Gabapentin withdrawal

[Gorillaboy21]

Okay I might be an idiot but I thought this was a semi harmless drug... of course there's no free lunch in nature you pay to play, but I took gabapentin daily for a year almost but spreading small doses out never went over 1200 mgs a day and those were rare anyways usually 300-600 a day . Anyways I quit that cold turkey and holy shit ... I'm an opiate addict and benzo addict on top of that ... so now it's day 5 no gabapentin I have to use almost double the opiates and benzos to feel even barely normal I still can't eat nor can I sleep for more than a few hours straight even with Xanax and slamming right after.
Question how long does this last and has anyone experienced this? Thank you guys

 

[Jekyl Anhydride]

Yeah I've been eating GP like candy and this thread has made me a bit concerned..http://www.bluelight.org/vb/threads/448441-Gabapentin-withdrawal-any-advice

 

[Gorillaboy21]

Yeah man no idea how bad it was everyone has been mislead it seems, but in reality it's hard to believe you can take anything pharmaceutical strength daily , quit abruptly and not have withdrawals is damn near impossible to avoid . It's day 8 , the beginning of day 8 it's 1 am I feel way better than day 4-5 I actually ate a burger some fries and some chocolate Nutella spread on toast which is rare during any withdrawals .

I've learned my lesson, don't try taper off of opiates with anything it doesn't work you'll end up addicted to that drug too because a taper takes too long. Use them only for acute short fast detox. Now it starts today with the quitting of the benzos one at a time! My achillies heel is opiates though. That's the hardest to quit for me.

I'm a poly addict 4 drugs I must have to function, shit even 5.
Heroin IV .4 a day minimum no matter what
1-2 mg Xanax or equ. 10-20 mgs Valium
Gabapentin 600-1500 mgs+ a day spread out
Weed, weed, and did I say weed? (Since I was 15 every day I'm 23 can't sleep without it even with heroin and benzos same with eating )
And grand ol' coffee .
I'm trying to cut these 5 down so far gaba down somewhat , now benzos and than pot if I can and than fuckin opiates the devil

 

[Gorillaboy21]

Quick update it's day 11 I'm not really counting I actually had to check on this post to remember what day I quit.
Today is officially the first night I slept completely normally , I ate normally I have an appetite , I did throw up randomly once at night but I think that was more related to the shit food I ate before going to bed.

I just wanted to post this so people have a reference to gabapentin withdrawals. I couldn't really find a clear answer on the internet when I planned to quit , and a lot of doctors apparently say no withdrawal so I had no reference to how bad or how long it'll be.

It's rather safe to say it takes 1-2+ weeks cold turkey completely of course different for every person , but ya seems like a 1.5-2 week withdrawal drug . I don't have cravings taking it I just keep reminding myself of day 4 when I was absolutely feeling like I was gonna die the terror waves and puking bile and foam cause there's nothing in my stomach can't even hit my weed pipe from nausea couldn't take Xanax to make it feel better cause I'd throw up even 5 ml of water if I drank a sip . So fuck that I'm happy at day 11 .

I can tell that if I kept using bigger doses and longer period that I would have serious long term effects after withdrawal , one thing that's lingering is a sort of derealization feeling at times but that feeling was stronger day 7-8 and than each day i felt that feeling less and less . I'd say I feel it like 15% compared to day 7 so I feel like in terms of withdrawal symptoms that's the only thing that I still feel , and maybe slightly not as hungry as I should be , but again 15% of what it was 4 days ago. I guess 2 weeks cold turkey is what you can look forward to if you're gonna quit and it's dangerous I didn't know seizures and shit could happen I took smal doses of Valium when I was able to swallow the pills to help. First week is hell second week is like a second level of withdrawals you enter that are weaker but persistent like a mother fucker. Im used to quitting opiates so in my mind on day 4-5 I feel relatively fine like meaning by day 7 I'm pretty much normal if I have weed especially I'm chillin so mentally when it's day 11 and you still feel wd my mind starts feeling confused like did I sleep swallow gaba and restarted my withdrawals? I swear I've thought of that ...

Also on a final note, I now understand the suicidal thoughts people discuss in benzo withdrawals and SSRIs , not that I did have them but it was so horrible at one point 3 am shaking uncontrollably gagging on bile and foam diarrhea just horrible horrible you wish it could go away so bad I can see how maybe someone mentally ill or weak willed like in a bad time in their life at a weak point they can cave in if they never get help idk I guess I just wanted to post this I know it's long but when I wanted a clear answer or example could barely find any even on the gaba megatheead it's not very clear

 

[Relapz]

Isn't that shit bizzare? I actually spoke to the director of a rehab about this because everyone there was prescribed 900 mg of gabapentin a day for 28 days plus 5 days of detox, and when I left and stopped I felt like absolute shit for 7 days. Gabapentin withdrawals are real and it seems people don't really even know it's a thing. The director basically laughed in my face but I tried to help those to come after me.

 

[knightworrier]

First I swapped from Pregab to Gabapentin which was hard enough now on a very small dose of Gabapentin and still hard to drop (Pain is a big problem in my case) Good luck just do it slow like everything else.

 

[Jekyl Anhydride]

I was absolutely feeling like I was gonna die the terror waves and puking bile and foam cause there's nothing in my stomach can't even hit my weed pipe from nausea couldn't take Xanax to make it feel better cause I'd throw up even 5 ml of water if I drank a sip .

Lord I'm screwed. I was getting annoyed that at 3-4 grams a day I was not able to enjoy premium cannabis like I usually do but with this w/d to look forward to I best get started dropping now.

 

[Gorillaboy21]

Fuck I have a speech in my university today and I thought I was in the clear , I rolled a blunt and was about to light it out of no where I got nauseas as hell and threw up just a small amount of Gatorade I drank and water I also had diahreaa wave out of no where but it wasn't even close to as bad as it was , after I puked I immediately felt actually kinda good/better same with going #2 usually the first week and a half if I puked I would stay nauseas even if there wasn't anything to throw up once the reflux was activated that it but not today I guess I'm getting better , but I thought I was in the clear in terms of puking ...

Sigh* well I hope this can help someone at least. And jekyl I feel for you, let me know how you're doing with your taper I'm here to help anyone who's confused cause I was and still am but I want to record these experiences for a clear perspective from at least 1 person going through gaba withdrawals.

Weed has been a god send for sure , I'm not gonna lie I had zofran and it didn't do shit. I took super chemo cancer doses like 20 mgs and still puked like there's no blocking it you just gotta do it and go with the flow as best as possible. In fact the zofran made it worse cause you'd be gagging feeling nauseas but can't get it out cause you took so much zofran but you feel it on the edge of your throats ready to go just gagging but not puking that was even worse to be honest . Best hope is to puke, and smoke after when you're back to lying down shaking under the covers .

I'm now starting benzo taper and than my quitting opiates (IV h .5 a day blk tar) one drug at a time , somehow still going to school during all this shit... gonna use spring break to detox I guess . Today I'm gonna take benzos before the speech not risking puking or anything at school ...

 

[Jekyl Anhydride]

I'm glad you shared that as I went through a couple days of Gaba w/d's and didn't even know it till I read this thread. I was having an upset stomach and stopped taking GP for a couple days and had the exact same symptoms you described. I also took zofran with no effect. I rationalized that it must have been from stopping .5 mg of xanax but it didn't make any sense, till now. Boy do I have a ride ahead of me. Glad your coming out the other side of this mess GB.

 

[Gorillaboy21]

Thank you jekyl.
Quick update it's day 13? One thing I'm starting to realize is that gaba fucks with your digestion and your Gastrointestinal tract bad . I thought I was in the clear so I started eating more and more than usual yesterday , I did my speech fine I took 2.5 mgs Xanax lol . But this morning at 4 am my stomach was rumbling again aching like usual gaba withdrawal and I shit so much I still wonder where it's coming from cause I already emptied everything the first week stopping, I haven't eaten that much food lol since to shit the amount I did but anyways I had two of those waves one at 4 am and one at 6 am and now I feel fine .

I'm having a feeling there's lasting GI damage cause when I eat the next day it's always bubbling stomach sounds I've literally heard my stomach making a weird squirting sound and felt liquid moving by the tin down to shoot out literally weird audible loud noises that you could hear 10 feet away . It's not that bad now , after almost what's 2 weeks now every time I eat the next morning early morning I wake up with stomach ache not too bad though, and I fart a loooottt very loud and hardcore and they hurt but than feel so good when they come out. (sorry for being descriptive we want a real clear understanding right?) So it seems like now when I eat I better choose wisely and how much I wanna eat cause its always being processed weirdly in my stomach... at least for now I hope.

Another new change is being able to tolerate the cold outside better . I went to my car to drive to gas station near my house to get a lighter at 5 am so I could fuckin light my goddamn weed I couldn't light it at all wondering around the house being loud looking for matches or anything.

Anyways usually I can't leave the house that early unless I get well on my opiates first which I almost never do until 8 am when my dude opens so every morning I wake up I'm 12-14 hours from my last shot so I'm sick and cold and always shiver like a maniac massive none stop full body up and down goosebumps walking to my car and it's hell. And mind you I live in Los Angeles it doesn't get as cold as it did this week ever ... it was 35 degrees which might sound funny to you east coasters and Midwesteners that 35 isn't cold but for us it is and we're pussies in Southern California . Anyways I was able to go outside and barely even feel the cold I was layered up like I would normally even less , and everything felt more clear this morning the derealization is going away it feels kinda normal now.

Like when I said it was 15% yesterday it's like 5-7% today I feel almost 100% , which means I'm actually really feeling my blunts now when I smoke them before it was just smoke a blunt to feel okay for 30 minutes... that's horrible and a waste of money . I've had gaba 3 feet from me this whole time but I can't tell you even 1 time in those 13 days that I even had a thought of taking any it's not that kind of drug for me . Opiates are different no way I could control myself if I had opiates 3 feet away it wouldn't last a day but every other drug even benzos isn't an issue for me I don't understand why I guess I got that opiate addiction gene type :/

Anyways we'll see how this day goes, I feel fine right now typing I'm actually kinda high from the weed still haven't had any opiates today I will in about an hour or two , just lurkin and posting on bluelight ! I swear you guys are my rehab and AA meetings . Never been to rehab or any meetings and I'm a hardcore poly addict that's functional but I hate the way it's set up those meetings I feel a lot better when I post and lurk here so thank you guys for reading and being cool about everything.

I'll tell you if I puke today, it doesn't seem like it (nothing in there lol) anyways gonna make some tea and go pick up my sac . I'm glad I have a timeline for people to reference to even for my stupid ass self to remind me if I ever think I wanna take any again ...