Opiates and Gabapentin. Help!

[Random.]

Hi there,

This is my first post so I don't know if it's in the right place.

My partner is coming off a 13 year Codeine addiction. Last year she made an attempt at it and ended up in hospital because of the Codeine withdrawals. In the hospital they changed her meds to 10x30mg dihydrocodeine per day, and they also put her on Gabapentin at the time to stop her from having RLS. For some random reason her doctor has kept her on the dihydrocodeine, and upped the Gabapentin to 900mg a day, he was meant to tapper her off, but has been increasing her dose every few months. (ass hole)

Anyway, she stopped taking the dihydrocodeine about 15 days ago, and stopped taking the Gabapentin after the first couple days as she was unable to keep anything down because of being sick for the first 5 days. She managed to get through the sickness period with some help, but now she feels like she is burning when she is touched, no energy, difficult to walk, weakness, depression, hot and cold flushes etc etc.

Since day one recover, I have been giving her B-Complex vitamins, Acai Berry tablets, I was giving her Valerian Root Extract at night but it wasn't helping the insomnia at all. She is also on Iron tablets as she is anaemic. I called the doctor out and he has given her 20mg of Valium a day which is almost useless as she was on such a high dosage before.

She doesn't want any of the medication anymore so she is over the psychological part of the addiction, but her brain is making her body feel like crap. I think most of her symptoms are coming from the Gabapentin withdrawals, as I have been doing a little reading.

A neighbour has given me a strip of 10mg Amitriptyline tablets, I don't know much about them but if anyone can give me some info I would greatly appreciate it. ALSO is it safe for her to take 10mg Amitriptyline a day with 20mg of Valium? Can the two be mixed together?

Kind regards

 

[Marauder]

I'm not a doctor but I'd assume Amitriptyline (TriCyclic Antidepressant) and valium (benzodiazepine) don't interact in any significant way. They should be safe together but I would be more concerned about giving her Amitriptyline in general. I have never taken this antidepressant specifically but from my experience, antidepressant-sickness can last 3 weeks from the first dose and it includes unbearable anxiety, nausea, headaches, restlessness and suicidal thoughts. This is why I'm not surprised the docs didn't put her on an antidepressant yet.

Gabapentin will potentiate the valium and both are dangerous to stop cold turkey (seizure risk.)

 

[paranoid android]

Stopping gabapentin cold turkey produced more painful withdrawal symptoms for me then stopping oxycodone, morphine, hydromorphone or even fentanyl did. It is a very painful drug to withdraw from even if you are tapering. I went from 3200mg's of gabapentin a day to 800mg's a night and this was months ago and i am still feeling it. The RLS, increased neuropathic pain and the feeling that i am constantly getting a migraine is the worst. I am on morphine and clonazepam and even those 2 together don't stop the symptoms fully. So i would suggest your g/f going back on say 300mg's to take before bed because sleep is kinda a necessity .

As for taking amitriptyline with a benzo like Valium it is safish and not a uncommon combo but it will increase the CNS depression of both so make sure she takes less then her normal dose of Valium at first. I was prescribed 150mg's of amitriptyline a day along with 6mg's of clonazepam and besides a good nights sleep i never got any side effects from the combo. Be aware that amitriptyline can like all drugs with anti-cholinergic cause RLS although the Valium should stop that from happening.

 

[Intenselife]

I stopped gabapentin cold turkey without any side effects except for a slight increase in anxiety and insomnia. But i got lucky i normally most people have it a lot worse. If she was on dihydrocodeine for that long i'm sure majority of the withdrawals have to do with that.

It might just take a few more weeks to feel better, and good vitamin/food intake.

 

[m060mm]

Stopping gabapentin cold turkey produced more painful withdrawal symptoms for me then stopping oxycodone, morphine, hydromorphone or even fentanyl did.

Yeah I made the mistake of discontinuing both at once, and skipping my venlafaxine because I 'didn't care.' So much unnecessary hard ship. Goes to show, it's always worth checking the boards. Good luck!

 

[opiatekrzy]

gabapentin withdrawl TO ME feels like im withdrawling from klonopin (after the 3-5 phenobarb taper) rebound anxiety, irrational thinking, crying spells, over emotional, lasted weeks..it really is not fun..even an SSRI like Paxil causes horrible withdrawl for 2 weeks, dizziness constant, mood changes, etc..just cuz the drug isn't controlled don't mean it wont have WD effects

 

[downfallin]

Gabapentin is a bitch to come off of. I`m an ex-heroin addict and I am having a hard time coming off of this stuff. I would recommend her to WEAN off of the gabapentin. Magnesium supplements are supposed to help also as I guess gabbys deplete your magnesium. NO idea about the Valium and Amitriptyline interactions.

 

[Nine North]

Gabapentin effects everyone differently. I've averaged 900-1200mgs/day for neurological pain for months on end then stopped cold if didn't need it for a few weeks without any issues whatsoever. Its sister drug Pregabalin which has a higher bioavailability seems to create more dependence/withdrawl issues but again, it's really a case by case thing

You guys are doing all the right things, hopefully these issues go away with a bit more time. Perhaps as another option for a sleep aid she could try melatonin, it's available OTC at most grocery stores and pharmacies in the natural supplement section, it's a natural enzyme that assists sleeping and is safe with most any medications.

 

[FastRaceCarGuy]

All I can chime in on is the sleep part. I have had sleeping issues all my life and have always drank OTC stuff sleep aids/ tylenol pm/ advil pm/ etc.. I have tried everything, I had noticed that its just a pretty chronic condition for me so I decided to try getting on something healthier. I went to the store a bought some chewables of "melatonin" granted some of you might laugh as its just supposed to be a natural sleep aid IT WORKS. I don't care if its placebo or if it really works but it works for me and thats all I need to know. Try going out to a local pharmacy and just pick up a bottole Personally I use the "Natural" brand 5mg and it really seems to work great. hope it helps in any way

 

[Random.]

Greatly appreciate all the information shared! She has good and bad days which seems strange, but I think things are getting better day by day.

 

[DJ25]

I'm kind of glad Gabapentin withdrawal is getting some attention on here as I can't find anything in detail on the net, I take 1200 mg for anxiety and it's helped but it's caused lots of side effects like weight gain and bloat and word finding issues in conversation....

I could kick it if I had to.. I remember I was buying pregabalin without a script and ran out before my next delivery arrived and it was horrible but it did get easier as the weeks went on...

So magnesium helps, any other suggestions would help me also, actually thinking about it amitriptyline is used for migraine and neuro pain so it may help gabapentin withdrawal, I have some so may try it next time.

 

[sleepmogul]

I got stuck in this exact position when I was quitting. My insomnia was terrible, and I spent my days walking around like a zombie. I was miserable.

I started researching natural alternatives to RX sleep meds,because I didn't want to drop one habit and pick up another! I tried melatonin, Nux Vomica, valerian, and various herbal teas. None of them really made an appreciable difference.

I went to see a naturopath, who sent me to http://naturalsleepformula.net to check out their whole food based sleep supplement. I bought it, and was pleasantly surprised. I fell asleep faster, and did not suffer the early waking that I had been stuck with before.

In addition to the supplement, my naturopath suggested a stringent sleep routine:

bed only for sleep and sex
warm shower or bath before bed
warm milk or herbal tea
guided meditation for sleep
cotton (or no) pj's
100% cotton sheets
white noise machine

I'm happy to say that I'm a year out now, but I still follow the same routine and take the same sleep supplement. It is just too good of a combo to abandon.

Good luck to you and your partner!