Baclofen :)
Hey girls and guys,
I am Hop, 30 from the UK.
I normally post on the Newcomers area as I self medicated with booze for my anxiety when it start out the blue about four years ago.
I was in Costa coffee waiting to pay and all of a sudden I had this weird feeling. Its hard to explain, I felt like I was going to lock up or have a seizure or something, I have never had one before but it just felt like I was losing control and was getting panicky.
I was with my ex ex girlfriend at the time and didn't tell her or anyone for ages and it kept happening. It stopped my flying commercially and became scared of heights, standing in line waiting to pay for stuff and general social anxiety.
Eventually went to the doctors and tried multiple SSRI's/Mirt etc which all didn't work. Terrible side effects...so I started self medicated with Alcohol. Fast forward two years and I started to drink more and more to stop the anxiety until one day it CLICKED that it was my heavy binge drinking before it all started and that the drinking was making it worse.
Fast forward two more years with multiple home detox's on a valium taper. Anxiety was still there but about 1/4 of what it was after a few weeks. I split with my ex at the end of the summer and I was pretty much drunk all day everyday, and when I say I drank, I really really drank, 15 cans of Strongbow and the odd bottle of wine in the evening also (I'm lucky as I run my family estate from home for income).
Well I stopped drinking just over a week ago. WD'd where not to bad, a lot better than my last detox on Jan the 1st which lasted four days.
I did loads of googling and came across Baclofen which is used for treating MS and off the label for cravings and anxiety in the UK. My GP had never prescribed it for Anxiety or craving before and calling me his guinea pig (20mg x 3 a day)! So I started taking them when I stopped drinking and for the first time in ages I went to the hairdressers with our any booze or valium in my system and felt perfect, like I mean 100% perfect, completely forgot about the anxiety and chatted away! Lucky in the past my ex was a hairdresser/stylist so she could do it at home for me. The last time I went to a busy hairdressers without booze or a valium in me was about four years ago.
In the past even after a month of no drinking I knew I would get very bad anxiety and struggled driving around etc so this time after only 8 days I feel normal for once again in my life!!
It may not work for everyone but I highly recommend you have a chat with your GP/Doctors as it seams to have given me my life back again! Ive had no side effects as yet, maybe ever so slightly tired but I would take that over being pissed or having anxiety any day!