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BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic
Gabapentin any good?
- Thread starter 401Opiate
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Toz
Bluelighter
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http://www.drugs.com/interactions-check.php?drug_list=2221-0,1147-677
I got a seizure from mixing high doses of tramadol with high doses of neurontin. But those were foolishly high doses, lower doses are fine.
I got a seizure from mixing high doses of tramadol with high doses of neurontin. But those were foolishly high doses, lower doses are fine.
issokay
Bluelighter
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My doc switched me to Lyrica (Pregabalin) two days ago. He did tell me to stop taking the Tramadol, but I think it's because he put me on MS Contin. Does it (Lyrica/Pregabalin) have the same kinds of side effects and indications that neurontin has?
Stargazer
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An excellent thread to read for the OP is called "Lyrica Withdrawal" it gives alot of information on Lyrica...and how quickly the tolerance to it builds. Some will swear there is not w/d from Lyrica. I can tell you, from my experience, yes there is. And it is a very unpleasant. If you google Lyrica withdrawal, you will find countless stories of it. This w/d happens even to those that aren't abusing it...and want to get off it due to the weight gain or other symptoms that aren't comfortable.
thehumanguineapigy
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I would not take gaba/lyrica/neurontin more than a day or two. myself and several others as well, experienced horrible WDs from this drug. I have a incredibly high opiate tolerance. little over ten years worth. the withdrawals from this drug are far worse than any opiate IME. I suffered from severe depression, waves of spontaneous extreme panic attacks, suicidal thoughts, very agitated, huge mood swings. That lasted nearly three weeks weeks.
thehumanguineapigy
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i was taking a fairly high dose I forgot too add. i peaked at 1400mg of lyrica which is about 4x stronger than gaba. I only took this drug for eight days and ran out cold turkey not thinking i could WD. Boy I've never been so wrong! Its a very scarry and different WD. and lasts alot longer than any opiate WD! If you want more info, ask. Its hard to cover everything from my crappy cell phone. I experienced more symptoms than i have time to mention ATM, SO BE careful if you take it anyways!
Effect
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Good thing I don't really experience the positive effects that many people talk about from gabapentin. I know quite a few people that think they're great. I only take them a few time a month cause my boy has a huge bottle of the 800s and sometimes gives me some when he's in the giving mood.
Maybe I just haven't found the right dose for me, but I usually take 400mg to start and then the other 400mg half an hour or so later. I honestly can't even really notice I took anything and I'm usually pretty good at being able to recognize the subtle effects of taking any substance even in fairly small doses.
It's probably for the best that I'm not a big fan of these cause I have read some pretty shitty stories about people withdrawing from these. Definitely not something I want to experience. Having an opiate dependence is enough.
Maybe I just haven't found the right dose for me, but I usually take 400mg to start and then the other 400mg half an hour or so later. I honestly can't even really notice I took anything and I'm usually pretty good at being able to recognize the subtle effects of taking any substance even in fairly small doses.
It's probably for the best that I'm not a big fan of these cause I have read some pretty shitty stories about people withdrawing from these. Definitely not something I want to experience. Having an opiate dependence is enough.
Toz
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I suffered the same but my problems lasted 2 years and never ended. Never take this drug is my advice too. The withdrawal from these drugs is like a mix between benzos and opiate cold turkey with a tab of acid thrown in for good measure.
Snake_Eyes
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Unfortunately those of us that need this medication for nerve pain don't have many options and high doses of OTC wasn't doing squat. I can't even get tramadol prescribed so clearly opioid medications aren't an option. I've been on Lyrica for 13 months and it has been a wonderful drug for my back pain.
Six months after getting on it I was forced to go from 150-200mg a day to 50mg overnight to keep from running out. The first week I had a never ending mild to moderate headache but after that I didn't really have any other problems. I stayed on 50mg for a month with some days not taking any I'm sure if I dropped off completely it would of sucked a bit more but I have a fast metabolism and lyrica has a fairly short half life so I can't imagine that there would have been much left in my system.
issokay
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GABA rx withdrawal & much more…
I feel like I did have withdrawal symptoms from gabapentin and I was just taking it for a little over a month, 300mg tid (3x/day) & honestly the initial reason I was interested in quitting was because I no longer could feel ANY of the wonderful good feelings that opiates provide. I learned about the other awful things after I decided I wanted to quit taking it. I couldn't feel the good feelings from opiates, like I mentioned: not from my rx for Norco, not my rx for MS Contin, & I wasn't able to feel anything when I was given IV dilaudid in the ER. I even bought some heroin & while I felt absolutely nothing, it did still make me nod. I have a very high opiate tolerance myself, but I know for damn sure what I should be feeling when I should be feeling it, etc.
I am trying not to use heroin for a few reasons; mainly because it's really expensive here for mediocre quality stuff, plus I had a friend a 2-3 years ago die of endocarditis & even after having his open heart surgery, the infection must've spread to his lungs. He was only in his early 20’s. Then there's how it affects my 11 year relationship with someone who has never & would never use heroin; I'm happy he's not used it, because I would actually be pretty upset if he used it or any drug that changed much about his/our life. I actually dumped my previous boyfriend because his drug use was escalating & I told him to choose me or drugs (I was pretty anti-drug at one point), but he chose drugs. It was best to be away from him anyway, he was a very horrible boyfriend. (I'm gay in care there was some confusion, not that it's relevant, but anyhow...)
So yeah I'm kinda backwards in that I wouldn't stay with a guy who used drugs excessively, yet I've been using heroin enough to damage our finances severely over the past 7 months, but I am trying to quit. I guess if I was with someone who's trying to quit I would probably work with him on that. But after 10 years of being together, having joint bank accounts, he removed me because I was having problems spending money earmarked for bills on heroin. That was almost a year ago. It sucks. I'm already legally disabled for other reasons going back many years.
Anyway, yeah I really haven't had a problem going through opiate withdrawals-I can take them easily really (so far), but the horrible apparent gabapentin withdrawals were so terrible that on what would've been the 9th day in a row of not taking gabapentin after a little over a month, & I had very severe muscle contractions that consisted of one powerful flex (contraction) that lasted longer than the period of time I had quit taking it. I started taking it again to try to get relief & it took many days for the spasm to reduce, though they never went away. I was also having quite severe electrical shock feelings that I am pretty sure was related to seizure activity, I've had a seizure once before so I know what they feel like, & that's what it was. It was very scary. I can't believe they prescribe the stuff (gabapentin).
I told my doctor about it, & what I've read about other people’s experiences online. He said he's never heard of withdrawals from it & told me if I wanted to I could just take one a day while switching to Lyrica (Pregabalin). I was already just taking one a day because I really didn't want to be on it at all but also didn't want to experience the painful withdrawals that I didn't expect or know about.
That being said, I do think it helped a little with my nerve pain- I have severe nerve damage after suffering rhabdomyolysis from remaining in an unfortunate position on the floor which happened to cut off circulation to my muscles for a period of time long enough to basically cause my muscles to break down & die inside my body. It also happened to put pressure on my nerves in the exact same spot on both my legs on both my nerves just below the outside of the knees & just below the outside of my ankles. This caused paralysis in my legs below the knees. I regained a little movement in my right foot the following day in the hospital, but not much. Now, after two months, I regained most of the movement in my right leg & foot/ankle, but I lost quite a lot of flexibility & muscle tone/mass, & it's really weak. I still have a lot of progress to make in my other (left) leg/foot/ankle. I can only slightly move my toes, only down, only about half a centimeter, only able to use one muscle in my foot/ankle moving it slightly in, very weakly. I've lost a lot of muscle mass/tone in both my calf muscles- a lot of muscle atrophy.
I use AFO braces (ankle-foot orthotics) for hobbling around my house, beyond that, I use a walker as well, or a motorized scooter when provided at a grocery store or something. Though I was at a grocery store last week & some bitch mocked me for using it because I am fairly young, 33 years old, & I may have looked like I was just using the motorized scooter just to joyride in it. I cussed that bitch out nice & proper, my 80 year old grandmother was with me and she gave her a piece of her mind as well, then the store's pharmacist person came out and apologized to me after asking what happened. But it was pretty humiliating. I already have severe social anxiety I was taking a large amount if Ativan (legit rx) daily for almost 10 years from it, & it has kept me from being able to work for a long time.
Anyhow, I've found that my morphine & Norco prescriptions do far more for my pain than the GABA drugs, *if* the doctor prescribes enough, & he wants to, but has to be aware of what the other doctors think because he works with many other doctors at the community health place (like family practice) but "enough" pain medication in my case is a lot being that I'm so exposed & tolerant to opiates, & since they're aware I've used heroin years ago & because that was how I injured myself two months ago ('fell out' on the floor in the kitchen, real classy-like), I'm lucky that he even agreed to put me back on morphine & Norco. (They took me off of it for a while after being in the hospital, mostly because my doctor needed to have the other doctors collaboratively agree that I needed to have severe pain control.) Still, my doctor is really reasonable about pain meds, but most doctors there are very, very conservative. I go to the Family Practice place here & I'm in Texas, so it's a crapshoot to get a doctor that's willing to prescribe narcotics, even when they're VERY needed. It's ridiculous.
My psychiatrist actually discontinued my Ativan (benzo) prescription without titrating me off of it, & I was taking 2mg of Ativan 4x's a day (8mg/day w/legitimate rx) for over 9 years. But after the ONE drug incident after being clean (as far as they knew) for 14 years, he took me off of that massive dose cold fucking turkey. I was furious. He said it would be at least a year before he would consider putting me back on it. I was taking it for severe panic attacks & persistent insomnia.
Since I've been off if it, I've been to the ER for chest pain, have been having panic attacks that feel like heart attacks at least once a day, my resting pulse has been between 95 (right after waking up before I get out of bed) up to & beyond 130 even when at rest when I've been seated for an hour. What's even more ridiculous is that my psychiatrist who had been prescribing me the Ativan had mentioned to me *more than once* that I should never quit taking the Ativan because I could have a seizure & die. Then he goes & does exactly that.
Too bad that I can't much complain as he's really the only psychiatrist that takes both my Medicare & Medicaid supplement (that may not be the case anymore as the Affordable Care Act has required mental health to be covered by insurances now...) & he is part of the Family Practice type place that I go to. But I am considering firing him, for having done that to me. But I don't want to make myself look bad because that would surely be in my medical records and who knows what this ultra-conservative doctor who doesn't even own a television would write about the whole situation. He would probably remark that he thought I was malingering. I don't need that.
Wow did you actually read all this? If you did, you're quite a trooper. I've just had a lot of shit happening to me & I have a lot to get off of my mind. Sorry it's so long & somewhat off-topic from the original subject.
I feel like I did have withdrawal symptoms from gabapentin and I was just taking it for a little over a month, 300mg tid (3x/day) & honestly the initial reason I was interested in quitting was because I no longer could feel ANY of the wonderful good feelings that opiates provide. I learned about the other awful things after I decided I wanted to quit taking it. I couldn't feel the good feelings from opiates, like I mentioned: not from my rx for Norco, not my rx for MS Contin, & I wasn't able to feel anything when I was given IV dilaudid in the ER. I even bought some heroin & while I felt absolutely nothing, it did still make me nod. I have a very high opiate tolerance myself, but I know for damn sure what I should be feeling when I should be feeling it, etc.
I am trying not to use heroin for a few reasons; mainly because it's really expensive here for mediocre quality stuff, plus I had a friend a 2-3 years ago die of endocarditis & even after having his open heart surgery, the infection must've spread to his lungs. He was only in his early 20’s. Then there's how it affects my 11 year relationship with someone who has never & would never use heroin; I'm happy he's not used it, because I would actually be pretty upset if he used it or any drug that changed much about his/our life. I actually dumped my previous boyfriend because his drug use was escalating & I told him to choose me or drugs (I was pretty anti-drug at one point), but he chose drugs. It was best to be away from him anyway, he was a very horrible boyfriend. (I'm gay in care there was some confusion, not that it's relevant, but anyhow...)
So yeah I'm kinda backwards in that I wouldn't stay with a guy who used drugs excessively, yet I've been using heroin enough to damage our finances severely over the past 7 months, but I am trying to quit. I guess if I was with someone who's trying to quit I would probably work with him on that. But after 10 years of being together, having joint bank accounts, he removed me because I was having problems spending money earmarked for bills on heroin. That was almost a year ago. It sucks. I'm already legally disabled for other reasons going back many years.
Anyway, yeah I really haven't had a problem going through opiate withdrawals-I can take them easily really (so far), but the horrible apparent gabapentin withdrawals were so terrible that on what would've been the 9th day in a row of not taking gabapentin after a little over a month, & I had very severe muscle contractions that consisted of one powerful flex (contraction) that lasted longer than the period of time I had quit taking it. I started taking it again to try to get relief & it took many days for the spasm to reduce, though they never went away. I was also having quite severe electrical shock feelings that I am pretty sure was related to seizure activity, I've had a seizure once before so I know what they feel like, & that's what it was. It was very scary. I can't believe they prescribe the stuff (gabapentin).
I told my doctor about it, & what I've read about other people’s experiences online. He said he's never heard of withdrawals from it & told me if I wanted to I could just take one a day while switching to Lyrica (Pregabalin). I was already just taking one a day because I really didn't want to be on it at all but also didn't want to experience the painful withdrawals that I didn't expect or know about.
That being said, I do think it helped a little with my nerve pain- I have severe nerve damage after suffering rhabdomyolysis from remaining in an unfortunate position on the floor which happened to cut off circulation to my muscles for a period of time long enough to basically cause my muscles to break down & die inside my body. It also happened to put pressure on my nerves in the exact same spot on both my legs on both my nerves just below the outside of the knees & just below the outside of my ankles. This caused paralysis in my legs below the knees. I regained a little movement in my right foot the following day in the hospital, but not much. Now, after two months, I regained most of the movement in my right leg & foot/ankle, but I lost quite a lot of flexibility & muscle tone/mass, & it's really weak. I still have a lot of progress to make in my other (left) leg/foot/ankle. I can only slightly move my toes, only down, only about half a centimeter, only able to use one muscle in my foot/ankle moving it slightly in, very weakly. I've lost a lot of muscle mass/tone in both my calf muscles- a lot of muscle atrophy.
I use AFO braces (ankle-foot orthotics) for hobbling around my house, beyond that, I use a walker as well, or a motorized scooter when provided at a grocery store or something. Though I was at a grocery store last week & some bitch mocked me for using it because I am fairly young, 33 years old, & I may have looked like I was just using the motorized scooter just to joyride in it. I cussed that bitch out nice & proper, my 80 year old grandmother was with me and she gave her a piece of her mind as well, then the store's pharmacist person came out and apologized to me after asking what happened. But it was pretty humiliating. I already have severe social anxiety I was taking a large amount if Ativan (legit rx) daily for almost 10 years from it, & it has kept me from being able to work for a long time.
Anyhow, I've found that my morphine & Norco prescriptions do far more for my pain than the GABA drugs, *if* the doctor prescribes enough, & he wants to, but has to be aware of what the other doctors think because he works with many other doctors at the community health place (like family practice) but "enough" pain medication in my case is a lot being that I'm so exposed & tolerant to opiates, & since they're aware I've used heroin years ago & because that was how I injured myself two months ago ('fell out' on the floor in the kitchen, real classy-like), I'm lucky that he even agreed to put me back on morphine & Norco. (They took me off of it for a while after being in the hospital, mostly because my doctor needed to have the other doctors collaboratively agree that I needed to have severe pain control.) Still, my doctor is really reasonable about pain meds, but most doctors there are very, very conservative. I go to the Family Practice place here & I'm in Texas, so it's a crapshoot to get a doctor that's willing to prescribe narcotics, even when they're VERY needed. It's ridiculous.
My psychiatrist actually discontinued my Ativan (benzo) prescription without titrating me off of it, & I was taking 2mg of Ativan 4x's a day (8mg/day w/legitimate rx) for over 9 years. But after the ONE drug incident after being clean (as far as they knew) for 14 years, he took me off of that massive dose cold fucking turkey. I was furious. He said it would be at least a year before he would consider putting me back on it. I was taking it for severe panic attacks & persistent insomnia.
Since I've been off if it, I've been to the ER for chest pain, have been having panic attacks that feel like heart attacks at least once a day, my resting pulse has been between 95 (right after waking up before I get out of bed) up to & beyond 130 even when at rest when I've been seated for an hour. What's even more ridiculous is that my psychiatrist who had been prescribing me the Ativan had mentioned to me *more than once* that I should never quit taking the Ativan because I could have a seizure & die. Then he goes & does exactly that.
Too bad that I can't much complain as he's really the only psychiatrist that takes both my Medicare & Medicaid supplement (that may not be the case anymore as the Affordable Care Act has required mental health to be covered by insurances now...) & he is part of the Family Practice type place that I go to. But I am considering firing him, for having done that to me. But I don't want to make myself look bad because that would surely be in my medical records and who knows what this ultra-conservative doctor who doesn't even own a television would write about the whole situation. He would probably remark that he thought I was malingering. I don't need that.
Wow did you actually read all this? If you did, you're quite a trooper. I've just had a lot of shit happening to me & I have a lot to get off of my mind. Sorry it's so long & somewhat off-topic from the original subject.
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issokay
Bluelighter
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Yeah I haven't noticed any positive effects from it, & I wish I had never been given the stuff. I was in the hospital for a week and I couldn't exactly argue. Though I knew little more about it than what its purpose was. My paralyzed grandmother takes it & so does my grandfather who has neuropathy he thinks was caused from exposure to agent orange in Vietnam.
Yeah my opiate addiction is enough. I don't want anything else. Though I would like my dr to put me back on the Ativan I was taking at 2mg 4x/day for almost 10 years. I almost never abused that though. I didn't want it take. Away. I still really do need that.
Yeah my opiate addiction is enough. I don't want anything else. Though I would like my dr to put me back on the Ativan I was taking at 2mg 4x/day for almost 10 years. I almost never abused that though. I didn't want it take. Away. I still really do need that.
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Blind Melon
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I fucking love Gabapentin to potentiate my benzos which I began using to potentiate opiates. But gabapentin + alcohol is just unmanageable.
opiatekrzy
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neurontin is very enjoyable only at low doses, when taken high doses it leaves you uncomfortable, stimulated, spaced out and dirty felt. i dont understand how people like taking lyrica 300mg caps and take 900mg, gosh i took a 150mg lyrica once i was fucked up ALL DAY it was very unfomfortable, lyrica i tried at 50-75mg it was great, i would rate it as enjoyable as a benzo buzz at low doses at times withotu benzos. lyrica is like concentrated gabapentin and very more potent by MG
TheSacredTree
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I had a few 600mg tablets of Neurontin a few months ago and tried half of it and gave the other half to a friend. Based on that day, i feel like it could have three very different possible effects. There's what it's supossed to do for normal people, what it did to my friend, and what it did to me. I'll start with my friend; he had no effects. Lol. Yep, that's the end of his experience.
Now on to me. First, it takes an hour before you start to feel any effects. Then, at the one hour mark, my heart rate shot up through the roof and it came with a sense of euphoria but also some difficulty in breathing. I also had the jitters and studdered a lot when talking. I also had the dirty feeling as mentioned above and got sick for a few hours. All the effects were gone 6 hours after taking the pill. And i was supossed to go to the DMV that day too but i'm so glad that got cancelled. Lets just say i threw out the other three i had because it was terrible. But, since i seem to be the only person that had this happen, my bad symptoms could've also been because of an interaction with my diabetes medications. Who knows. Just thought i would say how it effected me.
Now on to me. First, it takes an hour before you start to feel any effects. Then, at the one hour mark, my heart rate shot up through the roof and it came with a sense of euphoria but also some difficulty in breathing. I also had the jitters and studdered a lot when talking. I also had the dirty feeling as mentioned above and got sick for a few hours. All the effects were gone 6 hours after taking the pill. And i was supossed to go to the DMV that day too but i'm so glad that got cancelled. Lets just say i threw out the other three i had because it was terrible. But, since i seem to be the only person that had this happen, my bad symptoms could've also been because of an interaction with my diabetes medications. Who knows. Just thought i would say how it effected me.
LSDMDMA&
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when i've done it, i've necked 15 800mg and not felt too much
and thats not countring the extra pills i took for a redose.
15 800s to start
and thats not countring the extra pills i took for a redose.
15 800s to start
issokay
Bluelighter
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My doc has my rx for 150mg of Lyrica now instead of the neurontin because I complained about it 1) not working, and 2) my worry about the horrible withdrawals and everything I've read about, which of course wasn't any problem he had heard of before, particularly at a beginner's dose (I was only on Neurontin for about 4-5 weeks.)
I don't take the Lyrica unless I'm in a lot of pain. I'm just scared of all those GABA rx's now...
So what does the Lyrica feel like when it fucks you up? It sounds like something to avoid, but some people seem to like it. I wouldn't want to be on anything that has such a long withdrawal period, and so severe. I'm already on ms contin & norco so that's enough for me, though I'd like to take more, and I think my doc is going to put me on double what I'm on now (of the MS Contin) the next time I go in.... I have pain that's just not going away.
shakedownk8
Greenlighter
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I used to be a opiate user for years,.. Then switched to suboxone and did those orange things for a year... Along with gabapentin and the occassional adderall. I loved the combo, even without adderall. I found the subs& gabbys together was amazing. I felt as if I got "extra high" when I used both together. But then, One day I decided I was done with suboxone & opiods all together. I quit. The gabapentin helped huge during my withdrawal.. At a high dose of about 4,000mg per day during the acute withdrawal stage. Its been 31 days since I quit suboxone. I'm still taking clonidine & occassional benzo (that was prescribed) and taking about 1600mgs of gabapentin (unprescribe).. I've noticed now theres a complete difference in my gabapentin "high" ....makes me relaxed, but for the most part makes me very sleepy. I'm now trying to ween myself off of gabapentin to live a completely sober life. Although, I feel like I'm "cheating" myself in thinking I'm "clean" but still taking gabapentin. But pretty damn proud that I quit opiods; & that I'm actually feeling good. I didn't tell my doctor I'm taking gabapentin because I'd rather not "red flag" myself. For all I know I may actually need gabapentin or some sort of a related medication.
Point is, gabapentin effects everyone differently. Especially when used with other drugs. I find that now I barely enjoy taking gabapentin; other than the fact it's stopping my constant sweating from what feels like my never ending withdrawal. But I know I'll get there, this withdrawal cant last forever!
Point is, gabapentin effects everyone differently. Especially when used with other drugs. I find that now I barely enjoy taking gabapentin; other than the fact it's stopping my constant sweating from what feels like my never ending withdrawal. But I know I'll get there, this withdrawal cant last forever!
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