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serotonin syndrome

xtcgrrrl

xtcgrrrl

Bluelight Crew
Joined
Aug 20, 2013
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New Jersey
I accidentally took too much 5HTP and I got bad serotonin syndrome last night. I'm getting better now (almost went to the hospital but I threw up most of it) but I was wondering, this might seem like a dumb question, but is it ok to take gabapentin AS PRESCRIBED today? What about in excess? I'm just wondering if it will counteract the serotonin in my brain. I'm too scared to take it at all until I get an answer to this question. Does anybody know? I do plan to call my doctor, but obviously I can't ask about the "in excess" bit which is why I am asking in here. I just thought it might help flood the brain with GABA and get rid of the serotonin faster, but if I am being an idiot please tell me.
 
You can take the gabapentin. It would actually aid in ceasing the symptoms of SS by halting neuronal excitation, just like a benzodiazepine.

Homeless -> Basic
 
Oh thank god. I am so sick of feeling these symptoms fade in and out. Taking my usual dose now.
 
The pills are 200 mgs and the directions say to take 1-2 at bedtime. I took a total of 5 because I was impatient with not falling asleep because I needed to get up early in the morning (2, then 3 more an hour later after which I immediately started having bad symptoms.)
 
BTW if anyone is interested I took 4 grams of gabapentin and now only feel the positive effects of the gabapentin. Some mild euphoria and body tingling and no residual effects of the serotonin syndrome. Slight headache, but that's typical with this dose.
 
That's a lot of gabapentin. You should take it easy on your kidneys. I used to take doses like that with pregabalin and it didn't end well.

Glad you're feeling alright.
 
But isn't pregabalin stronger than gabapentin? And are both 5htp and gabapentin metabolized by the kidneys?
 
The 5-htp is likely not to be of any concern to your kidneys but the gabapentin can be hard on them if your doing it in those doses daily.
I surprised you got strong symptoms of SS from 1g of 5-htp, its good that youve mentioned it here though, so it can serve as a reminder for others to be careful with suppliments.
And im glad your feeling better.
 
xtcgrrrl said:
But isn't pregabalin stronger than gabapentin? And are both 5htp and gabapentin metabolized by the kidneys?
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Just because it's more potent pharmacologically, doesn't mean it's more toxic to the kidneys in overdose. 5htp is metabolized in the liver, and gabapentin in the kidneys.
 
Bunge, I'm probably never going to take 5htp again, I'm so scared. Also, I don't take 4 grams of gabapentin every day, it wouldn't be effective. I take it once every 3 days. Since I took it Saturday (yesterday) I'll likely take it again Wednesday.

Chromo, thanks for explaining. Is there an herb I can use to repair the damage to my kidneys? I already take milk thistle for my liver.
 
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Chromophobia said:
You can take the gabapentin. It would actually aid in ceasing the symptoms of SS by halting neuronal excitation, just like a benzodiazepine.

Homeless -> Basic
Click to expand...

Gabapentin increases total serum concentration of serotonin though, not sure if that's a good thing.
 
It turned out ok based on the dose I took. I feel fine and haven't taken anything aside from coffee, pseudoephedrine for a cold and a few minor herbs for weight loss since then and don't plan to take anything else til my scheduled gabapentin on Tuesday or Wednesday.
 
Last edited:
Toz said:
Gabapentin increases total serum concentration of serotonin though, not sure if that's a good thing.
Click to expand...

It probably isn't. I wonder if it does so to clinically relevant levels though.

Glad you're feeling okay OP.
 
Toz is correct. If you took the 4g's of gaba all at once you should be fine, which by now I'm assuming you are, because the human body is a terrible system to metabolize gaba. But in the future, know that neurontin does increase serotonin levels (hence the body tingling) and if you want your gaba to be more efficient, micro stagger your dosing about every half hour/hour. And by the way, what anyone says, neurontin is not a gaba agonist. Researchers are still unsure of exactly how it works (perhaps sigma 2 and delta), although with my experience it's highly correlated with serotonin. Serotonin has a calming effect that can be mistaken for the inhibitory response of gamma amino butyric acid. Which is why it has about the same effect on diabetic nerve pain as ssri's do.
 
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