day. I still do that because a lot of times I will forget if I took a dose or not. I have three throughout the day.

[skullbabyland]

Skullbaby's Progress

Littlebluebird;1516128 wrote: Hi Skullbaby, I was reading your progress and although I have not started Baclofen, I have had issues with sleeping. I have to say I have been taking L-theanine for months now, it dosen't make you drowsy it just helps you stay alseep longer and if you wake up it helps "shut off" all those running thoughts in your head. I'm not sure if you've heard of it. It is actually in tea as well, but nice and concentrated in a capsule. It works like a charm for me and it won't make you feel drugged in the morning. ( by the way I bought it off Amazon, they have the best prices . Good luck !!
LBB

Hi Bird, thanks for posting... Good to hear about the L-theanine- I will look into it, because staying asleep for extended periods of time is still a challenge. I'm tending to wake up every couple hours with the shortness of breath thing and I have to sit there and focus on my breath til going back to sleep... it takes a while. Thanks for the tip about the L-theanine
P.S., you mention you have not started bac. Do you plan to? What's your thinking on this?