Misc 10 weeks off short term use of Gabapentin

[THCified]

^ Can you gimme (or us) a link or something else confirming that

gabapentin can DECREASE MORPHINE OR ANY OPIOID OPIATDE ABSORBPTION IN HALF

because i've never ever heard this (which doesn't mean i'd say it's BS!). I'm in Pain Management and take Gabapentin and Oxy daily at the same time, ever day, and didn't notice a loss of the Painkillers Effect since i began taking 'em - afaik it's the exact difference, i.e. Gabapentin does boost the Effects of the Painkiller. I'll probably try it out as i've no problem changing the schedule and to see if there's any difference!

Do not take that guys advice and use phenibut. Get kava if anything. Just don't touch phenibut. Especially when you're already dealing with withdrawal from a gaba related drug. Phenibut withdrawal as hell. Lol. I'm losing my mind coming off this shit.

I second that, simply because Phenibut WD is absolute Hell if misused and the fast tolerance build-up leads to WD-Symptoms as soon as intake is discontinued after roughly estimated ~7 days.

 

[Keif' Richards]

A good rule of thumb that I've found to be pretty reliable: take whatever positive effects you get from a substance, mental and physical, the withdrawal after tolerance/dependency has set in is just going to be the yin to the yang. I know this isn't always true, but it's a good benchmark.

 

[blue comet]

This shit sucks. Everyday is different. Yesterday I was real physically sick and could barely sit down on my bus ride home from work yesterday. Today I'm at work and feel like I'm mentally ill, like I'm not interpreting the world the way I usually do. It's weird. I'm also not conversing in the same comfort I usually do.

I've been shaking and nauseous for the past several days. It has prevented me from driving a car or even doing much socializing.

The fact that this is such an unknown thing to me and the fact that I don't know how long this will last terrifies me. Makes me both extremely scared and extremely angry.

I appreciate everyone's support on this forum. It's a comforting thing to be able to speak to people with similar situations.

 

[Joey24x18]

Yeah I feel different pretty much every day during this taper. Sometimes I'll be content and almost feel "normal". That usually doesn't last long though. Mostly I'm dealing with varying degrees of symptoms. The brain fog is pretty mad most days. And the pressure feeling in my head really sucks to deal with. I'm almost ready to jump off and it should be interesting to see if i go into full withdrawal.

It does help having a forum like this.

 

[CosmicG]

The irritability and depression are the feelings I am having the most trouble managing. Benzos are helping me to deal with that crippling anxiety. It's hard for me to get my day started or even find the inspiration to do so. Lack of interest in all things, just want to be by myself, etc. etc.

It helps to not dwell on this withdraw. There is without a doubt a physical feeling of unease, but acknowledging it only makes things worse for me. I am determined to beat this shit. I feel the most anger towards the doctors who are handing this crap out like candy without giving any information on what it actually is and the potential risks that come with taking it.

 

[Joey24x18]

The irritability and depression are the feelings I am having the most trouble managing. Benzos are helping me to deal with that crippling anxiety. It's hard for me to get my day started or even find the inspiration to do so. Lack of interest in all things, just want to be by myself, etc. etc.

It helps to not dwell on this withdraw. There is without a doubt a physical feeling of unease, but acknowledging it only makes things worse for me. I am determined to beat this shit. I feel the most anger towards the doctors who are handing this crap out like candy without giving any information on what it actually is and the potential risks that come with taking it.

Yeah I've been doing whatever I can to distract myself. Be careful with your benzo use. Thats a whole different can of worms.

 

[CosmicG]

Well yeah I was addicted to them which is why I ended up taking the Neurontin in the first place while staying in an in-patient facility. Apparently most rehabs nowadays don't follow taper procedure. Now I am back in the benzos until I get this Gabapentin situation sorted out. Vicious cycle. Doctors mistreating patients every day following protocol.

 

[blue comet]

I too was given gabapentin in an inpatient environment (detox from valium and ambien) with lexapro and atarax. Was on it for three days then when I left I immediately threw all the medications out.

Fast forward 4.5 months and I am in outpatient seeing a counselor to help me with withdrawal. I end up seeing the psychiatrist there to explore possible short term medication for my withdrawal and insomnia now that I had returned to work. I agreed to go on gabapentin under the pretense that it was a safe medicine that did not come with any withdrawal whatsoever, could be stopped anytime, and wouldn't cause any negative side effects.

Fast forward to today and I have been through hell because of this medicine. Thousands in ER/doctors visits and thousands more lost in lost wages. No doctor has ever even acknowledged that gabapentin could have possibly caused this, yet offered no other explanation for my symptoms.

My outpatient place made me 10x worse.

 

[CosmicG]

After this last inpatient rehab experience I will never again look towards the medical team for help with my problems. Talking to my GP is as far as I will go, because he prescribed me the Xanax in the first place. It seems like these addictions are best fought alone with the support of friends and family.

Not to say rehab hasn't worked for a lot of people. I just can't accept the structure of it and the belief that seroquel and Neurontin are the answer.

 

[mankind]

I remember a friend in a halfway house gave me a bottle of these to help when I was dope sick. I took probably 60 of them in a week, and I felt a VERY unpleasant withdrawal from them after stopping. Now that I think about it, could this weeek of high dose gabapentin use contribute to the fact I can take absurd doses of xanax and benzos in general? (60-80mg of xanax). That's not a mistprint no matter how bad I wish it was. I was taking 30 - 40 2mg bars AT A TIME. I suffered two grand mal seizures both times I tried to cold turkey it. Now I am down to about 20mg a day and need to cold turkey, even though my taper is pointlessly fast:

16mg
12mg
8mg
6mg
2mg
2mg
Then a few 5mg valium.

 

[blue comet]

That's a lot dude. I would get medical help (doctor or ER) and explain your situation and your past seizures when withdrawing.

I'd recommend getting your hands on Librium and doing maybe a 3 week quick taper.

Good luck bro.

 

[blue comet]

Okay so here is a brief update...

Last week I was suffering from nasty nerve pain, endless and strong heart palpitations, uncontrollable anger, irrational fears, and general feelings of being out of it. This week my nerve pain and heart palpitations are SIGNIFICANTLY reduced but I have severe cognitive impairment and some shakiness, like I am having a real time driving my car. I am also constantly tired this week, like all the time. I've also had some real bad communication skills this week. Like I'm having a hard conversing at work or socially.

For both weeks, I am felt like I am a crazy person. My brain does not feel like it is interpreting things as it usually does and I feel like I may fuck up social situations for one reason or another. I'm having some cog fog as I think of ways to explain this so maybe I will elaborate on this later.

So things wax and wane. Hard to tell what exactly is going on and what is causing what (benzos or gabapentin). However I've been off benzos for close to 9 months and off gabapentin for close to 3. This is brutal. I think my rescue doses of ativan (three taken in March due to gabapentin pain) may have had an impact on my cognitive impairment.

 

[CosmicG]

All of your symptoms match up completely with mine. We are literally experiencing the exact same things. Depression has been the one messing with me the most. It's been years since I have been depressed, and this is deep. That and a constant feeling of exhaustion. Im not helping myself though by continuing to drink at night and take benzos to help deal.

I've been doing this rapid taper thing and I honestly am thinking about just quitting this stuff cold turkey. I am down from 2400 mgs to 600 in one month. I feel like I may just be prolonging the withdraw the more I take it, and I am feeling horrible withdraw from it anyway.

I see no point in seeing a doctor about it because there isn't anything they can do to help. It's like you said. They all seem to act clueless about the effects and I don't have the money to waste. It's either I just stop now and bite the bullet hard, or refill the gabapentin and keep trying to taper. This sucks. I'm feeling completely helpless.

No more drinking for me until I can get this sorted out. I curse the day I decided to admit myself for help. This medication has messed me up far worse then any benzo habit I may of had prior. I just want this to be over. What a nightmare.

 

[blue comet]

If you're gonna drop gabapentin are you gonna drop the benzos too? Or stay on the benzos while you deal with the hiccup of gabapentin withdrawal?

I've been off 11 weeks now and while things have gotten better, I still feel like I have a long ways to go. My symptoms wax and wane. As I said, this week the physical symptoms are very tolerable, almost nonexistent. The psychological issues are pretty rampant, as well as nasty cognitive impairment and constant tiredness.

Last week I felt like death and like I was making no improvement. This week I feel better and much more optimistic but these things have come and gone before.

The psych symptoms seem to be the only thing that doesn't come and go and are just consistent, although they have improved slightly as well. The only way I can describe it is by saying that I feel crazy, like I'm perceiving the world in an abnormal manner.

How have your physical symptoms been since lowering your gabapentin doses?

 

[jammin83]

CG and BC please listen to me. About a year ago I started tapering off of zyprexa. In January I switched to 100 mg of seroquel and I have been struggling severely since. I was struggling severely when I made the switch but thought that I could push through it. I was wrong. These types of drugs need to be slowly and precisely tapered. I have struggled with severe depression and bipolar for about 15 years. I have learned to deal with it for the most part. This wd has taken me to the depths of hell. I fucked it up so bad my nervous system is fried. It doesn't matter what I take anymore. Nothing works or helps. I was considering suicide the other night bc this just won't go away and I have made a lot of progress in that department over the years.

Dont fuck with your brain. You are not helping yourselves at all. You are fucking yourselves up more by abruptly stopping. These drugs dont work like that. Whatever time you think you are saving you are wrong. You are hurting yourselves. You need to gently ease off of these things. I learned the hard way. I get full blown mania mixed states bone crushing depression and I feel like I am withdrawing all day every day for almost a year. Anxiety coming out of every fucking pore. Its minimally gotten better. Not much. Not hallucinating anymore but still really fucked up mostly bc I went too fast. I have verbal tics where I make sounds uncontrollably. Dont take this lightly.

I know gabapentin is different but I have learned a lot about psych drug withdrawal throughout this process. It can be one of the worst offenders for some people. People that go too fast dont get better all the time. These drugs can be dangerous. Stay safe.

 

[blue comet]

What is zyprexa and how long were you on it?

Sorry to hear about your struggles this past week, hope you power through this rough time!

 

[d1ahp]

Gabapentin depletes your magnesium, which is very important to your body. It's responsible for relaxing your mind/body and proper proper CNS function. That's a vague description. If you do research you'll find how important of a substance it is to the human body.

It is very important to get the right form of Magnesium that's able to absorb into your body. Most cheap supplements found at your local drug store are next to worthless and have horrible bioavailability.

Google "gabapentin withdrawal magnesium" and find the proper form that you need. I don't remember it, but I just remembered that I did a ton of research on this. Some people report tenfold improvement in their withdrawal symptoms.

I hope this helps if you haven't heard of this info before.

EDIT: As others have stated, stay far away from Phenibut. I will say the same for benzos even though they'll make you feel completely normal. Unless you're planning to stabilize and then slowly taper off via a doctor that specializes in benzodiazepine cessation. The latter requires determination, will power and the ability to be honest with yourself.

 

[blue comet]

Thanks for the advice. I googled it and wasn't really able to find a proper and distinctive form of magnesium for gabapentin withdrawal. I'm going to go to my drugstore and ask my pharmacist.

I took a magnesium suppliment (which also contained calcium) and it didn't do anything, perhaps this was the cheap one you were talking about lol.

And, on my end, you don't have to worry about me taking any medication that will alter my head or CNS ever again.

 

[d1ahp]

Buy the brand called Natural Calm, they sell it at vitamin shops. Start off with the lower dosages because it'll make you go if you over do it. Work your way up as you get used to it or take a couple of Imodiums.

Most pharmacists are clueless and I'd be surprised to find one that knows more on the subject than a person who spent an hour or two doing research through reliable sources. They're not educated much past western medicine, treat a problem caused by a drug with another drug that'll cause the same problem, type of thing.

EDIT:

Also get yourself some Vitamin B12, get the methylcobalamin form of it. It's great at giving you gentle stimulation(no jitters), a clear mind and the ability to handle stress better. Feel free to take up 9000mcg of it daily. It has no toxicity.

Niacin is a great mood stabilizer as well. Avoid the extended release formulations/or high doses since it can cause liver toxicity. Stick to doses as directed.

As others have mentioned, Kava Kava or Ashwagandha are useful tools when it comes to anxiety.

 

[blue comet]

Thanks for all your help man.

I went to CVS and the pharmacist had the exact knowledge of it as you predicted they would. That all magnesium supplements are the same.

I'll stop by the vitamin store tomorrow.

I kind of want to counteract anxiety on my own, but I think I'll give Vitamin B12 a shot.


EDIT: the magnesium I just got from CVS was Nature's Bounty (500mg)