Misc Gabapentin withdrawal help

[gabafucked]

Hi I will start off with yes I know this was fucking stupid, but I'm just really scared and need some reassurance and advice. I'm just hoping someone here has some experience with a case like this and a good outcome.

I'm well aware many people don't think that gabapentin has a withdrawal syndrome, but it absolutely does.

I'm sitting here far too early in the morning waiting for my gabapentin dose to hopefully take my anxiety away, and I just need someone to tell me I'll be okay and be able to fix this without a lot of pain. I've been taking gabapentin approximately 2 years I think, and lately Im getting what I can only assume is gabapentin withdrawal symptoms. I started with taking about 3600mg all at once in the morning (3000 on my three work days per week). I recently (within the last 6 months?) Started staggering it and I'm afraid this is where I've screwed myself. I now take 1.2g, another 1.2g, 600mg, 600mg with 30-40 minutes between doses. I'm now starting to wake up a few times a week 22 hours or soc after my last dose and a few hours before I should start dosing next with terrible anxiety. During these times everything feels hopeless and I just feel like I'm absolutely ruined. I can't live like that for weeks if my taper doesn't go well and I'm having constant withdrawal symptoms. I also believe I'm feeling some temperature fluctuations throughout the day. I start feeling better after about 2 hours after finishing all the pills. I'm so scared I've really fucked myself over and I don't know what to do. I'm afraid to start taking it multiple times a day to prevent interdose withdrawal and then taper from there as I'm afraid the smaller doses more frequently won't prevent withdrawal, or I'll just start having interdose withdrawals between those doses after my body gets used to it. I'm just sitting here at 6am waiting for the relief of my doses to come as this is one of those anxiety mornings. Does anyone have experience with a situation like this or any advice? Thank you

I quit gabapentin once before, and there was some anxiety, but I don't remember it being this bad. At that time I think I was taking the same dose as now but without staggering. I never got these symptoms then either I would take it once a morning and be totally fine.

I know this is a lot and probably noone here has experience with a similar case, but I'm desperate to stop having these early morning panic attacks. Thank you for anyone that can contribute.

 

[gabafucked]

Well shit really hit the fan today and I just don't know what to do. I started having intense anxiety and feelings of withdrawal about 8 hours after my dose yesterday. I woke up at about 1am feeling like dog shit and I just don't know what to do. I took 1.2g to hope for some relief and I'm waiting to see if it helps. I'm lying here in fear with a headache, nausea, and body discomfort/temperature fluctuations. I guess I can try taking 1.2g in the morning, 600 in the afternoon, and 1.2g at night, but I'm afraid that won't be enough and I'm just going to have constant withdrawal throughout the day. I'm only prescribed enough for 3g per day. I feel so hopeless and scared right now. I've also seen some people say that they started feeling this way while taking high dose kratom for a long time and I don't know if that is the actual cause or the gabapentin? Fuck me

 

[painfulstate]

You need to tapper over a period of one month because you had been taking this medication for a long time ..i had the same problem with Lyrica even though i was only taking this medicine for a month ..while you taper make sure you have a few things like vitamins magnesium and you can try and get passion flower tincture wich will help immensely since its also a gaba agonist but much more natural and with no shity side effects

 

[gabafucked]

You need to tapper over a period of one month because you had been taking this medication for a long time ..i had the same problem with Lyrica even though i was only taking this medicine for a month ..while you taper make sure you have a few things like vitamins magnesium and you can try and get passion flower tincture wich will help immensely since its also a gaba agonist but much more natural and with no shity side effects

I'm okay with tapering it I just need to figure out a way to dose it that will alleviate withdrawal. I took the 1.2g all at once earlier and while it did help some I still feel like garbage. I'm thinking I'll try 3x 600mg staggered every 30 minutes in the morning, 2x 300mg staggered in the afternoon, and 2x 600mg staggered in the evening. I'm hoping that will get rid of my withdrawal. I will have to quickly cut out 600mg however as I will be taking 600mg more than I am prescribed

 

[painfulstate]

Man you are gonna have to feel a bit of the withdrawal if you want to get off this medication ...just take a little bit less from your normal dose every day ..while tapering , get some supplements to help you with the edginess / feelings of withdrawal . If you dont want to get off this medication for x y reasons then ask your doctor to increase what he has prescribed or help you lower your dose.

 

[gabafucked]

Man you are gonna have to feel a bit of the withdrawal if you want to get off this medication ...just take a little bit less from your normal dose every day ..while tapering , get some supplements to help you with the edginess / feelings of withdrawal . If you dont want to get off this medication for x y reasons then ask your doctor to increase what he has prescribed or help you lower your dose.

I understand. The problem is my full dose isn't lasting very long anymore I was taking all of it only once a day in the morning, but now I'm having what I can only assume are interdose withdrawal and I gotta figure out the frequency and amount I can take each day to not have constant withdrawal, then taper it.

 

[painfulstate]

my full dose isn't lasting very long anymore

Of course, its not sustainable ...if i knew more about your condition maybe i could advise but i think you should ask your doctor ... give passion flower a try though when you feel like that ...its pretty legit for me ..or kava maybe?... Dont get benzos or pregabalin though because they are even worse than gabapentin. Passion flower, magnesium and cbd/cbn is what i would go for..

 

[ChemicallyEnhanced]

If the worst happens, can you go to hospital? 'Cause Gabapentin wd can be dangerous (seizures), not just unpleasant.
Or do you have a legit prescription for it that you can claim you "Lost"?

I find magnesium helps with muscle pain/aches/cramps, but it can give you diarrhoea so don't use it if you already get diarrhea with gaba wd.

 

[gabafucked]

If the worst happens, can you go to hospital? 'Cause Gabapentin wd can be dangerous (seizures), not just unpleasant.
Or do you have a legit prescription for it that you can claim you "Lost"?

I find magnesium helps with muscle pain/aches/cramps, but it can give you diarrhoea so don't use it if you already get diarrhea with gaba wd.

No no I'm not out of the script I have plenty. I recently started to develop panic and the feeling of withdrawal (you all know what I mean) a few hours before my next gabapentin dose. And now yesterday just like 8 hours after my dose. I've been taking only one very large dose PER DAY rather than multiple times per day, so I'm trying to figure out how to stop this feeling of withdrawal. Like how I should spread the gabapentin out through the day to not be withdrawaling especially since my body is used to such a large dose. I also take a lot of kratom every day and someone messaged me saying something similar happened to them, and the kratom was causing it. I have no idea what is wrong I just want to feel better, so I'm halving my kratom dose in hopes that that helps as well.

 

[gabafucked]

Of course, its not sustainable ...if i knew more about your condition maybe i could advise but i think you should ask your doctor ... give passion flower a try though when you feel like that ...its pretty legit for me ..or kava maybe?... Dont get benzos or pregabalin though because they are even worse than gabapentin. Passion flower, magnesium and cbd/cbn is what i would go for..

I use it for anxiety and moon stabilization it worked very well at the single dose for years. I got a CBD oil but then read it has 2-3mg THC per 50mg of CBD and that can easily add up and cause the THC to make my panic worse. I'm very interested in CBD CBN and CBG though it's hard to find somewhere reputable to buy an oil or tincture of

 

[ChemicallyEnhanced]

No no I'm not out of the script I have plenty. I recently started to develop panic and the feeling of withdrawal (you all know what I mean) a few hours before my next gabapentin dose. And now yesterday just like 8 hours after my dose. I've been taking only one very large dose PER DAY rather than multiple times per day, so I'm trying to figure out how to stop this feeling of withdrawal. Like how I should spread the gabapentin out through the day to not be withdrawaling especially since my body is used to such a large dose. I also take a lot of kratom every day and someone messaged me saying something similar happened to them, and the kratom was causing it. I have no idea what is wrong I just want to feel better, so I'm halving my kratom dose in hopes that that helps as well.

The more you take at a time the LESS actually is absorbed so splitting your dose up would result in MORE of it being in your system, not less.

 

[gabafucked]

The more you take at a time the LESS actually is absorbed so splitting your dose up would result in MORE of it being in your system, not less.

Well so I was staggering the dose into 4 separate doses 30-40 mins apart. I've taken 1.8g staggered this morning and I'm going to take either 600mg in the afternoon and 1.2g in the evening, or if I'm able to stretch it do 1.8g staggered morning and night. I also cut my normal kratom dose in half Incase that is the real cause. I feel OKAY so far but just a discomfort in my body that I associate with withdrawal and some anhedonia but no panic yet. I just hope I can maybe stabilize on these doses and get back to feeling normal.

 

[painfulstate]

Kratom may play a role in this ...check it out

 

[gabafucked]

Kratom may play a role in this ...check it out

I've had someone on reddit mention the same, but I can't find any good threads talking about it, or what to do about it.

 

[ChemicallyEnhanced]

Well so I was staggering the dose into 4 separate doses 30-40 mins apart. I've taken 1.8g staggered this morning and I'm going to take either 600mg in the afternoon and 1.2g in the evening, or if I'm able to stretch it do 1.8g staggered morning and night. I also cut my normal kratom dose in half Incase that is the real cause. I feel OKAY so far but just a discomfort in my body that I associate with withdrawal and some anhedonia but no panic yet. I just hope I can maybe stabilize on these doses and get back to feeling normal.

If you break down each of THOSE doses into 300mg every 20-30 minutes, you'll get a lot more out of them..like 25% more

 

[gabafucked]

If you break down each of THOSE doses into 300mg every 20-30 minutes, you'll get a lot more out of them..like 25% more

True I've though about that. Do you think that will contribute to tolerance increase though? Maybe I'll break the morning one down into 300mg and the evening just two 600mg doses. It is also a lot of time taken up and I'm not sure how long total you can have between first and last dose before it's not really helping the original dose anymore

 

[gabafucked]

Update I think I'm stabilizing! I've kept my gabapentin at 1.8g staggered in the morning and 1.2g staggered at night, so I'm already lower than my original 3.6g every morning. After measuring my kratom I believe I was taking between 8-10g 4-5 times per day. I've kept it at strictly 4 times per day and I'm experimenting with between 6-6.8g to find a dose that holds me long enough but isn't too much. Starting to get some hope that I can do this.

 

[xtcgrrrl]

I find magnesium helps with muscle pain/aches/cramps, but it can give you diarrhoea so don't use it if you already get diarrhea with gaba wd.

Don’t take magnesium and gabapentin together, just FYI:

GoodRx says magnesium can lower the effectiveness of gabapentin when taken at the same time. I also have this problem when I take my Famotidine (or any heartburn med) within 2 hours before or after my gabapentin. It’s been difficult for me to find a dosing schedule that works for me, as I also have GERD (which contributes to my anxiety) but it’s workable

 

[gabafucked]

Don’t take magnesium and gabapentin together, just FYI:

GoodRx says magnesium can lower the effectiveness of gabapentin when taken at the same time. I also have this problem when I take my Famotidine (or any heartburn med) within 2 hours before or after my gabapentin. It’s been difficult for me to find a dosing schedule that works for me, as I also have GERD (which contributes to my anxiety) but it’s workable

I've read that too. I even get nervous about taking it before bed and messing up my morning dose, but I'm sure that's just being paranoid

 

[ChemicallyEnhanced]

Don’t take magnesium and gabapentin together, just FYI:

GoodRx says magnesium can lower the effectiveness of gabapentin when taken at the same time. I also have this problem when I take my Famotidine (or any heartburn med) within 2 hours before or after my gabapentin. It’s been difficult for me to find a dosing schedule that works for me, as I also have GERD (which contributes to my anxiety) but it’s workable

Yeah, I only take the magnesium when my gabapentin runs out for that reason.