bottomsup,
I'm glad you read the post fully. It had rung alarm bells for me which is why I asked had you read it all. Although that person is happy with where they are at now, it seemed to me that their consumption was much higher than their original stated goal. They started teetotal and had wanted to drink occassionally at social events, christmas etc. but by the end they were drinking a few glasses every day. It's important that you have the full picture if you're going to use other people's experience to help with your decision making. It's hard as there are so few people on here who are abstinent when starting. Pehapes the doctor who's going to prescribe your Nal may be able to give you better advice.
Ruth.

Yeah, it's worth reading that particular thread. I got a little nervous when the poster began drinking port.

In fairness, he seemed pretty happy as of a month ago. And there have been other success stories from post-abstinent people.

Thanks Ruthy and Milissa.
I agree it was a success story. But in all fairness that was border line disaster (THE GOLDEN RULE ). STOP DRINKING when you meds are not working well with you. Find different meds
and move on. We all know how fast things can go wrong. Ruthy I had read your post at the
end and you rang his bell . He needed to hear it from people on this site to wake him up and
start on baclofen. Again I am not knocking him I had said I myself the reason it shook me is
because I could see that happening to me and that's to close for comfort. I want a plan and
stick to it as closely as possible. I don't want to fumble with meds because the meds are
the method. But all and all great read and I see why that post gets past on .

Thanks

Melissa and everyone, since I am so new here I do not know to which post or person you all are referring. I can only tell you about my bad experience with Baclofen. But understand, I am NOT knocking Baclofen. It has been a savior to many people (especially on My Way Out) and of course, Dr. Olivier Ameisen - may he rest in peace (Dr. Ameisen died in July of a heart attack).

I got up to 60 or 70n mgs of Baclofen and I lost my mind. Seriously, I have never been so frightened in my life. I was already suffering from depression and anxiety and the Baclofen amplified that x infinity. I could not sleep... I had what I can only describe as "zaps" running through my body. I was paranoid and I think I may have actually been having a psychotic episode. But the problem with Baclofen is, you can't stop taking it or you could have a seizure and die (no lie). So I could not stop taking it - I had to taper down... I HAD to keep on taking the thing that was making me crazy. Anyway, out of sheer panic, I managed to stop drinking for 6 weeks as I weaned myself off the Baclofen. It was a disaster and I was a complete wreck. How I managed to function was a pure miracle.

So Baclofen was not for me. And contrary to what Dr. Armerisen and Dr. L said, there most definitely were and are significant side effects - for SOME people (like me). Baclofen worked for Dr. Ameisen but it nearly drove me out of my mind. Also, Baclofen requires that you stay on it permanently or you will be up $#!%'s creek. As in, if you pass out and miss a dose, or lose consciousness and end up in the hospital and miss your dose, it can kill you. That fact was scary for me to begin with.

Somehow, I did not give up and found the Sinclair Method (thank GOD for the internet). I have not started yet but hope to do so within a week. Sinclair method seems to me to be a kinder, gentler method. If I run out of Naltrexone, at least I won't be at risk for dying.

Just my two cents. xoxoxox

Dana

Yikes.



Those were precisely my concerns -- the high dose most people need and the possible issues with supply interruption. Insurance companies aren't always good about keeping everything current the way it should be.

I'm not knocking baclofen, though. For some people it works well. For the 10% who can't be helped by targeted naltrexone, it could be a literal lifesaver.

Wow, if you dont have the meds you can die? No thanks, the cure sounds worse than the disease.

Not for everyone. There are people in danger of dying from their alcohol consumption.

Touche.

Right. For people who are being treated by their PCP and getting the Baclofen from that source with no worry of interruption, yes. It outweighs the risk of drinking. Dr. Ameisen was at the end of his rope. His drinking was landing him in the hospital and his withdrawals had become life threatening. So he was at the point of having nothing left to lose. It was do or die. And thankfully he did. (unfortunately, he passed of a heart attack last July).

Anyway, I firmly believe that there are different cures for different people and baclofen has been a Godsend for many many people. It just didn't work for me. And maybe in the greater scheme of things, it was for the best. The Dr. I got my baclofen from has just had his license revoked. He can't prescribe and he can't practice anymore. There are a lot of people on MWO who got theirs from him too. And now they are in trouble. I pray they have found alternatives.

I heard about that. Something about too many out-of-state prescriptions.

On MWO some people were talking about drinking their own urine to forestall nasty withdrawal. Apparently a fair bit of baclofen is eliminated in the urine. I'm very, very glad not to be in that position.

Maybe the best approach here would be to store at least a month's worth of baclofen as a buffer. Then, if supply is interrupted, the user could taper down gradually and not experience a dangerous medwash.