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Addiction to gabapentin

sonicwhite

sonicwhite

Bluelighter
Joined
Aug 8, 2012
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Location
Oklahoma
Okay I have bipolar disorder on paper and everything...I have been in a depression low for about 5 months. I got on gabapentin in IP to address wanting to come off of klonopin cuz I thought that was the issue. Well started to withdrawal pretty bad so I up'd the gabapentin on my own cuz I knew it relieves some of the withdrawals from benzo's. So after that I went to talk to my doctor about ritalin...He said we will try it and see what it does...It worked for the first few days then it felt like a nasty comedown of ICE. Well I still get prescribed klonopin ritalin and gabapentin. But gabapentin is the only med at high doses that make me feel normal. Ya I'll admit that if I take a crap load with a pepsi that I'll get euphoric but, thats not what I'm seeking. Just to feel normal to have some sort of happiness. So I have to split my pills in half because I dug into my stash and took more then supposed to. So and I hate withdrawaling off of gabapentin. Oh, it's nasty.....So what is the highest I can go in one dosing for bipolar that I can rationally tell my doc we need to raise it....So I don't end up suffering because I get relief a few days for abusing?
 
We can't help you with how to convince your doctor to raise your gabapentin dose because you've been taking more than prescribed, sorry. Gabapentin has a very wide range of prescribed doses, it is up to the doctor and dosage depends on the patient's response to it since we're all different. The "maximum daily dose" is much debated and different doctors have different opinions on what that should be (and they might base it off the person's condition, how they have responded to the medication, how long they have been on it, etc, as opposed to just some clinical study that said "no additional benefit for xxxxx condition was found at doses past xxxx mg per day"). If you truly feel that the dose you are currently prescribed is not helping enough for your bipolar please just be honest with your doctor and explain that.

Also have you told your doctor about your bad reaction to Ritalin?
 
I'm on gabapentin also and it makes me feel normal/ better. I take it for anxiety actually just got back on it 400 mg 5x per day which is a lot. It does not work for me in small doses. I am an addict and my psych will not give me benzos at all! I have not experienced w/d from gabapentin but had bad w/d from lyrica. What is your dose? I guess after a certain point your body won't absorb any more of it so it is a waste to take too much and causes bad bad gasto problems. I have 3 days clean from heroin and finally feel better so I am trying to get involved and share with you guys. :) hope you are ok!
 
Ya I'm okay MiraLuv. I take 600 mg three times a day and well I noticed that I was having a bad reaction with my ritalin.....Think it a good thing that your psych doesn't give you a benzo cuz once your on those it's hell to get off of. I know I tried atleast a dozen times. I always get deathly ill and lose my marbles..
 
sonicwhite said:
Ya I'm okay MiraLuv. I take 600 mg three times a day and well I noticed that I was having a bad reaction with my ritalin.....Think it a good thing that your psych doesn't give you a benzo cuz once your on those it's hell to get off of. I know I tried atleast a dozen times. I always get deathly ill and lose my marbles..
Click to expand...

You didn't answer my question: have you told your doctor about your bad reaction to Ritalin? A lot of people find Ritalin to worsen bipolar. I would really tell your doctor about any side effects you get that might be to do with the Ritalin.
 
I was addicted to xanax I was up to 8 bars a day and went cold Turkey off that and 80 mg of methadone in nov of 2005. By day two I was totally out of it no sense of reality. My parents took me to the hospital they put me in the psych ward cuz I was delusional. I was having DTs really bad. They gave me Valium and Ativan and I woke up from my Dts which was like a dream state where I thought crazy and had tremors or slight seizing. Forget the worst of the methadone withdrawal. I didn't really feel it because I was not conscious for two or three days. The Valium turned me around to were I could answer questions about what I was taking and it gave my family some answers because they were very afraid! After that I went to php and it took 6 weeks to taper off the Ativan but I felt nothing it was a easy taper the dr at the rehab was good. When I first transferred there from the psych ward they would let me lay down because sitting in group was still too exhausting. So the moral of the story is benzos are really dangerous. I can't ever take them from a dr like oh here's. a script for 30. I would take them all. But I'm soo scared of what happen to me. I would of died if I was alone. Be careful of benzos Please!
 
Oops I just read your post again. Don't come off of benzos yourself and "lose your marbles" and get sick. Go get detoxed in the hospital or find a dr to taper you. That hell is just too much. It's something you can't forget. :/
 
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