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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

Gabapentin Misinformation must Stop

JackARoe said:
Oddly enough I was reading Reddit. (never really did that as it is too much). But I notice most say they did not get a withdrawal worth speaking of if I were collecting data. Now benzos it seems univeral, it is hell. But pregabalin and gabapentin get different responses.

Here is what I think, I spoke to a few non BL or Reddit people who take pregabalin or gabapentin daily. Non mention a withdrawal and they forget their pills all the time. I think if a person does get an effect from these and enjoys it, then stopping may be harder. Reading other reports some people have hard times even tapering.

I don't know what to think. I have been prescribed gabapentin for 6 years. Suppose to take 900 mgs a day. But I barely take 1800 mgs in a week. Honestly I just want some for when I jump off kratom. I do enjoy the effects though. Music is great

i just read a lot pf posts on Reddit where people stopped after being on for years and had no real issue. Others had horrendous withdrawal. Then of course on Reddit there are people that say they took 300 mgs a day for a week and now can't hear or see. LOL (all kinds)

Good avatar though op I love that big foot picture. It’s been studied by experts and baffled the guys that made the costumes for Planet Of The Apes.


I get that without pregabalin. :)
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That was interesting. I take 300 three times a day. If I go 12 hours without one I feel abs horrible. Amazing to hear others don’t, but I believe it. Need to stop, dunno how Im gonna. Been trying. Made it two days and unbearable. I’ve experienced many other withdrawals and it’s not the worst but is close.
 
likeakite said:
So Ive been taking Gabapentin 2,500 mgs a day for 7 years. I wanted to quit but after reading reports on Gabapentin withdrawal, one guy said it was worse than heroin and alcohol withdrawal combined. I was to afraid to quit. Well it finally happened, all my sources dried up, no more Gabapentin. I got some kratom and edibles. Its been 10 days and Im still waiting for withdrawal to start. These false horror stories keep people who want to stop too afraid to do it. Thats not harm reduction. Its the opposite, it keeps people too afraid to quit. One post said after only 3 days of using Gabapentin use they were having horrible withdrawal. These posts should be deleted or moved to a page made just for bullshit horror stories. One guy said he drank a bottle of hard booze every day for 10 years and said he quit cold turkey and had zero withdrawals. Join me in getting all these Trolls put aside, that will be "harm reduction "
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Let’s just say Im having a very different experience
 
EvidenceOfTheResurrection said:
That was interesting. I take 300 three times a day. If I go 12 hours without one I feel abs horrible.
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See that is why I decided to go with PRN use of this drug. Been prescribed since 2016 and in no way dependent on it at all. II rarely take more than 1200-1800 mgs in a week and usually on one night. If I get a flair up of shoulder pain or sciatica I have some exercises I can do, and then I will take gabapentin and ibuprofen together. Too many posters here scared me on daily use. So much the doc agreed that PRN is ok if I want. I do take some a few times a month to relax and listen to music. To me there is a valid consciousness shift to relieve anxiety or certain types of nerve pain.

I notice you are kicking up threads on gabapentin EvidenceOfTheRessurection. Feel free to tell your story and experience. It helps add the the knowledge when someone is looking for it. As we see the opinions are all over the place.
 
@likeakite you're not gonna make any friends by telling people that their feelings and experiences aren't real.

I'll say that I, myself have withdrawn from Gabapentin (Neurontin) & Pregabalin (Lyrica) both. The experience was very unpleasant. I was in extreme anxiety, sweating/freezing, nauseous etc. I have withdrawn from Opioids and Alcohol also. Withdrawal from Gabapentinoids has features of both. Restless Legs/Akathisia is a pretty prominent symptom also. The syndrome is not as severe as Alcohol, yet it's still a very bad time.

There is evidence of at least some kind of correlation between Opioids and Gabapentinoids. For instance, it's been demonstrated that both current and former Opioid users have a greater attraction to Gabapentinoids than those without that history. Most people I talk to who really love Gabapentinoids also have or had some kind of realtionship with Opioids. Again, I'm not really sure of the specifics of all of this, these are just observations. I will make the further point that as seemingly mild drugs, Gabapentinoids have an uncanny ability to mitigate symptoms of Opioid withdrawal.
 
Keif' Richards said:
@likeakite you're not gonna make any friends by telling people that their feelings and experiences aren't real.

I'll say that I, myself have withdrawn from Gabapentin (Neurontin) & Pregabalin (Lyrica) both. The experience was very unpleasant. I was in extreme anxiety, sweating/freezing, nauseous etc. I have withdrawn from Opioids and Alcohol also. Withdrawal from Gabapentinoids has features of both. Restless Legs/Akathisia is a pretty prominent symptom also. The syndrome is not as severe as Alcohol, yet it's still a very bad time.

There is evidence of at least some kind of correlation between Opioids and Gabapentinoids. For instance, it's been demonstrated that both current and former Opioid users have a greater attraction to Gabapentinoids than those without that history. Most people I talk to who really love Gabapentinoids also have or had some kind of realtionship with Opioids. Again, I'm not really sure of the specifics of all of this, these are just observations. I will make the further point that as seemingly mild drugs, Gabapentinoids have an uncanny ability to mitigate symptoms of Opioid withdrawal.
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Interesting. Have you noticed that Gabapentin seems to have features of pot as well?
 
^^ Pot's safer though and . .

It's all so very true, especially with the potency and dosage of it as a prescription drug as well. I took opioids and now I have to try to take gabapentin for relief instead. I suppose we wouldn't be taking

them if they weren't working in the first place.

I break up the prescription doses and always take less of the dosage. And I definitely do not take gabapentin everyday or would even want to.

But that being said, I am just thankful that I have it in case I do need it. And I always do seem to think I am going to need it. Because I still do.

However, it does make me really foggy and gives me memory loss like mini black outs or it seems like it. So yes I agree it

does definitely cause some types of effects.

And yes, I also do feel that the less that I take or even have to, the safer I feel not having to take this as a crutch from the opioid use anymore.


But it still works a little bit somehow. And I wouldn't even know that gabapentin existed or what it even was, if it weren't for opioids.

I definitely don't want to ruin my life with it everyday on a continual basis. I don't need it that bad . . . but I still go and take it when I still need that little boost of help.

I definitely do not want to go through withdrawals from whatever or even want to bother taking gabapentin everyday. And yes, I am sure there are much better things in life. lol. (?)

It's not the greatest thing either but it sure does help randomly and with as little use as possible. But it helps somehow. It just helps.

I was told by a doctor that it is not addictive. BUT I WILL definitely be making sure that it WON'T be NOW.

It is so easy to get it prescribed and I will be requesting Pregabalin next. But for now I have the gabapentin for basic needs right now. I always want one around just in case. It's definitely a crutch for me, yeah. And is still helping.

Sometimes when I take too much I feel like flushing it all down the drain or dumping it in the garbage. So I am very careful with it now to only use it if I need it and in small amounts.

But, yes I wouldn't even bother knowing about gabapentin if I didn't know about opioids first. Too many dirty side effects from gabapentin for me and just a little relief for the benefits to really matter. And my conclusion of the stuff. Aspirin is bad for the liver too and gabapentin seems a little less harsh compared to that. Ha.

It's okay. I'm glad that gabapentin is around as an option too, but I won't be harming myself with it too much anymore so to speak. ?! And I am actually hoping that it can and will be safe to use when I do use dosage of anything from now on. Aspirin causes blood thinning and can even cause vision damage from excessive use.

It's not clean and pure and as potent as a better quality substance is.
 
kiely said:
^^ Pot's safer though and . .

It's all so very true, especially with the potency and dosage of it as a prescription drug as well. I took opioids and now I have to try to take gabapentin for relief instead. I suppose we wouldn't be taking

them if they weren't working in the first place.

I break up the prescription doses and always take less of the dosage. And I definitely do not take gabapentin everyday or would even want to.

But that being said, I am just thankful that I have it in case I do need it. And I always do seem to think I am going to need it. Because I still do.

However, it does make me really foggy and gives me memory loss like mini black outs or it seems like it. So yes I agree it

does definitely cause some types of effects.

And yes, I also do feel that the less that I take or even have to, the safer I feel not having to take this as a crutch from the opioid use anymore.


But it still works a little bit somehow. And I wouldn't even know that gabapentin existed or what it even was, if it weren't for opioids.

I definitely don't want to ruin my life with it everyday on a continual basis. I don't need it that bad . . . but I still go and take it when I still need that little boost of help.

I definitely do not want to go through withdrawals from whatever or even want to bother taking gabapentin everyday. And yes, I am sure there are much better things in life. lol. (?)

It's not the greatest thing either but it sure does help randomly and with as little use as possible. But it helps somehow. It just helps.

I was told by a doctor that it is not addictive. BUT I WILL definitely be making sure that it WON'T be NOW.

It is so easy to get it prescribed and I will be requesting Pregabalin next. But for now I have the gabapentin for basic needs right now. I always want one around just in case. It's definitely a crutch for me, yeah. And is still helping.

Sometimes when I take too much I feel like flushing it all down the drain or dumping it in the garbage. So I am very careful with it now to only use it if I need it and in small amounts.

But, yes I wouldn't even bother knowing about gabapentin if I didn't know about opioids first. Too many dirty side effects from gabapentin for me and just a little relief for the benefits to really matter. And my conclusion of the stuff. Aspirin is bad for the liver too and gabapentin seems a little less harsh compared to that. Ha.

It's okay. I'm glad that gabapentin is around as an option too, but I won't be harming myself with it too much anymore so to speak. ?! And I am actually hoping that it can and will be safe to use when I do use dosage of anything from now on. Aspirin causes blood thinning and can even cause vision damage from excessive use.

It's not clean and pure and as potent as a better quality substance is.
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"^ Pot's safer though and . ." Agreed.
Agree completely with your entire post, actually.
 
Sorry you got such negative reactions. Im sure you follow by now. But I can appreciate that it must have sucked to put it off so long, only to find it was easy for ya.
 
Ive been on it 2400mgs for 5 years and read the same stories and when Ive run out early a couple times from being stupid I went 6 days without it once and like you was still waiting for the hard withdrawal to come but it still hadn't by that point. There were some annoying effects though but nothing like opiate withdrawal at all and I could still sleep as well.
 
My gabapentin withdrawal was similar to a very light opiate withdrawal, except I could sleep better and the restlessness wasn't quite as bad. I would also get strange intermittent fears similar to panic attacks. The weirdest thing was I couldn't sit in my room with the door closed without feeling like the walls were closing in on me. A feeling similar to suffocating.
 
Gabapentin is weird.
After 2 months of using it daily, I ran out once & definitely had significant withdrawals for days. My entire body hurt, similar to an opioid withdrawal. And I had trouble finding pleasure in doing absolutely anything. I couldn't stop thinking about how I needed just a little gabapentin to make it stop.

Eventually I got on gabapentin & was on it for 2 years now. I recently stopped it for about a week and a half, due to a colonscopy I had & because something I was eating or taking was giving me hives on the inside of my stomach, which I thought it could be the gabapentin.

And strangely during that week I had no real withdrawals from it. If I did, it was slight & easy to forget just by smoking a lot of cannabis.
So I don't think people are intentionally trying to mislead people or spread false information. I think people just react differently & gabapentin's mechanisms of action aren't 'even fully understood yet if I remember correctly. Just that it's similar to other gaba agonists like pregablin, baclofen, etc.. It's obviously capable of producing withdrawal some times & not other times.... in one single individual regardless of length on it (as was my experience).

But why that happens, I doubt anyone could even answer that yet if the scientists can't even say exactly how gabapentin works yet.
 
somnilicious said:
My gabapentin withdrawal was similar to a very light opiate withdrawal, except I could sleep better and the restlessness wasn't quite as bad. I would also get strange intermittent fears similar to panic attacks. The weirdest thing was I couldn't sit in my room with the door closed without feeling like the walls were closing in on me. A feeling similar to suffocating.
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My anxiety was off the charts during gabapentin withdrawal once too. Got stricken every now & then with those waves of terror & existential dread. Awful.
 
MuertaMan said:
Ive been on it 2400mgs for 5 years and read the same stories and when Ive run out early a couple times from being stupid I went 6 days without it once and like you was still waiting for the hard withdrawal to come but it still hadn't by that point. There were some annoying effects though but nothing like opiate withdrawal at all and I could still sleep as well.
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Om gawd i would be dying. Amazing
 
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