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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic

Why do I get psychotic when trying to jump off of gabapentin

sonicwhite

sonicwhite

Bluelighter
Joined
Aug 8, 2012
Messages
2,433
I would say it's psychotic but I'm aware of everything around me. Not like my psychosis I had where I lost all touch....I can understand thebad dreams but I do not know whay I feel like I'm going to lose it at any moment when I start to reduce the gabapentin or even run out. I have the normal withdrawal symptom's like hot and cold flashes and nightmares and anxiety and insomnia. But feeling like your on the edge and about to lose it is the reason I stay on the drug. It isn't a AP so what difference should it make if I go off of it. I know benzo W/D can cause psychosis but I am having the hardest time with the gabapentin.
 
sonicwhite said:
I would say it's psychotic but I'm aware of everything around me. Not like my psychosis I had where I lost all touch....I can understand thebad dreams but I do not know whay I feel like I'm going to lose it at any moment when I start to reduce the gabapentin or even run out. I have the normal withdrawal symptom's like hot and cold flashes and nightmares and anxiety and insomnia. But feeling like your on the edge and about to lose it is the reason I stay on the drug. It isn't a AP so what difference should it make if I go off of it. I know benzo W/D can cause psychosis but I am having the hardest time with the gabapentin.
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is this from your prescribed dose?
 
This isn't psychosis...sounds like anxiety/agitation to me.

*edit* I was just reading some of your other posts/blogs and I'm wondering, what are your diagnoses exactly?
 
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missmeyet? said:
This isn't psychosis...sounds like anxiety/agitation to me.
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I agree, doesn't sound like psychosis. But to be fair to him, we're not looking at him face-to-face asking him all the important questions.

This reason is probably one of the ones why we can't offer you medical advice, m8. Having been psychotic in my life, I can tell you it's no good.. To you or the ones around you. But being aware of it is a good step to be taking. That's if you're psychotic at all, of course
 
its common to feel all sorts of negative ways when decreasing a drug or stopping, including gabapentin (Neurontin). I was and still am prescribed it for anxiety; 800mg 3x/daily. A few years back I lost insurance coverage and could not afford #90 pills at the pharmacy , it is ridicolusly expensive. Anyway my equilibrium was thrown off balance big time, my thought and feelings were very irrational, one day I almost walked out of work because of a small argument with an employee, I wanted to run out and quit, and start crying. Certainly wasn't pretty experience at all, I would cry thinking about my girlfriend, or even just girls I had feelings for. any Psychoactive drug can have horrible withdrawl effects when decreased or stopped. Even SSRI's give horrible WD's. my psychiatrist had me on paxil for 6 months and I wanted to get off of it cause I felt like a zombie, and constantly felt like I had ants in my pants, and squirmy, so he D/C my Paxil (discontinued). I was on 20mg and did not taper me, for 2 weeks straight my emotions and thoughts were wayyy off wack, I had frequent dizzy spells and drowsy (in a bad way)..what your going through my friend is completely normal, welcome to the dark side of drugs. (you can check out the "Dark Side Forum" here on BL, for that kind of stuff, with lots of support. I wish you best of luck
 
I started to write an entire post about Benzo withdraw and then read the rest of your post. Anytime you withdraw from something that is acting on the gaba system, your brain needs time to rebuild the gaba receptors. Depending on how long you have been on the drug, it can take months or longer to get off without severe withdraw symptoms. Most people have no idea of what the gaba system does. WHat you are describing is exactly the same as a benzo withdraw. It can be a frightening and dangerous situation. Do not underestimate what you are feeling, but do realize that they are only side effects of the withdraw.

Let me ask you a weird question. Are you having any sense of the afterlife? A fear that something horrible is about to happen? A sense that you can see death? I know they are weird questions, but a vision of the afterlife is very common in benzo withdraw. No one really knows why. Although no one would generally advocate alcohol as a coping tool, it can help, in small doses with the severe withdraw.
 
I have a psychotic disorder but they do not know which one. OCD major depression Insomniaand one more I think oh ADHD. So I take 600 mg's three times a day.....For I guess mood. I made the mistake when I went IP to go on it again because they dropped my klonopin and I wanted something for the withdrawals that doc's just seem to ignore.... Now back in 2010 I wanted off of it and that was it. I stopped cold trukey and I rememeber at first hearing sirens, then diesel engines and helicoptor's. I was there and I knew where I was and I knew I was just going thru withdrawals. But, It seemes like it was getting worse until my doc called since I didn't show up and said we need to see you to get this fixed.......I had the worst nightmares and I understand that.....And I have been thru a massive methinduced psychosis which lasted seven month's. So What I'm confused at is this. Was it covering up my psychosis or was it just withdrawals. Because I haven't know since 08 what it's like to be off of psych med's and the only reason I went in to see the pdoc was because I was hearing voices.....Thats all. I didn't know getting on a AP would cause anxiety and then I have to be on a SSRI for anxiety and the list goes on from there to why I am on so many dang drugs. I only seem to get these psychotic features when I'm either withdrawing from gabapentin or klonopin. The rest I just get very sick and alot of hot flashes and stuff of that nature.
 
I do have a fear of something bad happening but I don't recall ever feeling like I could see my afterlife.
 
Ok I'd like to point out that thinking you can see death and "visions" and, to a much lesser degree, the afterlife... That stuff sounds potentially psychotic. I used to believe in magic, legit. Like wayyy before I had a psychotic break bad enough to send me to the hospital. If you think things like this, you need to talk to a doctor.

And you really need to talk to a doctor anyway, because you're having multiple symptoms of withdrawals.

And don't start drinking.. That's just bad advice in a case like this. You need to address the problem, not cover it up.

P.S. that's a good sign op, but to the other guy, I hope you don't have "visons" and stuff. Those are hallucinations and are not real.

Still, you need to seek help. Not from a hospital because, OP, you're rather coherent and making perfect sense to me, but maybe set an appointment up, or if you get too scared something's going to happen, to an urgent care facility.
 
Good, maybe that's a sign that gabapentin will be easier to withdraw from than benzos.

I am not nuts, I assure you...and I don't think that technically I was ever psychotic.

It's the gaba system...drugs that act on gaba are incredibly hard to withdraw from. The reason you are hearing sirens is that a normal person has plenty of gaba to protect them from sounds they heard 3 days ago. You don't...so you will hear everything over and over, without any protections. I used to hear the train all the time, commercials on TV over and over, all of it together. You'll hear you heartbeat, your stomach digesting and it can sound like a washing machine in your gut. Tinnitus is a common side effect. A small gas bubble in your stomach can feel like a knife. Light and sounds will annoy the crap out of you. Social withdraw is not uncommon. All of your senses are affected by gaba and they are generally heightened when you withdraw just like when someone takes a hallucinogenic. When I unexpectedly withdrew from a benzo, it got so bad that all food smelled and tested like chemicals. When smell and taste are altered, things are getting bad.

Unfortunately there is very little help out there for this sort of withdraw as it is not something that can be done super fast, as your brain needs time to adapt. IMO, you have to come up with a tapering program that you can do yourself. As I recall though gabapentin is a capsule, not a pill. You'll have to get your Dr. to give you a smaller capsule so that you can start to taper it slowly. I am not sure about how dangerous it is to withdraw cold turkey. With a benzo, it is dangerous...one can do damage if the withdraw is severe enough. Heart Attack is a side effect.

There is almost no information out there for withdrawing from gabapentin, but there is a ton of info on withdrawing from benzos. I would direct you to the wikipedia article on benzo withdraw syndrome. It is very detailed and well written. One citation is a guide to withdrawing with schedules for tapering written by a Dr, C Heather Ashton. She is a Neuro-Psychiatrist in England. She ran a clinic in the 80's for benzo withdraw and is considered the subject matter expert in the World. Her work is awesome and saved my life. You can do this yourself, with the right motivation and tools. A good Dr. that will give you smaller dose pills so you can systematically taper is ideal...meaning if you take 100mg, ask your Dr. for 10 - 10mg pills so you can take 9 for a couple days and then 8 etc..

One warning. If you go to a Dr. DO NOT let them talk you into taking valium or ativan to help you though it. If you are having a seizure, fine take the ativan, but the only way through this is to get through the symptoms while tapering so that your brain can naturally rebuild the receptors that were destroyed by taking the drug. You will recover.
 
Dude stop giving him medical advice. You don't even know him, or what's best for him. A doctor couldn't even assess all that without seeing him in person.

Not only that, it's against the rules.
 
Hey Alt, I am pointing him to legit resources. I am not giving medical advice, I am trying to explain why he is having certain symptoms that seem to be freaking him out. When I was losing it, just knowing that my symptoms had a simple explanation was very helpful. He is already trying to self withdraw, which is obviously dangerous. How is my telling him to go to his Dr. to discuss dosing, dangerous?
 
But, for the sake of not arguing and I would really like to hear someone else's experience that is alot like mine because my fear is....I'm going to go thru another massive psychosis if and when we start to taper down all my med's. I have gain sixty pounds since 08....I'm on a lot of med's that I do not believe I should be on including the rital. It's funny when I first went in to get something for my voices...Risperdal two months after Pure O hit and then a AD to help depression and obsessive thought's. Then I needed something for the anxiety so they gave me gabapentin which didn't even phase it so I went out on the streets and bought xanax just to cope....What got me addicted to gabapentin was it was so great with the withdrawals of benzo's. After that came uping the risperal and thenI had surgery and got like three months worth the hydrocodone and I lost alot of weight and the withdrawals only lasted a week.....Then I see a new doc and he say's yes to klonopin. So I am on zoloft, klonopin, gabapentin, luvox, and a whole lot of med's we have shuffled in and out. Mainly AP's. But here I am today. Depressed because of my weight gain....And really examining, do I need all these med's?......
 
Maybe Alt is right. I think you should talk to your Dr. about a withdraw plan and make sure he/she agree it is a good idea. In my experience, most Drs are quite happy to help you get off of something, but you must understand that your system is so altered by the drugs at this point, any change can be very dangerous so self withdraw is not a good idea. I have struggled with weight too at times and I know how depressing it can be, sometimes it seems like this is the most important thing. Try to keep in mind that weight is a small thing when compared to your mental health. There is always time to get healthy physically and once you do get moving in a positive direction, you will feel much better and the weight will start to come off...so please, call your Dr. today and discuss your issues.
 
missmeyet? said:
This isn't psychosis...sounds like anxiety/agitation to me.

*edit* I was just reading some of your other posts/blogs and I'm wondering, what are your diagnoses exactly?
Click to expand...

Exactly.

Rebound glutamate transmission is causing CNS excitation and anxiety.
 
It feels worse then a benzo except xanax.....First my skin feels like it's on fire....Then I start to get racing thoughts and sometimes I just wished I could die.....The nightmares are beyond scary. They leave me paralyzed for most the day if I don't have my klonopin. Then I just seem to zombify and I am disabled on all parts. I get very angry as people try to help me. My day's feel like months. The sirens over and over and if I hear a song that reminds me of this withdrawal since I have done it so many times. That gets stuck in my head and I feel this eerie feeling.Why in the heck do they prescribe this. I will admit it is a fun drug to abuse but it's not worth doing that if you run out early and have to go thru all these withdrawals.....I know that in the end I will be med free. My life was great before I just had voices and a little paranoia. But now it's seems like I'm sinking in quick sand and can't move.
 
sonicwhite, I know where you are...I've been there. Everything you are saying is part of the gaba withdraw. It is horrible, the drugs destroy the gaba receptors and your brain has likely stopped producing gaba naturally because of the artificial supply and it can't restart overnight..it needs time, but it will restart, I promise. Very slow, deliberate breathing helped me to relax through a panic attack. Please call a doctor. I know what you mean about feeling that you can't move. You can and you must though and you'll feel better if you do. Go for a walk, go to the store, anything. When I was going though what you are, I felt as though I couldn't get anyone to pay attention. I finally ended up shaking uncontrollably...I looked like I had Parkinson's. The folks at the ER were afraid of me. LOL They kept backing away. They finally pumped me full of Ativan, which worked short term, but in retrospect just fed the addiction. No need for you to get to this point, call someone. I wish I could help.
 
Oh yeah, the agitation, irritability, tinnitus (ringing in the ears) is classic gaba/benzo withdraw. I also sense that you are frustrated that no one has put their finger on exactly what your issue is, no one understands your exact situation. If so, this is part of the withdraw. I felt exactly the same way. Stop worrying about that and call a doctor now.
 
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