Gabapentin withdrawals were serious. Seizures, akathisia , suicidal driven thoughts, off the chain anxiety, couldn't take a bath or brush my teeth, emotional dysregulation the only emotion was anger and rage even if something was funny. Body temp problems, staring off into space with d/p in bed for days, going blind and deaf. At one point my brain was completely blank with no thought whatsoever if you want to committe sucide you have to have a "thought" you have to be able to make a body part move to make it happen. I only laid like in some condition like a coma with the only sensation was intense pain of boiling blood and muscle aches. I was going into respiratory shut down and my dog pounced on my chest to make me breath. I shot up looking like a zombie in a commercial with air hunger. gab drove my chronic pain up in intensity /mass a duration full body pain. I had speech problems I could think what to say but the words wouldn't come out right. Chronic fatigue and basically bedridden for probably a year. Doctors kept telling me gabapentin was not the problem and it was a safe medication. The speech was a progress issue going from full sentences, shorter sentences , One word answers and avoiding conversation to non verbal. Or the opposite my mouth was not attached to my brain and things came flying out I would never say in a million years. Noise and light sensitivity. Cognitive decline I couldn't write a note, read mail, make my arm work well enough to brush my hair or button a shirt or cook I had to cook frozen French fries because it was only two steps even they got burnt often. auditory hallucinations, psychosis like I was on a bad acid trip that I couldn't come out of. Some weird self awareness was out the window I couldn't help myself. Freaking out with the touch of water. All of this for about two weeks or so then I could stabilized and be fairly functional. Then tell myself get ready to gain 10 pounds have another nervous break down and do it all again. Insomnia for 3 or 4 days straight. I tried to jump at 200mg and said I am done after a year and a half of this and loosing everything under the sun. The next day I got a wake up call with Seizures and and all the crap again. I had to go back and beg for more medications. I had to hack that taper down to .25mg and still suffered for two weeks after that drop. Gabapentin GABA/ glutamate regulation is unstable. Anything is possible ... from no withdrawal to rocking worse than any Benzo, heroin or suboxone and longer as well.. everyone's story is the truth because their are so many variables to this drug. I am not the only one that has suffered this bad either. My muscle are weak, my balance sux I have 4 cadaver tendons in my knee from rupturing my quad twice because Gabapentin kept making me loose my balance and fall.
Seems to be high dosage/long term users that I have talked to that match my experience. Poly-drugged with Benzodiazepine or a opiate. Pls don't discount this withdrawal it is very real for a subset of people.
My last dosage of Gabapentin was February 9th 2017. I have to reteach myself simple tasks all over again one thing at a time. When I try to tackle the task I have to be ready for emotional disregulation, anxiety, depersonalization speech problems from stress. Once I master the task those symptoms all dissipate until I am strong enough to do it again with the next task. I have to keep exposing myself to emotions laughter for example until the anger feeling goes away and I am either flat emotionally or perhaps feel some laughter if something was belly laugh worthy. I will take flat over raging anger for everything under the sun. I am struggling but, i am healing at a fairly fast rate depending on how much I work on it and what I want to work on for the week. Emotions, cognitive, moving my body parts or muscles takes some power thoughts. But, once I got it... I got it! Good days bad days but progressively moving with bigger windows.
Doctors would never attribute my side affects to gabapentin Just keep adding medication and adding new medical conditions to the tune of 22 pills a day. This crap is so unstable in it's GABA/glutamate regulation it runs under the radar unless you or a Doctor is on top of it. 2 years of tapering other meds. 1.5 years of tapering Gabapentin because after tapering off the others I trusted Gabapentin was safe. I was left with Gabapentin, high blood pressure and thyroid meds. Thats when I noticed Gabapentin was the problem child. I am off Gabapentin now all other mental physical and emotional health health issues are going bye-bye This is my story, this is my truth. I know many others who have or are suffering with this withdrawal syndrome. I know I am a extreme case but, this is what this medication can do to someone with no family or care giver to help support to notice taken long term high dosages.
Gabapentin also ran my BP up to 5 different medications and still controllable. Now I have dropped 3 HBP meds. I am now at 2HBP meds And Synthroid that's it! My pain is manageable with normal self care. Geez
