# Baclofen seems awesome; why don't more SAers use it?



## sighsigh (Nov 9, 2010)

This seems like a pretty ideal medication. It's got very good anecdotal reviews for SA, and a lot of people find it stronger than phenibut and comparable to benzos in terms of treating SA. It's safe taken in the long-term and doesn't seem to develop tolerance, and doesn't seem to have significant side effects. I wonder what the catch is. 

I also wonder why there's absolutely no scientific literature on baclofen treating anxiety disorders. As in, none - it seems it has only been tested as a treatment for muscle pain and substance abuse addiction.


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## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

It probably has no research in treating anxiety disorders because the drug is generic thus there is no money to be made. Potential for profit decides what substance or treatment gets studied.

Baclofen and MAOIs are the only kinds of drugs I have not yet tried. I might give baclofen a try sometime. It can't be hard to get.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## meedo (Oct 4, 2011)

I take it for good sleep .. don't know what dose would help with anxiety i don't even think it would help.


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## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

meedo said:


> I take it for good sleep .. don't know what dose would help with anxiety i don't even think it would help.


Interesting, it shares GABA-B agonism with Xyrem which is like the gold standard for improving sleep. How drastically do you find it improves your sleep?


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## meedo (Oct 4, 2011)

jim_morrison said:


> Interesting, it shares GABA-B agonism with Xyrem which is like the gold standard for improving sleep. How drastically do you find it improves your sleep?


I actually don't take it regularly... like if i feel very stressed and tired then i take 20 or 30 mg one hour before i sleep . I sleep a bit deeper than usual and i am not easily awakened by noises. And if i wake up i can easily sleep again in a minute or two. I do end up sleeping more hours than usual. So i could end up sleeping 12 hours instead of my usual 8.5 or 9 .

I wake up feeling physically rested and relaxed and that i had a good sleep.It really relaxes your muscles so you feel you are melting in the bed when you are sleeping. But i don't really take it regularly. Sort of i reward myself once or twice every month.

I don't know how it works really . I actually got it first for anxiety , but i couldn't get it to work for that , and i found it made me sleep well.. so that is why i get it now hehe


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

270+ pills and it hasn't done a damn thing for me.

I only took my last fill of 90 pills because it was literally less than $0. I paid $10 co-pay, but that got me a $25 store coupon.

I started taking them at 60mg a day, then upped to 80mg/day.

3 months later and it's a sugar pill.

Contact me if you'd like to buy some. I can get you 20mg x #270 within a couple weeks on my insurance. They'd cost me $20, plus I'm so much nicer than any MD or pharmacy that's all strict about scripts. No scrip, no problem.


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## Captainmycaptain (Sep 23, 2012)

Did not work for me either. Did absolutely nothing. That's why.


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## versikk (Nov 25, 2013)

Interesting. I think i'm gonna ask my GP to get this on account of needing a muscle relaxant.


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## slackjaw99 (Sep 19, 2015)

I STACK 40-50mg baclofen on top of approx. 2400mg gabapentin qid. This alone normally eliminates 95-100% of my social anxiety issues and limitations. However it leaves me feeling like a depressed piece of **** stuck to the couch. To counter that I take 5mg sublingual selegiline in the am stacked with about 50-75mg of another novel, atypical tri-cyclic divided into multiple doses. This has eliminated my SA and anxiety based depression. 
Baclofen or gabapentin alone don't help me much, but the stack (idea borrowed from pro bodybuilders who stack various anabolics for synergistic and complimentary effects) is like a brand new completely different drug. 
Tolerance is an issue, so just like the pro bodybuilders, I'm in search of other gaba-ergics to cycle on and off with. If I experience any "breakthrough" anxiety, I squelch that with another novel, low dose stack of 20mg propranolol and .5mcg clonidine. This blocks excess adrenalin in a more complete way that neither med can do alone and in a way that make me feel much less "drugged or medicated".
Prior to this medication regimen, I was house bound with no social contacts, unemployable, horribly lonely, depressed and at a point where if my quality-of-life did not improve in the next several months, I would *not continue*. Now I can freely go to high pressure singles groups and speed dating meet-ups, and not care or give a second thought to how short, ugly and broke I am. The change in my facial affect, demeanor, social functioning and confidence has actually caused women to take a one-sided interest in me, and for the first time in my life I'm enjoying a mild degree of *popularity*.
For reference I've taken or tried most SSRIs, clonazopam, buroprion, other tri-cyclics, buspar, and worst of all, ef****zer. All either gave a fractional response at best, and horrid withdrawals and panic attacks at worst. 
The failure of modern psychiatry in controlling chronic, debilitating anxiety is the obtuse, big-pharma / FDA way thinking that focuses on medication mono-therapies, ignores individual differences, ignores recent neuroscience discoveries, and treats "anxiety" as if its all comes from the same cause. While stacking and combining drugs can be very dangerous if done ignorantly, it can also create new, powerful combinations that provide a *complete* response if done intelligently. The above combos of meds were designed after extensive review of the latest neuroscience literature without any "psychiatric" input, and a thorough safety review for potential adverse interactions considering my genome and environmental pathology. Thanks to psychiatry, I could have found these meds 30 years ago and lead a normal life, but instead suffered on the "industry standard" first and second line "treatments".


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## IlIlIlIrlpoloIlIlIlI (Feb 5, 2012)

UltraShy said:


> 270+ pills and it hasn't done a damn thing for me.
> 
> I only took my last fill of 90 pills because it was literally less than $0. I paid $10 co-pay, but that got me a $25 store coupon.
> 
> ...


Isn't that illegal? Fortunately I no longer use drugs with addictive potential, otherwise I'd be all over that offer.


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## Iwillovercomeanxiety1 (Aug 23, 2010)

slackjaw99 said:


> I STACK 40-50mg baclofen on top of approx. 2400mg gabapentin qid. This alone normally eliminates 95-100% of my social anxiety issues and limitations. However it leaves me feeling like a depressed piece of **** stuck to the couch. To counter that I take 5mg sublingual selegiline in the am stacked with about 50-75mg of another novel, atypical tri-cyclic divided into multiple doses. This has eliminated my SA and anxiety based depression.
> Baclofen or gabapentin alone don't help me much, but the stack (idea borrowed from pro bodybuilders who stack various anabolics for synergistic and complimentary effects) is like a brand new completely different drug.
> Tolerance is an issue, so just like the pro bodybuilders, I'm in search of other gaba-ergics to cycle on and off with. If I experience any "breakthrough" anxiety, I squelch that with another novel, low dose stack of 20mg propranolol and .5mcg clonidine. This blocks excess adrenalin in a more complete way that neither med can do alone and in a way that make me feel much less "drugged or medicated".
> Prior to this medication regimen, I was house bound with no social contacts, unemployable, horribly lonely, depressed and at a point where if my quality-of-life did not improve in the next several months, I would *not continue*. Now I can freely go to high pressure singles groups and speed dating meet-ups, and not care or give a second thought to how short, ugly and broke I am. The change in my facial affect, demeanor, social functioning and confidence has actually caused women to take a one-sided interest in me, and for the first time in my life I'm enjoying a mild degree of *popularity*.
> ...


How often do you use the Baclofen? I've been using it most days for the last couple of months. I usually use around 60 mg. I'm trying to taper off and only take it sometimes though because I don't want to get stuck having bad withdrawal effects. I'm also worried about it making me more depressed in the long term because I think it decreases dopamine. It works very well though when taking in larger doses 60-90 mg for mood and anxiety reduction.


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## scarpia (Nov 23, 2009)

IlIlIlIrlpoloIlIlIlI said:


> Isn't that illegal? Fortunately I no longer use drugs with addictive potential, otherwise I'd be all over that offer.


Yes it is but highly unlikely for someone to be arrested and charged with selling perscription drugs. I believe he sold his nardil on here to someone...

Did some googling and have seen a couple of cases of people arrested for selling prescription drugs. Careful Karl!

http://www.nj.com/gloucester-county...n_charged_with_selling_prescription_drug.html


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## versikk (Nov 25, 2013)

slackjaw99 said:


> I STACK 40-50mg baclofen on top of approx. 2400mg gabapentin qid. This alone normally eliminates 95-100% of my social anxiety issues and limitations. However it leaves me feeling like a depressed piece of **** stuck to the couch. To counter that I take 5mg sublingual selegiline in the am stacked with about 50-75mg of another novel, atypical tri-cyclic divided into multiple doses. This has eliminated my SA and anxiety based depression.
> Baclofen or gabapentin alone don't help me much, but the stack (idea borrowed from pro bodybuilders who stack various anabolics for synergistic and complimentary effects) is like a brand new completely different drug.
> Tolerance is an issue, so just like the pro bodybuilders, I'm in search of other gaba-ergics to cycle on and off with. If I experience any "breakthrough" anxiety, I squelch that with another novel, low dose stack of 20mg propranolol and .5mcg clonidine. This blocks excess adrenalin in a more complete way that neither med can do alone and in a way that make me feel much less "drugged or medicated".
> Prior to this medication regimen, I was house bound with no social contacts, unemployable, horribly lonely, depressed and at a point where if my quality-of-life did not improve in the next several months, I would *not continue*. Now I can freely go to high pressure singles groups and speed dating meet-ups, and not care or give a second thought to how short, ugly and broke I am. The change in my facial affect, demeanor, social functioning and confidence has actually caused women to take a one-sided interest in me, and for the first time in my life I'm enjoying a mild degree of *popularity*.
> ...


how long have you been taking your drug cocktial?


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## likeabrickwall (Oct 29, 2015)

sighsigh said:


> This seems like a pretty ideal medication. It's got very good anecdotal reviews for SA, and a lot of people find it stronger than phenibut and comparable to benzos in terms of treating SA. It's safe taken in the long-term and doesn't seem to develop tolerance, and doesn't seem to have significant side effects. I wonder what the catch is.
> 
> I also wonder why there's absolutely no scientific literature on baclofen treating anxiety disorders. As in, none - it seems it has only been tested as a treatment for muscle pain and substance abuse addiction.


Did you respond well to phenibut? How does baclofen compare?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

IlIlIlIrlpoloIlIlIlI said:


> Isn't that illegal? Fortunately *I no longer use drugs with addictive potential*, otherwise I'd be all over that offer.


Since when does Baclofen have any addictive potential?:stu I never noticed it doing anything and noticed nothing when I stopped cold turkey.

80 mg appears to be the max recommended dose. Makes me wonder if an even higher dose might actually do something. After all, I'm certainly larger than average and often require larger dosages to get an effect.

IMO the only muscle relaxant that will actually help relax your mind would be Soma.


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## sighsigh (Nov 9, 2010)

likeabrickwall said:


> Did you respond well to phenibut? How does baclofen compare?
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


I never tried phenibut. I tried baclofen once some time ago - it definitely has a significant effect, like a mild calming feeling. I haven't taken it since though, so I don't remember the feeling precisely. At the moment I'm just trying to solve my SA with Nardil and without adjuncts like baclofen/benzos/pregabalin.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

likeabrickwall said:


> Did you respond well to phenibut? How does baclofen compare?
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Phenibut did nothing but make me vomit. At least baclofen doesn't have that nasty nausea effect; it's like a sugar pill, having no effects at all.


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## zeusko87 (Sep 30, 2014)

UltraShy said:


> Phenibut did nothing but make me vomit. At least baclofen doesn't have that nasty nausea effect; it's like a sugar pill, having no effects at all.


I need to take at least 3-4 grams of Phenibut powder to feel anything. Tolerance develops after 3 days. I think it has low addiction potential compared to benzos.

i forget to mention it has horrible taste. it tastes even worse than tianeptine powder


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## Lauris (Nov 1, 2015)

Iwillovercomeanxiety1 said:


> I'm also worried about it making me more depressed in the long term because I think it decreases dopamine.


Well if it does, it will upregulate your dopamine receptors, and once you go off the drug, you will have actually more presynaptic dopamine for a while as a withdrawal, so no worries!


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## Iwillovercomeanxiety1 (Aug 23, 2010)

Lauris said:


> Well if it does, it will upregulate your dopamine receptors, and once you go off the drug, you will have actually more presynaptic dopamine for a while as a withdrawal, so no worries!


So once I get through the withdrawal, will dopamine medications then work more effectively for me because I have more presynaptic dopamine?

Baclofen works good. I need to usually take 60 mg+ for it to work well though and I get withdrawal when I don't take it. I'm very agitated and have more anxiety when I don't take it. I hope I can get off of it without too much of a problem if I need to, I hope it doesn't cause depression, and I hope it doesn't lose its effectiveness.


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## Lauris (Nov 1, 2015)

Iwillovercomeanxiety1 said:


> So once I get through the withdrawal, will dopamine medications then work more effectively for me because I have more presynaptic dopamine?
> 
> Baclofen works good. I need to usually take 60 mg+ for it to work well though and I get withdrawal when I don't take it. I'm very agitated and have more anxiety when I don't take it. I hope I can get off of it without too much of a problem if I need to, I hope it doesn't cause depression, and I hope it doesn't lose its effectiveness.


I mean if your medication decreases dopamine and you have been taking it for a while, your body gets accustomed to it and upregulates dopamine receptors, they become more sensitive. Then you go off the drug, the receptors are more sensitive, so you feel as if you had more dopamine until body downregulates again in a week.

Bromantine and tianeptine are good nootropics for significant dopamine stimulation


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## Iwillovercomeanxiety1 (Aug 23, 2010)

Can I order those two online and are they OK to take with Parnate?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Lacking Serotonin (Nov 18, 2012)

UltraShy said:


> 270+ pills and it hasn't done a damn thing for me.
> 
> I only took my last fill of 90 pills because it was literally less than $0. I paid $10 co-pay, but that got me a $25 store coupon.
> 
> ...


I would like to try some Baclofen.


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## zeusko87 (Sep 30, 2014)

Iwillovercomeanxiety1 said:


> Can I order those two online and are they OK to take with Parnate?
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


You can order Tianeptine from e-bay. I am not sure you can mix it with Parnate. I am afraid i will have to stop tianeptine when i start Nardil.


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## CosmicLow (Jun 2, 2013)

Yeah Baclofen definitely relaxes muscles and good for a bit better sleep but mostly as someone said it's like a sugar pill. I have been prescribed 40mg at night for alcohol withdrawals. I still drink sometimes and also take this coz it doesn't make my heart beat faster in morning after drunk night. Rest of the days I take it for a placebo effect just so that I don't drink alcohol.


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## swim (Apr 4, 2011)

baclofen is no sugar pill period. It's a highly potent medication instead which greatly affects gaba-b resulting that in muscle relaxation and terrific mood enhancement without causing drowsiness, so much that I've become addicted to it but there's not a tolerance issue with baclofen, the same dose works every time. I try to take it every other day, when I don't take it I'd rather stay in bed than at office because I'm so in a huff that I don't want to say a word.


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## Iwillovercomeanxiety1 (Aug 23, 2010)

swim said:


> baclofen is no sugar pill period. It's a highly potent medication instead which greatly affects gaba-b resulting that in muscle relaxation and terrific mood enhancement without causing drowsiness, so much that I've become addicted to it but there's not a tolerance issue with baclofen, the same dose works every time. I try to take it every other day, when I don't take it I'd rather stay in bed than at office because I'm so in a huff that I don't want to say a word.


Have you ever noticed that sometimes it works a lot better than other times? I've noticed this and am worried about tolerance setting it. When I try to take days off though, I get really agitated, sweaty, and anxious. I think it may be withdrawal. What dosage do you take and do you take it all at once or spread it out during the day? How come you take it every other day instead of every day?


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

When it comes to muscle relaxants I've tried three: baclofen, Zanaflex, and Soma.

Only one of them works and it would be Soma. Soma is metabolized into meprobamate (Miltown). Miltown was introduced in 1955 and became wildly popular with tens of millions of scripts written for it, but it soon lost popularity with the coming of the benzo-era where Librium was introduced in 1960, soon followed by Valium in 1963.

Guess which muscle relaxant you're not going to get from your pdoc? It would be Soma, the one that works!


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## Iwillovercomeanxiety1 (Aug 23, 2010)

I don't know if Baclofen is inconsistent or if I'm just taking it inconsistently, but I've gotten inconsistent effects from it. At 60-90 mg all taken in one dose it has made me feel really really good!  It wiped out a lot of anxiety and made me really happy and optimistic. However, it hasn't done that every time I've taken that dose. I have also tried taking days off and have taken it divided in two doses of 30 mg each. I think I play around with the dosage too much. Last week or so I may be experiencing some type of withdrawal from going from a high single dose to splitting the dose up and have had more anxiety, muscle tension, depression, and feeling kind of confused. I really hope this goes away and hope Balofen doesn't make me depressed or cause bad addiction. I'm not sure what to do about this medication. I don't know if I should just keep taking it everyday in divided doses and try to taper off and then take it only as needed? Or should I just continue to take it everyday and hope there isn't much tolerance and I don't get bad addiction and/or it doesn't make me depressed (which I'm fearful of because of some peoples accounts)?


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## swim (Apr 4, 2011)

Iwillovercomeanxiety1 said:


> Have you ever noticed that sometimes it works a lot better than other times? I've noticed this and am worried about tolerance setting it. When I try to take days off though, I get really agitated, sweaty, and anxious. I think it may be withdrawal. What dosage do you take and do you take it all at once or spread it out during the day? How come you take it every other day instead of every day?


I take it every other day so to avoid tolerance, 50mg daily, max 75mg but no more than that.


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## watertouch (Nov 4, 2013)

swim said:


> I take it every other day so to avoid tolerance, 50mg daily, max 75mg but no more than that.


How did you get it prescribed?


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## swim (Apr 4, 2011)

UltraShy said:


> Guess which muscle relaxant you're not going to get from your pdoc? It would be Soma, the one that works!


I think it's going to be withdrawn on a world scale.


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## swim (Apr 4, 2011)

watertouch said:


> How did you get it prescribed?


I'd rather not tell.


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## watertouch (Nov 4, 2013)

^okidoki...


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