I thought it fitting to start a thread talking about taking Baclofen along with Naltrexone. I have direct experience with it myself. What follows was in response to another thread here on the forums, but which I think might be good fuel for thought and discussion in a thread of its own here for those who are curious about the efficacy of Baclofen, taken along with Naltrexone. Let's make this an informative one, well past my own input!

My comments elsewhere about Nal + Baclofen:

I tried Baclofen, off and on for over a year. There are a LOT of side-effects compared to Nal. I discontinued it due to those. It's one of those drugs, the side-effects from which, vary quite widely depending on the individual, and withdrawal from it can be especially problematic. Check it out online.

Baclofen works directly on the "GABA" receptors, used originally as a muscle relaxant for people with MS...but over time physicians heard reports from their MS patients that it also coincidentally reduced their craving for alcohol. Dr. Oliver Amiesen took that information and used it to effectively treat, and totally control, his own alcohol addiction. He wrote a book entitled, "The End of My Addiction", the US edition called, "Heal Thyself: A Doctor at the Peak of His Medical Career, Destroyed by Alcohol---and the Personal Miracle that Brought Him Back."

The key word here, however, is "control". As Dr. Amiesen describes very well, Baclofen helps one to CONTROL their drinking. Indeed, once the lucky one (as it works for some, but not all, like Nal) finds the dosage that works for them, Baclofen does stop the craving. It does NOT, however, as our dear Dr's Sinclair and Escapa have discovered with Nal, CURE you! In other words, if you stop taking the Baclofen, you go right back to where you were, which is smack dab in the middle of what Dr. Sinclair described as, "The Alcohol Deprivation Effect", which in a nutshell means that the more that an alcoholic is deprived of alcohol, the more he/she is liable to crave it. Baclofen can help with the craving, but it will NOT CURE your alcoholism!

Some people have effectively used Baclofen along with Naltrexone in order to temporarily and immediately help with the craving to drink. So it does help some to deal with that aspect of their drinking. In the long-run, however, it is the Naltrexone that slowly but surely "extinguishes" the craving -- to the glorious point where one simply has no craving or desire to drink at all. When that point is reached, you don't need to take any more medication! For those committed to TSM, then, the Baclofen may help with the immediate craving, which may in the short-run help to reduce the amount that you are drinking....but only while you are waiting, in the long run, for the Naltrexone to work it's magic, eventually CURING you of your alcoholism -- giving you and all of us the incredible gift of ZERO craving or interest/desire to drink any alcohol at all. And so, therefore, no need to continue to take something like Baclofen. When we are CURED, we don't need ANY medication to keep us that way!!! Well, not unless we want to drink moderately, in which case we continue to take the Nal before drinking so that we do not become re-addicted (see the forum member and moderator "Q" for his rich and varied experience with just that).

I hope this helps those here to understand where Baclofen fits into the Naltrexone equation. Good luck to you all.

Dab,
Thank you so much for starting this thread and giving such a great explaination of how Baclofen works, and is used to curb the cravings. I have been toying with trying to add it to my regime as I have been doing TSM for 16 months and feel that I still have a long way to go.

However after reading your post, I am not sure that Baclofen would do me much good. I have very little problem having 2-3 days af in a week so I can seem to deal with the cravings without any major problem. My issue is my binging on the weekend, I still typically have 12-14 units on Friday and Saturday night.

Thanks again and good luck with your journey.

Diver

Baclofen can help a lot of people, but I'm one person who just doesn't tolerate the drug. I went right off the rails and experienced horrendous side effects with high dose baclofen, before tapering off and trying TSM. Once of the reasons I like TSM is that it doesn't have the same level of side effects. I did then move onto using Baclofen to help me sleep which seemed to work for a while, but these days I noticed a groggy 'hangover' into the next day even with 1/2 a 25mg tablet and because I need to get up and about the next day this really puts me off.

Perhaps I'm very sensitive to it, don't know. I do know there are others who had problems with it but because so many have good experiences it can be difficult to speak up, or you can feel alone.

Baclofen is another medication which can be added to the arsenal of drugs which are useful in the treatment of alcoholism, more and more research is being carried out using it, which can only be a good thing.

Bump for newbies.

Thanks to Dab for starting this thread. I'm back here after several months of 'drinking past the nal.' Now I'm on baclofen, and will combine the two when my nal shipment arrives.

My reason is that while the nal did what it says it will do - eliminate the buzz, and the immediate effect of the alcohol - 'cure' the physical addiction - I did nothing to eliminate the deeper psychological addiction.

Thanks to "Heart of Addiction" and other writings of Lance Dodes, and "Scattered Minds", and videos by Gabor Mate which round out the picture of psychological addiction I'm able to do the work I MUST do to end this destructive cycle.

I called myself dothework when I first started posting here. However, I was fooling myself into thinking that just identifying that I had psychological problems that made me drink would be enough.

It wasn't until I began to face all the heavy, painful work I had to do that I could see what had to be DONE, not just 'realized'.

I've also identified that I have ADD. Once I realized that, and how it coloured everything, I'm able to have real hope.

Balcofen is giving me the release of anxiety, and deep relaxation that nal could not give - it's not designed to do those things. The combination is the key for me.
Babs

I've tried both.

First TSM. After 3 weeks it had killed the buzz by about 80%. It was very hard to stomach more than 4 beers. I was still in the same place after 6 months though. Still drinking 3 beers and not really enjoying them. I've no idea why I kept doing it and will never know if and when I'd have stopped it as I regressed not long after because of not having any pills.

Baclofen. I titrated up very fast trying to hit that illusive "switch" with the intention of dropping down as quick as possible to a level dose. I probably went clean past my switch dose right up to the high 200s. To this day I'm not really sure why I rushed it as at around 100mg my drinking was once more under control. I couldn't really face a beer. The SEs... Oh the SEs! I thought I might have been losing my mind a bit. I think my years of drug abuse and being able to handle lots of psychedelics pulled me through. I titrated off and tried it again after a couple of months but at around 150 I packed it in and titrated off sharpish with the help of some diazepam. I felt way way off.

I'm starting TSM again and if I can get the success I had first time round I'll be happy and will try and use some skills I learnt last time out to use some willpower and not just wait for a magical click. I reckon Baclofen might work for me again but I lost about 6 months of my life trying it as I was spaced out the whole time and it took me a while getting back to normal.

I too have discovered that although I'm not enjoying the drinking, I can drink through the Nal, like I did on Saturday. I was a bit disappointed in myself and have to pose the question "Why drink it when I'm not enjoying it?" Although on Saturday we ran out of wine and got stuck into home made sloe gin, which is very sickly and does not taste alcoholic....maybe that was what went wrong. Who knows?

I'm not too keen to try taking another drug on top of Nal, so I suppose what I'm trying to say is that I need to put a bit of input in myself rather than just expect a pill to do the trick.

Open to any suggestions!

PS I've been on nal for around 2 1/2 months now and today is only my second AF day! But I am optimistic!!

Thanks for sharing your experiences, teemorton. I understand where you are coming from...wanting to pound the bac because you want this to work so bad...but as you know for some people the SEs are horrendous. And as with the nal I found that if I don't examine why I use alcohol to soothe, and provide a more appropriate method for soothing, I'm back where I started.

Alcohol is just so handy a tool. It's socially acceptable, most of it tastes great, and it takes us OUT of ourselves for a little while - what's not to like!!!!

But once this tool is killing us, our relationships, and our happiness there is a reason we can't let go. That's what we must discover, and change. For me this is my journey right now.

Babs

Hi Sumerglow. I recommend The Heart of Addiction by Dr. Lance Dodes, to everyone I can. It is life changing for me. I feel that I can change how I react to things that 'trigger' my desire to zone out of life. The hard part is doing the changing.

As well, Dr. Gabor Mate has some books, and some videos on-line that have explained me to me. Life changing for me to know I'm not doing destructive things for their own sake. My reasons are deeply ingrained and wired into my brain/life. But there is a way out.

Sumerglow, you have asked the big question: Why do we drink when the alcohol has lost its appeal?

Babs

Thanks for that . I've just tapped Dr Gabor Mate into You tube and there is a lot there.

I know much of my trouble is my back pain and I'm stuck at home. But have the pain clinic tomorrow with the results of my MRI, so hopefully I will be able to get out more, if they treat me.But again, I cannot have tramadol or co-codamol as they are opiods.

When I tell the tomorrow about Nal, I just know, they won't know anything about it!!! As the addiction clinic.........