Baclofen and Anxiety

[Cassander]

Baclofen and Anxiety

Ne/Neva Eva;1141395 wrote:

...
Anxiety is not a separate issue from indifference. I was one of the ones who did not know that I suffered from anxiety. This, even after years and years of therapy, some of which was with the best shrinks on the east coast (U.S.) My mom is a psychologist. I am very familiar with introspection, CBT, and most other forms of therapeutic thought-alteration. Didn't work and I've never been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.

I didn't know because I thought I was simply eccentric, and skittish, and flighty. I assumed that everyone wakes their husband in the middle of the night in order to make sure he's breathing. Or plans for emergencies in relation to walking the dog around the neighborhood. It turns out that my default reflex is akin to an Afghani! :H Always with the adrenaline rush, the flight-or-fight reaction, whether it's a house spider or a neighbor's golden retriever.

The ramifications of this are so overwhelming, so pervasive and so elusive that I had no idea how much it colored every aspect of my life. Until it was simply gone. I don't know that it was a switch, I think it might have been gradual. But I suspect it is this thing, or the absence of it, that keeps me indifferent to alcohol.

The dangerous thing about anxiety is that it is completely subjective. If someone had asked me if I were an anxious person a year ago I would have been shocked! Most of those who know me would say that I'm pretty laid back, a go-with-the-flow kind of person. Those who know me intimately know that I am the antithesis of that.

Indifference is fluid, almost by definition. Anxiety is underrated. Baclofen works.

I have added Ne's comments about anxiety from another thread (quoted above) to this thread -- trying to collect as much as I can on this topic in one place.

If I can summarize Murphy and Ne's colloquy...it seems that HDB is more likely to result in indifference where the alcoholic acknowledges pre-existing chronic anxiety (Ne) than where (s)he doesn't (Murphy). Is that right?

Another interesting observation is that the subject may not even appreciate living with chronic anxiety until it is relieved. Its like, "I didn't know what I was feeling was pain until I wasn't feeling it anymore...It was just my normal."

[bleep]

Baclofen and Anxiety

That's pretty close to what we now believe to be accurate. Seems to change as we discover more and more though!

Although indifference is still reached if you aren't a chronic anxiety sufferer. You quoted me in your first post saying I didn't realise I was anxious until it left - while anxiety is too strong a word, by far, certainly something left me. Now I am indifferent, certainly, but not in the same way that someone who was perhaps anxious to start with could be.

A long winded way of saying yes, really.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Baclofen and Anxiety

Hi!
Again, nice job!

I hope you'll remember that these are musings of a sort. We're sort of sussing our way through it, and feeling it out as we go along. I can't tell you how many times I've read something rather convincing, or posted it myself, only to completely rethink or retract it later.

I do think that anxiety has something to do with the whole baclofen equation, if for no other reason than because Dr. Ameisen posed that as part of his hypothesis as to why bac works. It's one of the things that they are specifically looking into in the current study out of University of Amsterdam.

Have you shared any of this information with your son?

Good luck Cassander!

[Cassander]

Baclofen and Anxiety

Hi Ne. I totally get the sussing part, and the musing, too. I'm just thinking that the cumulative musings may lead to some truths about the relationship between alcoholism and anxiety and the effect of baclofen on the condition...sort of by triangulation, if you will. Don't you agree?

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Baclofen and Anxiety

WOOOOHOOOOOO! He's working with Dr. L and 4 weeks in? That's fantastic! I'm very happy for all of you!

I say that because I believe that means he's in good hands and that the process will be rather less painful. As to the issues... Ha! Mine are so much less of an issue now that the big one is gone, that I forget what it was like to be completely run over by that speeding train in my brain on a regular basis. Really. For all my musings and whinings and the whole bit, when I get some perspective about where I was 6 months ago, I am amazed. Truly astounded.

And yes, good point about the "helping." My very supportive parents decided that this particular journey was going to be without their active participation. (After checking it out to make sure that bac was safe and that there was at least a little basis in fact behind the process! :H)
I was a bit put out about it in the beginning, but now I'm so grateful that they were not along for every step of the ride. They, too, are simply amazed, and don't know to what they should attribute the change... Though they know about the bac. It's my little (huge) not-so-secret weapon. Slayed the beast and then some.
He'll have plenty of time to create some stuff to work on after he finds the solution to the One Big Thing.
Sorry that I assumed you were the mom and not the dad! It's really great that you are working more on your understanding of the disease and the process, though it doesn't sound as though you were ignoring that before.
:l to you!
Ne

[Cassander]

Baclofen and Anxiety

I posted this diatribe on another thread a few minutes ago. I am also posting it here, because I want to keep the discussion on baclofen and anxiety going, if at all possible. Please forgive the double-post. Hope I am not violating rules, or sensibilities...

It takes real courage to do what you guys and my son are doing: to start the baclofen course without the approval of the medical establishment. It is a daunting thing.

Case in point: My wife and I have been worried sick about our 22 year old son's drinking. Over the past three years he has metamorphosed from our shy, sweet, handsome young man who had never been in one speck of trouble going off to college to a very confused, angry and unhappy young man who has now had four serious, alcohol-related encounters with the police, including overnight jail and criminal charges (the worst of which has been thankfully dismissed, although after much trauma and delay and expense).

The medical establishment has had no answers. Last fall, a psychologist and a psychiatrist recommended a 30 day rehab and we (son included) went along with it. Thirty days and thirty thousand dollars later, the answer was: You are an alcoholic. There is no treatment. You must go to AA 90 times in the next 90 days and then you must go for the rest of your life. The family doctor washed his hands of it. A psychiatrist in the next town wanted $500 an hour to prescribe anti-depressants. Our son tried AA, he tried real hard, but it turned him off. He couldn't relate.

Then, last fall we came across Dr A's book. I couldn't believe it. Dr A describes the same kind of crushing anxiety that our son was describing. Our son had kept saying, "Its not like I want to drink. Its this anxiety that won't go away. Then I go to a party with my buds and I have a few beers and I feel normal, for the first time all day or all week. But then I can't stop. I drink too much and I get in trouble. I don't want to but I can't help it." This sounded so much like what Dr A was saying...it was uncanny.

So we went back to the medical community and tried to find a doctor or alcohol treatment specialist who would prescribe baclofen. Nobody would. Most had never heard of it. Some (experienced professionals, mind you) said things like, "There is no such thing as anxiety separate and apart from depression, its just the flip side. You treat it with anti-depressants." Our son reports no benefit, zero, from anti-depressants. Another comment from an eminent psychiatrist, "Baclofen is a narcotic. It is dangerous." From an experienced alcohol treatment therapist, "Baclofen? I have never heard of it. It won't cure the anxiety. You have to get behind the anxiety and treat that." So how do we do that? "AA is the only way. He has to get back to AA. That and keep seeing me. " (money, money).

After six months of "therapy" and anti-depressants and painful AA advice our son's mood was terrible. To the extent he could describe what he was going through, it was clear it was the anxiety that was killing him. Then, a month ago he had another arrest - - for DUI. And another night in jail.

He and we were devastated. It was clear to me that the medical establishment has no answers. The rehab, the psychiatrists, the anti-depressants, the therapy -- none of it was working. All stupid little bandaids. To the extent our son was not drinking, he was doing it the old-fashioned way, white-knuckling pure and simple. And when the anxiety became overwhelming, he drank. And drank.

I pulled Dr A's book off the shelf and read it again. Again I was struck by the similarity in the description of his anxiety and my son's. I showed it to my wife. Why doesn't the medical establishment try this? I wondered and wondered. We are watching a perfectly good young life be destroyed by the bull-headedness of the medical establishment and the alcohol treatment community and by the criminal justice system and no body will even try this very persuasive course of action that Dr A had discovered.

Finally we discussed it with our son and gave him Dr A's book. He said he was open to trying baclofen. He underlined the portions of Dr A's narrative that resonated with him. I remembered that I had seen this forum and that Dr L was willing to talk to patients over the phone. I googled his phone number and called him. He talked to me and then he talked to my son.

He said, "Young man. This drug really works. It works for people like you with anxiety. It will work for you."

We had no problem getting a prescription from Dr L filled at the local Walgreen's. That was a month ago. Within a week our son reported feeling much better. He said, "The anxiety is way down. Sometimes its not there at all. Sometimes I don't feel it. For the first time in my life I don't have this tightness in my chest. This feeling of dread. Now I know what normal is. I never felt normal before."

Well, F**K. F**K, F**K, F**K.

I am not given to expletives as a way of expressing myself. But F**K.

I don't know whether baclofen is the most amazing placebo of all time or if it really works. But our son reports, now after a month, that his anxiety levels are way down. We believe he has had some beers with friends, but he seems not to have been drunk. I am not going to say everything is perfect, because its not. He still is very angry at how things have turned out and I will admit he has difficulty looking himself in the eye and accepting responsibility. He is still facing the consequences of his binge, including unresolved (but resolvable) alcohol related legal charges in 3 jurisdictions. So he may not be out of the woods, but he is so much better!!!!

As many of you know, I have collected as much information as I could find on this board about baclofen and anxiety and there "seems" to be an amazing correlation. Many many of the descriptions are similar to Dr A's and my son's.

There must be something here.

We'll see.

Dr L said, "OA will win a Nobel Prize for his discovery."

We'll see.

[havefaith]

Baclofen and Anxiety

Cassander,
This is a great post!
I too was told over many years of my addiction, (you need to go to AA)
So I went for years, off & on. Well guess what-( Going to AA gave me Anxiety!)
I had a real hard time opening up to stangers about my problems(especially in a group setting)
I do much better one on one!
Today I will be talking to Dr.L about Baclofen. (I am praying it will be a good solution for me)
Thanks again for the great post!

[polaropposite]

Baclofen and Anxiety

Wow...I needed to hear this. I went to a funeral of a friends mother in law this AM, determined that I was NOT going to drink before (to reduce the shaking and lack of ability to catch my breath). I was a MESS. Not only did I shake like a leaf but I thought I would have to get up and leave from the crushing feeling in my chest and my inability to deal with the families grief (I was crying almost as much as my friends hub and I was not that close to his mom). Where does one obtain this med? What is the best on line pharmacy?

[LadyLush]

Baclofen and Anxiety

All,

Please keep talking about this magnificent benefit of Baclofen. I have never been the same after my first week of taking it.
I use to lose sleep for nights when I had to do a presentation at work or talk in front of a group of people. The shaking and anxiety made me feel like I would die or pass out at any second. It just doesn't happen anymore.
I had to always drink before going out or to a party; I just don't need to anymore.
And when I couldn't drink (work) I had to be zoned out on Ativan or Xanax.
Honest to God, those drugs don't even hold a candle to Baclofen when it comes to anxiety.
NOTHING works like Baclofen.

It has changed my life completely!

LL:l

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Baclofen and Anxiety

Cassander,
I was standing in line waiting to pick up a baclofen refill when I read your post.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. They are very moving.
I'm very excited for your son, and thrilled for you, too.
I'd also like to commend you for pursuing the course of action that you felt was right, even though it is not a well recognized solution.
And you're right. We rock. So do you.

Karen

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Baclofen and Anxiety

polaropposite;1143818 wrote: Wow...I needed to hear this. I went to a funeral of a friends mother in law this AM, determined that I was NOT going to drink before (to reduce the shaking and lack of ability to catch my breath). I was a MESS. Not only did I shake like a leaf but I thought I would have to get up and leave from the crushing feeling in my chest and my inability to deal with the families grief (I was crying almost as much as my friends hub and I was not that close to his mom). Where does one obtain this med? What is the best on line pharmacy?

Welcome, Polar. I'm very sorry for your loss. It always baffled me why I found myself so over-the-top hysterical in situations like that. It also baffled me how other people were not!

There are several options for ordering online. Someone with experience will be along shortly to explain that side of it. I'd take a look at some of the stuff on the thread that I have linked in my signature, too. If you're interested in the science, anyway. Some pretty cool stuff there about how bac works. (Or what we know of it!)

It works, of that I am sure.
:welcome:
Ne

[Cassander]

Baclofen and Anxiety

This post (#25) is a continuation of the compilation of reports on the effect of baclofen treatment on anxiety that starts at post #1.

15. Readhead77

July 1, 2011
My Way Out

? I have had terrible anxiety for a good part of my life. I've been on ADs to treat it and xanax. Baclofen, has been better than the benzos for me. It has been the best drug I've ever taken for my anxiety?

July 2, 2011

I did a trial run with bac, before I was sure I was going to take it. I tried 5 mg QID for 3-4 days, I believe. I felt almost instant relief when I took it, even at 5 mg. I absolutely knew the drug was going to do well by me, for anxiety. I had a darn good idea, it was going to do well for my drinking too.

December 11, 2011

My anxiety got worse in my 30s. I think much of it was is in direct relation to my life, and what I was dealing with at home. I started taking Xanax (and Lexapro), as was prescribed for me. I also started drinking very heavily. Without going into it too much, I've written about it recently, I was starting to mostly use my Xanax to ease the severe anxiety I felt the day after I drank. It definately made it worse. Again, a viscious cycle. I stumbled on the forum around this time. I was able to get five 20 mg pills of bac as a test. It was almost instant relief I felt on 15 mg a day. I started working with Dr L, and really for the first time in my life, I noticed my social/situational anxiety was gone...until recently.

I switched at 240 mg of bac at the end of October. I was starting to feel anxious on the higher numbers, but then it just came on full force. I don't even know how to explain it. It was so bad, I had a hard time doing anything. I felt I was in panic mode, and like I wanted to jump out of my skin. I would obsess about all sorts of things. I would obsess a lot about what I'd written here. I could never be sure if it was okay, I mostly felt that it wasn't. I wanted to delete just about everything I wrote, or at a minimum, spent a ton of time editing it. I was also obsessing about things at home and work. Maybe I should have done this, or maybe this would have been better. I felt paralyzed by my fear of everything. A couple of times I was so worked up, I felt like I should leave work. This is absolutely no way to live, and I'd get even more anxious thinking about it. In the last few weeks, I started medicating myself with the Xanax I have here from my years of taking it. I noticed almost immediate relief. I was also a little worried with everything being written lately about benzos (especially Xanax) and cross addiction. Even though I've never gotten addicted before, I don't want to play Russian Roulette. I talked with Dr L about it at my last appt. When I told him my symptoms, I asked him if he's seen this before. He said, YES, I have. There's no doubt it's a SE from HDB. He believes Xanax is the best way to treat it at this point. He also doesn't believe we can get addicted to Xanax on HDB. I have a fresh script for it. How long will it last? He thinks it will work itself out, and I shouldn't have dropped my dose because of it. I'm down to 210 now (I didn't just drop my dose because of this, but I don't want to hijack your thread.) We all know what he thinks about the switch dose, and staying on it.


16. ik1966
Mar 20, 2011
(Baclofen Forum)

...i am on baclofen too...i am taking the pills for 6 days i am on 10 mg 3 times a day...i have a [anxiety] disorder too for 20 years i [think] anxiety and alcoholism go together too in my case...that is the reason i am taking it i am feeling great body feels for the first time in my [life] in balance...this is for me a wonderfull experience ...my side effects are minimal... i try to see if i can find the switch for anxiety...i write on a panic forum too so i am thinking about it to write them to advice baclofen...it is strange [that] in this world they dont take baclofen for anxiety [and] people need to take antidepressants which have terrible side effects.!!!!and many time it doesnt help enough if you would know how people suffer...!

June 19, 2011
My Way Out

i'm taking it too for my anxiety it helped me a lot!!!! so go for it.....!!!!!


17. Chic
March 31, 2011
My Way Out

I too think that high dose bac treats anxiety/depression in a profound way.




18. Greg
July 2, 2011
My Way Out

I'm another one who has had anxiety since I was a kid, especially social anxiety but also general worrying tendencies. Later on in life the social thing caused loneliness, which caused depression. Then came the alcohol, since one thing it did reliably was WORK. I could not say the same for prescription medications I had tried, although most were antidepressants rather than benzodiazepines. I did find that benzos ... helped my anxiety, although tolerance set in and reduced the efficacy of Xanax over time. I also now find that baclofen helps my anxiety.


19. Bminor
June 23, 2011
My Way Out

I think it's fantastic. And it makes sense. I think we all became alcoholics because of an underlying problem like anxiety. If you were drinking to calm the anxiety, and you no longer feel the anxiety, you are less likely to need to drink anymore. Wish it would have been that simple for me!

20. Bleep
June 24, 2011
My Way Out

I never knew I was anxious (not the right word for me, I still don't know what is) until suddenly one day I felt a bit better. That was the only way I knew that something had changed. I've never been very introspective though, so it's possible I was a jumbled ball of nerves and had never realised it! Strangely, I always thought of myself as fairly relaxed, when clearly that wasn't the case.

November 29, 2011

...nearly a year on, and baclofen is doing everything for me that it should say it does on the box. No stress or anxiety.


21. Cinders
July 24, 2009
My Way Out

I, too, suffer from anxiety and panic disorder. I did way before I became a fall down drunk. I haven't had to take a Klonipen in over 4 weeks now. And, I have been going through some of the most stressful things lately. Work related. This usually would set off a panic attack. (The kind where heart starts thumping, head gets dizzy, breathing gets erratic.) I think the Baclofen is helping with that and it is a better drug for us alcoholics than a benzo.

22. Zman
July 24, 2009
My Way Out

? [I?m] also a 32 year old male who suffers from anxiety. I suffer from general anxiety disorder, and always feel a tightness in my chest which is immediately alleviated when I drink. But as I type this, I dont feel the tightness. [I?m] at 75mg of Baclofen per day, and quite obviously, the alleviation of the anxiety must be due to the Bac.



23. Veritas
July 24, 2009
My Way Out

I had to face a very anxiety provoking situation today, one that would normaly have me pacing like a caged lion. I coped very well. I did pace a little bit, but felt more excited than anxious. It was also a situation where I had to be very alert and able to think on my feet. Afterwards the feedback on my performance was that I had managed extremely well and was offered more opportunities. I have been in these situations before and would usually rush back home to have a drink or two or three or... or... or.... I did think of a nice glass of wine on the drive back, but once the initial thought was over, it was gone. I have found that the greatest benefit so far has been the stopping of the obsessive thoughts. If I feel like a drink, I am now able to put the thought aside and it does not keep reappearing like a bad debt.



24. Deleted

25. Craving
June 1, 2010
My Way Out

... Baclofen has been for me a wonder, but it has as well bit my a$% several times. Psychosis, anxiety, panic ...The best is really not to jump around with the dose and to go very slow up and ...down, and best to even stay at one dose. Even try to take it ... at the same times of the day! Do not take anything else. No [anti-depressives], no benzos, no psycho drugs...

June 29, 2010

I have read up on some stuff, and found out that alcohol is very often used as remedy against anxiety. My guess is that the craving that is felt is a direct shortlink of the subconscious understanding that alcohol is the immediate help against the anxiety. So without us knowing why we do it, we get this craving, telling us to drink - although we do not even understand why! So that is where Baclofen hooks in - some critics say, that doctors already use Baclofen (off-label) against anxiety - and for the cases that have alcohol problems, the problems with alcohol are resolved that way (no anxiety - no craving ...). I have dosed down from 300mg to 37.5mg and had no cravings with the low dose! The problem I had with the low dose was that I had a lot of anxiety (existential worries, general anxiety, fear of change) - until a moment where I was thinking to drink to get the feeling away. This made me look deeper into this link Baclofen-Anxiety. I am back to 75mg now, and I am feeling great - cotton feeling, my anxiety is gone, I can think normal and clear again. AF for 134 days. Could it be that my body dissolved the craving feeling shortcut and demonstrates me the real problem anxiety - instead of forcing the "solution" (alcohol craving) ?? This is a very interesting finding!

June 30, 2010

...I would rather go for Baclofen than for Benzos [for] anxiety. Both work on the calming GABA system. I also thought about talking more to my psychiatrist regarding the anxiety. But I read that combining Baclofen with antidepressives reduced the effect of Baclofen ... Beside the fact that I do not want to take any antidepressives anymore. I am totally fine, my feelings are ok - just the anxiety needs to be dealt with. And for the moment Baclofen is doing that.

June 30, 2010

Try being on Baclofen 60-75mg / day for 4 weeks, and you will feel the anti anxiety effect. It does not work like Xanax instantly. Also if you take Benzos, then Baclofen can increase the effect of Xanax.



26. Virgil

February 11, 2010
My Way Out

? Dr Olivier Ameisen in The End of My Addiction makes it clear that not only did baclofen cure his alcohol addiction but also eliminated his anxiety. That's what I'm also hoping by my taking baclofen. And, like Dr Ameisen, I know that it was my severe anxiety that resulted in becoming dependent on alcohol. Cause and effect - in that order. It is therefore crucial to me that baclofen tackles both my anxiety and alcoholism. If it deals with the alcoholism, that will be a resounding success. But I'm hoping that baclofen will kill two birds with one stone. ? As a footnote... I have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). ...[The]word 'anxiety' is, I believe, a symptom that results from an underlying cause. Sometimes, the word 'anxiety' is equated with 'worry' but, to me, they are quite different. I'm unclear as to what form Dr Ameisen's anxiety took - would anyone care to enlighten me?

June 1, 2010

... baclofen has not reduced anxiety for me. My anxiety is just as bad as when I first started taking baclofen ... However, baclofen clearly reduces anxiety for a good many people. Way back in January this year, I suspected that baclofen may be increasing my anxiety but I no longer believe that to be the case.



27. Slippery Pete
June 19, 2011
My Way Out

Hey everyone. I've been lurking here for about a month now, just reading threads on baclofen and everyone's experience with it. A little bit about myself: I'm a 25 year old guy, and I drink till I pass out nightly. (And I hate doing that) Anyways, I've been kind of an anxious guy my whole life, but it's reached a horrible point, where I feel like I can barely do anything besides stay in my apartment. I found a doctor who said he'd prescribe me some bac, although I'm not sure how much he'll give me. Anyways, I'm super excited for tomorrow!

June 24, 2011

I know it seems sad to be proud of this, but I was actually able to carry on a conversation today with a complete stranger. Normally I'd be too anxious to think...baclowhat!

July 16, 2011

Hey guys. I wanted to wait until I had something to say before I bumped my thread. I feel like in the last 2 or 3 days I've become a completely different person. I think the best way to describe it is that I've found the "on" switch to my brain. Due to drinking and (I think mainly) depression and anxiety, I had not really been "alive" since I turned 14. I don't know exactly how to describe it, but something was clearly off. I think for me one of the biggest things is that I'm actually enjoying talking to people and having relationships. As pathetic as it sounds, I'd closed myself off from just about EVERYONE in my life. The only people that even really bothered with me were my immediate family. It's still hard for me to even understand how they had the patience to keep talking to me, but they are truly amazing people. Murphy had called himself a misanthrope, which described me perfectly. After not caring about myself or other people for so long, I'm trying to figure out why exactly I care about people now. But I DO care, which in and of itself for me is an absolutely crazy improvement. I'm writing this for 2 reasons. One, these threads helped me immensely when I was lurking pre-bac, and 2, I'm actually ENJOYING writing about myself now. In the past, if the subject of me ever came up, I was desperate to change the topic immediately. I don't have to do that anymore.

July 25, 2011

...Bac has completely taken away the abnormal anxiety for no reason, but there's still the social anxiety at times. The panic attacks I feel are something totally different that will go away soon. Nothing has helped me with my anxiety has much as bac has. It's ridiculous.

August 21, 2011

Well folks, 2 months ago today I started my bac journey, and I thought this was an appropriate time to write my feelings about it.

Sometimes it's hard for me to feel grateful for what bac has done for me. Not because of any failure on bac's part, but simply because my life is COMPLETELY different than it was 2 months ago. Even though 2 months isn't even a blink of an eye, my alcoholic life seems so far removed that it can be hard to realize how bleak my life was only a short time ago. I literally have to concentrate and think back to remember how I was. I won't ever forget where I came from, or the things I did, but I don't need to focus on the past to plan for the future.

And that's the best part...I CAN plan for the future! No longer am I trapped in a nightmare, unable to act due to fear, anxiety, shame and regret. The life that I have ahead of me will be decided by me, not by alcohol or alcoholic thinking.

Baclofen so far has been everything I'd hoped for, and so much more. I've tried AA, in-patient rehab, out-patient, sober homes, and a whole galaxy of medications, but nothing's ever done anything for me. I'm not one of those people that can pray in the morning, pray at night, and pray all day for someone to fix me. I'd always held on to the hope that someday something like this would come along, and I am so grateful that it did. I know people have different thoughts about what it means to be "normal," but I call bac my "normal pill." It's brought me back to how I felt when I was a kid, and still somewhat "normal." That anxiety-for-no-reason, depression-for-no-reason, self hatred, shame, and cycle of getting wasted every night, all of that is gone.

I know not everyone experiences this, but for me, bac has been nothing short of a freaking miracle. I am eternally grateful to bac, my doc, my family, and especially all of you wonderful people who have helped me find my way.

Thanks to everyone.

28. BacloTim
June 19, 2011
My Way Out

Hey There. ? You remind me a lot of myself from your description (I'm 28, drink to passout every night, and am an anxious wreck). I just started on Bac this last week and am doing better already. ? Anyway. Good luck on this, I really hope it helps your anxiety and drinking and so far it does seem to help for me.

29. Evey
June 19, 2011
My Way Out

Hey Tim, Wow, that is exciting! Baclofen has helped me tremendously with my anxiety, the difference is actually amazing. Others have also commented on how much they noticed a decrease in their anxiety.

30. Godwhacker
July 14, 2011
My Way Out

I'm pretty sure I've reached indifference- I still get the occasional urge to get out of my head, but alcohol just doesn't work like it used to. I tried a beer the other day and I could actually just taste it- no emotional response, no feeling of well-being, nothing; it just tasted like beer, and wasn't actually that nice. ? It's strange- all that anger and anxiety that was driving me before has gone, and I'm just left wondering what I've been doing for the last two and a half years. It's increasingly hard to remember what it was like to be consumed by alcoholism- with AA you're acutely aware of it every single day, but with this you just forget about it. Which is better? Hard to say. I'm sure you'll find a greater degree of self-actualisation if you do it through AA, but this just seems more reliable and more effective.

31. Andy R
August 12, 2009
MyWayOut

Going well still.

No thoughts of drinking. No craving. Anxiety levels lowest they have been since pre puberty (I am late 40's but I am being literal in this statement - I rememeber this so clearly post Dr A's book and beginning taking the Baclofen!) So ALochol Free - and feeling better than OK - which is bloody marvellous and a first for me!

32. Toro
January 22, 2011
My Way Out

... posting my own personal Bac experience ... I discovered I was completely and utterly indifferent to alcohol. No longer had urges, no longer had triggers and I could rationally replace alcohol as a reward in the evening with a nice meal, movie and decent nights sleep. Shortly thereafter had my first ever week in over 10 years alcohol free and soon it will be a month. ... I'm still on a low dose of Bac, around 40-60, because part of what made me drink to excess was my obsessive thinking and anxiety about issues that are very small in the scheme of things, but my mind would blow them up into something overwhelming by dwelling and obsessing about them, whereas on Bac I can view them rationally and see them for what they are.

33. Tiptronic_ct
June 18, 2011
My Way Out

It took me just about 8 weeks from start to finish, when I had my first alcohol-free day in over 15 years on the 21st of August 2009, taking a dose of 270mg. ... Indifference has lots of ... qualities ..., but for me the feeling I?ll remember best is an incredible sense of lightness. The rest, as they say, is history... I am [now] at 80mg. It seems to be a level at which I operate extremely well. I don?t experience any of the anxiety issues I used to be prone to, I sleep well (I need about 6 hours on weeknights and stretch that to 8 ? 9 over weekends) and I have a general sense of wellbeing. Any higher than that, and I experience a return of some of the unwelcome SEs. Any lower than that, and I start feeling antsy.

September 30, 2011

I've been on 80 for well over a year. Indifference came at 270. I've toyed with the idea of tapering to zero, but have wimped out for two reasons: it keeps anxiety at bay (anything below 70 and it rears its ugly head), plus I'm simply too shit-scared to risk a return to drinking. I don't have cravings at this dose, but by the same token, its entirely possible that I won't have any if I go lower. I'm comfortable with where I'm at, so I guess if it ain't broken, don't fix it. I'm staying put.


For more summaries please go to post #146

[NoWayOut]

Baclofen and Anxiety

Thanks for keeping this thread updated Cassander.

This thread gives me so much hope that baclofen is the answer to anxiety.

I just started taking bac a few days ago and I think its helping, I'm definitely calmer when in public and talking to people. But since I've only been on bac for a few days, I cant be sure if the bac is really working or its just a 'placebo effect'. I'll come back in a few weeks to post an update. Hopefully I can add to the great stories in this thread.

Thanks again.

[bleep]

Baclofen and Anxiety

Hi there!

There's no need to attribute it to placebo. Baclofen can do wonders at low doses for some people. Are you smiling more? Slightly more chatty with people? It's baclofen beginning its work.

Best of luck with your titration

[timetochangeforme]

Baclofen and Anxiety

I want to say thanks for this also. I hope the best for you and your son. Hopefully the worst is over now.

I started taking bac last Monday. I took 30 for the first 5 or 6 days and am now taking 50 for now. I've noticed I can stay in bed if I wake up early and not start worrying about everything. I am usually able to fall back asleep. I am still drinking wine at night. I noticed when we had to drive to the airport, I wasn't as much of a nervous wreck as usual. (I think there is reason to be a nervous wreck, but what good does it do?)

I've been reading a lot and getting some hope. Some things also worry me (side effects). I have not drank for 12 nights at the most in a row. I think if I can get past a certain point, alcohol will change for me (become unappealing), at least that's what happened with cigarettes. But alcohol is different in its effect and it's so pervasive.