Gabapentin enacarbil for PAWS ?

[MikeMercury]

My ongoing POPPY TEA with draw.
As reported , I'm virtually off poppy tea after 12 years of light to medium use. But after yet another hell circus night and yet another small slip due to infernal restless leg torture, I suspect post poppy tea will not be the happy ever after. I'm realising nothing but NOTHING can stop RLS except a small dose of poppy tea.
I appreciate being told that after a while the symptom will go but I also suffer from Peripheral Neuropathy in my foot which is similar to RLS (nerves dying and numbness) and have had RLS for decades on and off.

So I'm considering trying Gabapentin enacarbil for RLS and the suspected PAWS I'm pretty sure will come.
is this a viable idea or is Gabapentin more for acute with drawal ? Ive also ordered Black seed oil and started with magnesium and all other suggestions .
If not for the nightly torture scenes I would be making good progress but these are ruining everything.

 

[Keif' Richards]

Gabapentin Enacarbil (Horizant) is the same drug as Gabapentin (Neurontin), just in extended release formulation. I'm not sure off the top of my head, but I believe it is equivalent to 2 or 3 separate doses of Gabapentin.

At any rate, you will have an easier time dealing with insurance and us here at BL if you're willing to do regular Gabapentin. We are much more familiar with it as the Emacarbil is rarely prescribed by comparison.

If you need a pharmacological treatment, I don't think there is anything out there better than Gabapentin. It got me through some of my toughest times in quitting Heroin. Those moments where RLS breaks you would've broke me too.

A good place to start is 300mg 3x/daily. Take medication with a meal for best results.

 

[MikeMercury]

Thanks so much for your reply. I now get the difference regarding Enacarbil so yes I'll stick with the normal type which I hope I can get.
im glad of what you said as I was hoping for a life line with severe RLS and now there's something of substance to try.
This forum is of more use to me than my own useless GPs here in the U.K.
best regards and thanks again

 

[MikeMercury]

Oh ....a further query. Is there any other medicine I should consider for RLS /opiod with drawal that compliments Gabapentin ?

 

[Jen X]

Mirapex is a drug for RLS. I get it on occasion and the drug do work well
Lots of side effects so only use if doctor prescribes

 

[Keif' Richards]

Oh ....a further query. Is there any other medicine I should consider for RLS /opiod with drawal that compliments Gabapentin ?

If you have no tolerance to Gabapentinoids then you shouldn't need anything more. These aren't drugs to be sneezed at guys. People can and do become addicted to Gabapentinoids and the dependence/withdrawal is often compared to the intensity of Opioid/Benzodiazepine withdrawal.

This doesn't mean they can't be used safely and effectively. You just need to keep the dosage, frequency and duration as low as possible.

I would advise nothing more than a trial with Gabapentin. I would recommend no more than 10 days at most followed by a washout period where you can stop to see where your symptoms are.

If this isn't effective, then we can examine other treatments. I'm not a doctor, just familiar with these things so take it all with a grain of salt.

 

[MikeMercury]

Again Keif this is really good info and many thanks . I'll just stick to Gabapentin for now and be extremely careful as I always am with anything medical.
If it does work it will be the answer to a prayer and I can finally leave the pods back in the shop where they came from.
best regards

 

[dopamimetic]

Get memantine if you have the chance to. This chemical is like a miracle cure for opioid addiction, I stopped a 2 year habit of 600mg/d morphine with a few megadoses of memantine (I had pre-existing tolerance so I don't mention my dosages) and it skipped most of the misery including a good deal of PAWS. I was just dissociated and returned to sober reality without having to go through withdrawal. It's a pity this isn't researched more (there are some papers spotting the effects but they use too little memantine for too little amount of time).