Thanks you, HG.

I hope the Baclofen continues to work well for you (and the weight loss is a nice added bonus). Keep us posted!

I am on 180mg of Baclofen at the moment, and I think I might be indifferent to alcohol at the moment.

A couple of nights ago, for the first time in six weeks, I went to buy some beer. I suppose I was just sick of abstaining. It also occurred to me that this would be the first time since October 2010 that I would drink without Naltrexone.

I poured the beer into nice pint glass to replicate that pub feel that I used to enjoy and, expecting an electrifying response to what I had been abstaining from, I took my first sip...

Nothing.

It felt like the first time I drank a beer and thought, 'This doesn't taste very nice, but everyone else seems to enjoy it, so I might as well try to get used to it so that I can fit in'. Well, I don't feel that way anymore, so after drinking two beers (to make sure I wasn't hallucinating), I poured the remaining two beers down the sink, and that was that.

I think I can probably attribute this reaction to the three months I spent drinking with Naltrexone. I have probably at least partly unlearned my attachment to alcohol.

I am going to taper the Baclofen doseage back down to zero, and then give the Naltrexone another go.

Fantastic! I don't know anything about Baclofen but am for anything that works. I will say this after reading your thread for the first time: TSM was working for you big-time! Your reduction in numbers was sharp and occurred over a relatively short time. The book is WAY off with it's 3-4 month time frame to a "cure" -- a term I reject. Three to four months appears to be the time frame for college students who drank a tiny amount compared to your numbers, based upon my review of the studies. For big drinkers, a year would be a better estimate, in my non-medical opinion. In any event, people on this board clearly are seeing continued benefits of TSM after a year. I would encourage anyone who has had sharp reductions while drinking on Naltrexone to continue, because the benefits continue indefinitely. Think years not months.

My other concern about Baclofen -- of which I know nothing -- is that it may work like Antabuse in that you may still have a desire to drink, but are scared of the consequences. At least that appears to be the case with you and your fear of throwing up. The absolute beauty of TSM is that you do reach a point of indifference to alcohol. You don't drink it because you don't care, not because you still have the compulsion but are afraid of the consequences. This is a huge distinction when assessing a person's quality of life. Life obsessing over alcohol but not drinking is a prison to be avoided and is not a whole lot better than continued drinking, in some cases, IMO.

Thanks for your reply, Nick.

I think you're right in saying that the reason I stopped drinking on Baclofen was because of the fear of throwing up, but that is not a common experience amongst those who try high-dose Baclofen. Even if it was a common experience, many alcoholics have become accustomed to throwing up from drinking anyway. The way Baclofen works is that you continue to raise the doseage until you reach a point of total indifference towards alcohol, and I have seen stories about many people who have experienced this. Still, I think Naltrexone is preferable if it works for someone, because it means they only have to take a pill when drinking.

Hey Lucky Star - Hope I am not being presumptuous but you have had great success. Why take the chance of drinking without taking a Nal? Maybe I don't understand bacolofen entirely and that is part of the process, so if that is the case, I apologize.

HG