Man, please don't take my experience as a guide, but you can use it for reference. I really don't believe that gabapentin/pregabalin work in the same way, as in I think that if you are abstaining from a benzodiazepine dependence, then the gabapentin is not going to prolong your withdrawal or set you back to where you were when you started. This opinion is not based on literature, research or anything like that, just what I've experienced.
I have been dependent on alcohol for relatively short periods a few times in my life and as we all know, benzodiazepines and ethanol share some very similar qualities. When I stopped from my 1 liter a day liquor habit and went into withdrawal, the only thing I could find in my medicine cabinet was some old gabapentin, a full bottle, I had thought it was shit previously but thought I would give it a shot at a very high dose. I really did not give a fuck at that point.
So, I ended up taking about 6g (this is a very high dose readers, do not emulate without experience). Within a couple of hours, I felt this little "twinge" of normalcy. I was less shaky, less suicidal and less uncomfortable in general. Point being, the shit worked. I took the gabapentin at high-doses for the first 3 days of my withdrawal and combined with cannabis, it was the easiest alcohol withdrawal I had ever had. By the end of day 3, my gabapentin tolerance was already very high and the drug was becoming less and less effective, but by then, I was through the tough part. I just had to deal with some residual anxiety, shakes, depression for a couple more days, but nothing too intense.
The gabapentin was a life-saver for me. During alcohol withdrawals in the past, I get so bad that I seriously consider suicide just to make it all stop. They were some of the scariest, horrifying and intense experiences of my life. In conclusion, I believe that gabapentin is a great aide in dealing with alcohol withdrawal; and opiate withdrawal for that matter. For the record, I'm sure pregabalin (Lyrica) would be just as effective as gabapentin and maybe even stronger.
I hope this helps man, but this is just my experience. I'm not claiming to have all of the answers, but this definitely did work for me. I hope it works for you too, as alcohol withdrawal is sheer hell. Good luck.
