Mental Health Gabapentin / Hypomania ??

[ThatOneDude!]

So i have taken 10 mg of valium earlier in the day, felt nice, convinced me to take a small amount of phenibut, (been a while with phenibut) I took only .9grams. And I figured because, aside from its primary effects, how it binds to and blocks α2δ subunit-containing voltage-gated calcium channels, similarly to gabapentinoids such as gabapentin etc.... I have been staggering doses of some gabapentin to potentiate the whole effect. (was my theory at least)

I have taken Gabapentin recreationally and gotten very high off of it many times. The thing i want to see if anyone can help me with is to understand why the gabapentin high, for me at least, is a rather drunken hypomanic state. I feel rather hyper and drunken-ish. its weird, but with the combo i've stated above, the gabapentin has just induced a rather hypomania that i'm not wanting right now. I'm just looking to enjoy the gaba effects on a relaxing level, I get refills of Valium tomorrow. and I cant tell if or what the phenibut is doing.

I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas on how to counter the hypomania that i'm experiencing, so i can relax better. I have other sedatives like quetiapine. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to enduce a more relaxed state instead of this overly drunkish energetic feeling. I have ocd and sometimes i just get up and start cleaning all kinds like this. I want to chill out, like as if i just took valium it would have been better. yet with this GABAergic activity, any suggestions on how to mellow out. maybe I take some quetiapine? I have 100mg pills.
I dont drink alcohol, and have no access to pot sadly.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

[alpha_centauri]

If you are manic/hypomanic you should be on medications and seeing a therapist.

 

[elvis_wears_nikes]

You could be experiencing a paradoxical reaction to the benzodiazepines and gabapentin as they are both GABAergic and taken in high doses those reactions can occur. I know from personal experience that sometimes when I have taken high doses of particularly potent benzos such as Xanax it has caused me to become hyperstimulated and aggressive as well as having no recollection of the events afterward which has been quite worrysome. It is not uncommon for people to become aggressive on benzos particurly Xanax but personally I have not experienced paradoxical effects with diazepam. But adverse effects tend to increase the longer the drug is used, at higher dosages, and in combination with other drugs.

 

[ThatOneDude!]

You could be experiencing a paradoxical reaction to the benzodiazepines and gabapentin as they are both GABAergic and taken in high doses those reactions can occur. I know from personal experience that sometimes when I have taken high doses of particularly potent benzos such as Xanax it has caused me to become hyperstimulated and aggressive as well as having no recollection of the events afterward which has been quite worrysome. It is not uncommon for people to become aggressive on benzos particurly Xanax but personally I have not experienced paradoxical effects with diazepam. But adverse effects tend to increase the longer the drug is used, at higher dosages, and in combination with other drugs.

Well that would definitely explain why due to the method i use to get really high off of gabapentin is by staggering doses to maximize efficiency of absorption to insane levels. And as you stated, that might be why the gabapentin high always comes with a weird hypomania, which kinda defeats the purpose unless i wanna seem drunkish with lots of energy to party and what not. I have since stopped using gabapentin and avoided the mania all together. however, the Half life of valium compared to my older and much wonderful experiences, recreationally using xanax, the valium's half life has me concerned if there is a buffer that is causing further confusion to distinguish my tolerance vs whats still in my system. I opened up a seperate thread in those regards, i'll attatch link, i have explained the situation WAY better.

http://www.bluelight.org/vb/threads/823845-Xanax-vs-Valium-Halflife-lemme-explain

 

[CoastTwoCoast]

Gabapentin is weird that way. Too much can make you feel kinda hyper. The biggest benefit for me is using it to avoid seizures or feeling uncomfortable after benzo/stimulant use.

Gabapentin and benzos are not the same.
If people expect gabapentin to work in a relaxing way like klonopin or xanax, they will be highly disappointed.

 

[Kyle210]

Gabapentin is one weird drug. When I first took it, I took just 5 and I couldn't see straight, I couldn't talk correctly, and I fell asleep and the next morning I felt the same.

While Gabapentin may work on GABA and we are sure it does due to withdrawal effects similar to benzo withdrawal syndrome, it was created to work on GABA, etc. However, we still don't know how it exactly works. We *do* know that it doesn't affect GABAa, which benzos do. And while it has been shown to enhance benzos and also opioids, the effect it enhances isn't something I notice.

The NIH and British Journal of Psychology both have articles on it. On the one from the NIH, it mentioned two reports. One person had epilepsy but the other was a healthy woman. She took a low dose of 900mgs. It is rare in anticonvulsants though! Perhaps just an odd, one-time reaction!

But I wouldn't play around with Gabapentin or Valium too much. I'm a drug counselor but moreso, I'm chemically dependent to benzos. 3.5mgs a day, 1mg Klonopin and 1.5mgs Xanax. It's been 6 years. I've tried tapering six times, one lasting over 6 months. I was so sick that my psych said "I'm sorry but you're not leaving out here with an Oxcarbazebrine(anti seizure) and 2mg Diazepam scripts. You need to get back on benzos so make a choice."

Then I saw another psychiatrist who refused to taper me. Then I moved and my PCP won't taper me. But with the DEA becoming so horrid, and the nations understanding of benzo tapering deeply flawed, you have no idea how scared I am.

But as a nurse and drug counselor I've seen folks suffer badly from Gabapentin withdrawal. Side effects were similar.

But to be nicer lol, it's better you are on Valium than Xanax. Not to mention Valium has Oxazepam, a rapidly released benzo and then methyldiazepam (I think) which is what lasts so long. Good to help instantly and for later!