• Select Your Topic Then Scroll Down
    Alcohol Bupe Benzos
    Cocaine Heroin Opioids
    RCs Stimulants Misc
    Harm Reduction All Topics Gabapentinoids
    Tired of your habit? Struggling to cope?
    Want to regain control or get sober?
    Visit our Recovery Support Forums

Misc Gabapentin withdrawal: how long does this shit last?

Status
Not open for further replies.

Saucy

Bluelighter
Joined
Aug 20, 2009
Messages
324
I've been using gabapentin heavily for 4-5 months, but I wasn't expecting this upon discontinuation. I've been feeling like shit, no appetite, nausea, unpleasant tingling, and an odd sensation that I can only describe as the opposite of a chill that causes me to instantly break out in a cold sweat. I've taken several single days off the Gabas since I started using without significant problems, but I just crossed the two-full-day mark and am surprised by how noticable it is. How can they market this as a non-dependence-building drug??? And more importantly, how long is this shit going to last??
 
Gaba WD's, for me, were awful from day 2 to day 5. Insomnia, agitation, those brain zaps and hot flashes. Benzo's helped a bit, but didn't seem to hit the same receptors in the brain - so the WD's were just masked, not alleviated.

By then end of day 7, I felt a lot better.

Good luck to you! Gaba is a surprisingly addictive drug.
 
I am currently going through withdrawal from gabapentin as well. I have been tapering down real slow as well. i have been tapering for like half a year
 
how do you get wd from a drug that has no effects?

Noticeable effects have nothing to do with addiction and withdrawal. If you're regularly taking gabapentin, your brain downregulates the GABA receptors, just like it does when you're taking large doses of barbituates, benzos, or other drugs that act on the GABA system. When you quit taking gabapentin, you are left with a chemical imbalance and many of the symptoms you would expect to see in a benzo kick.
 
Because we're so disillusioned, we actually became addicted to a placebo pill!

Thats like when my friend tried Oxy and said to me "whats the big deal, that stuff doesn't do anything." I liked his reasoning - because he had no effects, he concluded no one else in the world had effects.
 
if you seriously get anything out of gabapentin i HIGHLY suggest you try lyrica.....if you can afford it.
 
dont tell him to try lyrica the withdrawls from that are 100x worse( i went into a catonic state)
 
catatonia from a schedule V medication? what does were you taking and how long?

can i just ask if anyone talking about wds here has done a taper? i think that would avoid a lot of misery.
 
gabapentine has no affinity to gaba receptor sites

I stand corrected. What is its agent of activity, then?

Edit: never mind, I UTFSE. Interesting stuff: it doesn't act upon GABA receptors, even though it was designed to, but has withdrawals which resemble those you'd expect from GABA drugs.
 
Last edited:
it acts via:
calcium channel voltage-dependent l type alpha subunit 1b
voltage dependent calcium channel subunit alpha2 - delta1
voltage dependent n type calcium channel subunit alpha 1B
adenosine a1
 
gabapentin has some pretty strong effects. While it is not as immediately "intoxicating" as lyrica a lot of people PREFER gabapentin once they find their right dosage and find that they have to stagger their pills to absorb correctly. I find it a lot smoother than lyrica (and it seems to be more well rounded and "hit more receptors") and probably better for managing mood disorders. But lyrica is definitely funner and much stronger. The dosages required for gabapentin are prohibitively high, and this in not only due to absorbtion problems. In the best case scenario of bioavailability gabapentin is about 1/4 as strong as lyrica.

and yes, im sorry, gabapentin withdrawals are a nightmare. Titration is KEY but it still is awful, and there aint nothing to relieve it:( For me it seems to last about two weeks, with a slight improvement after the first week. And yes, lyrica withdrawals are SO MUCH WORSE. This drug aint gonna be schedule 5 for long.....more and more nightmare withdrawal stories are tricklng in.....
 
i agree that gabapentin can be nice. however, you cant take it everyday and have it work. staggering pills is really inconvenient too. these are the main issues i see preventing it have a potential for anything besides breakthrough anxiety attacks. i mean if you cant even use it everyday what good is it? getting high periodically i suppose.

it seems to be like lyrica without the stimulation. i totally agree that its a more calming feeling whereas lyrica is like a wicked smooth stimulant that somehow doesnt have any side effects that stimulants do and can actually relieve anxiety, very strange.

i disagree with you on it being moved from V to IV though. look at SSRIs. they have HORRIBLE wds and they are not scheduled at all. tramadol isnt scheduled at all either. the only way something becomes scheduled is if the ABUSE potential becomes apparent. not the addiction potential. it is not a very abusable medication since you cant get rec effects taking it everyday. the addiction potential may arguably place it on a higher schedule but that aint gonna happen.

buprenorphine is another example. it was a C-V as well, they moved it up to prevent diversion because it is ABUSABLE.....they STILL deny it has significant wds and addiction potential. welcome to the USA, nikka.
 
during my experience gabapentin is an evil drug. It was also marketed to me as nontoxic and non-narcotic. I've been taking 600mg for spinal/pelvic pain for over a year. I dropped my dose from 600mg to 300mg overnight and entered what I could only describe as being a dirty acid trip mixed with benzo and opiate withdrawal. I literally had a week long panic attack, and anxiety, fear, suicidal thoughts, I fucking lost it. It made me question my sanity and almost commit suicide. Since then I have not ffucked with gaba doses except to drop my dose from 300-200, which was done over the course of 4 months. Still experienced depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, paranoia, crawling skin... ect.

I've been addicted to, and withdrawn from everything under the sun, but shit, I'd trade my gabapentin dependency for a classic heroin addiction any day. I'm not even joking.
 
I had two rounds with Gabapentin - excellent opiate withdrawal aid, terrible to stay long term on. Withdrawals were VERY much like benzo withdrawals. Round 1: 4mo 1200mg/day, stopped CT and suffered zero withdrawals. Round 2: 6mo 2400mg/day - 3wks of withdrawal. First week brain zaps, anxiety beyond belief, no sleep for about 6 days straight, just an overall strange out of body feeling, cold/hot flashes, temor, etc. 2nd week most symptoms still there but lessened. 3rd week - overall resolution of withdrawal.

To the folks that don't get an effect or don't get withdrawal -- consider yourselves lucky. Seems to really grab people differently.
 
2 - 6 days depending on metabolism.

It sucks, but just get some more neurontin. It's good for you.
 
Hi Im new to this site but wanted to ask what is the longest anyone has had withdrawal symptoms from gabapentin and oxycontin? My pain specialist has me on 90mg of oxy and 3200mg of gabapentin daily and although i still recieve the prescriptions i told my doctor to shove it afer 2 years as im sick of feeling the way i do. I feel like my whole nervous system has turned on me, my brain feels like it has electricity shooting through to every nerve in my whole body and i letterally think im having a mental breakdown but keep telling myself its the meds as its been 6 days since my last pills, ive only been taking temazapam and antihistamines at night or i wouldnt get any sleep, i was up three nights in a row. i thought after almost a week i would be picking up but its just one emotional mental rollercoaster ride, even my stomach chest and lungs feel on fire my doctor also gave me alexapro yesterday as i thouht maybe im having a breakdown? I have been through opiate withdrawal before but this gabapentin crap is making me think suicidal thoughts? Or is it just me really having a nervous breakdown??? Can anyone who has been down this road please give me any knolledge or advice before i really go fliiping mad i litterally cannot even drive a car as all my sences are heightened to a whole other level and I feel like i just am losing it ive never in my 31years had a mental issue before so surely it has to be withdrawals?????
 
can i ask how long you sufferd for as its been 6 days and i just want to end it but refuse to swallow another pill, I pay $120 a box in sydney australia and thats why i quit. I had no god dam idea that a so called non addictive pill can take over your whole brain like that i am spaced out 24 hrs a day in pain axiety no sleep and my nerves are on fire from head to toe and my doctor is telling me its in my head??? and gave me an anti deppressant yesterday and told me to keep taking the gaba and oxy contin? im petrified to put any brain altering drugs in my body I think my doctor is an idiot or am i im so losing it myself i really need some reaasurance that this is not in my head because i couldnt handle living like this for much longer im completely useless to my poor child im a poor excuse for a human atm
 
It's the withdrawal from the medications. Medications like this should be slowly tapered and not stopped suddenly. That's why you are feeling this way. It will pass with time. Your body has to get use to not having the medications and get "normal" again.

Is there anyway you can taper? Have you talked to your dr about stopping cold turkey?

Don't do anything rashly. It's the imbalance from not taking the meds.

Here is a thread on gabapentin.

http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/threads/455090-Gabapentin(aka-neurontin)-Mega-Thread-and-FAQ-s
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top