gabapentin first timer, any advice?

[Continmouth]

Hello, Im a newbie on BL, so please forgive any ignorance, although i do have 10 years of legit opiate use for pain. I just picked up my first script for Gabapentin 100mg 3x a day. I did some reading here on BL prior to picking it up. Right now I'm prescribed 10mg oxycontin 2 x day, Percocet 10/325 4 x per day(dose dropped way down from where I was, with new pain clinic.. Bastards!). I'm out of my opioids and have taken a 10mg methadone, once every 24 hrs for 3 days, I'm 31 hours out from my last dose(still no wds, didn't think I could go so long without a dose. Fist time I've tested duration of methadone). I pick up my scripts of oxy tomorrow. My questions are:
*Should I wait until I pick up my opioids before taking first doses of gabapentin and take them together?
*I still have one methadone left should I take the gabapentin with it? Or is that pointless because methadone has no euphoric side effects?
*lastly, how much gabapentin should I take with either for potentiating as a first timer? I do understand that the effect won't be the same after the first time, so I want the first time to be the best it can be Lol my tolerance to opiate is probably around 50mg right now (1 oxycontin 4 Percs)...With what i have, what would be the best cocktail (also have fexeril...I know the stuff is shitty, my new PC refuses to script soma to anyone, which is what I was on before..again BASTARDS) . So glad to find a site like this it's very informative and helpful. I'd never heard of gabapentin before yesterday and spent last night on here getting a little aquatinted with it.
thanks for any help

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Gabapentin can have a synergistic (makes the effects of each drug stronger) or additive effect (simply adds the effects of one on top of the effects of the other) with opioids and it also helps with opioid withdrawal. So if you end up feeling pain, anxiety or withdrawal symptoms since you aren't taking any opioids right now it can help with that (to a degree of course). Gabapentin does not really potentiate opioids, it adds it's own effects to their effects. So things like sedation, relief of anxiety, and some types of pain relieving effects may be increased because both opioids and gabapentin have these actions. They may be increased more than merely additively, but I'm not sure (I didn't really notice a greater than additive effect myself but I think it might depend on how much opioids you are using relative to your tolerance). Potentiation would be when something makes opioids stronger, for example a drug that increases blood levels of opioids.

A good dose to start out with be 100-200mg. It affects on different people very differently so you need to try that first and see how it affects you, especially if you're going to be combining it with other drugs.

We can't really tell you what the best drug cocktail out of the meds you have would be, especially if you mean the best to get high off. I would really just try the drugs/doses as prescribed and see what happens.

 

[Continmouth]

Thank so much for taking the time to answer. I usually don't get much of a high off anything I take since I have been on them for so long, but a nice head buzz is definitely a bonus sometimes. i guess I shouldn't have phrased a few things the way i did. I apogize. What what I need most is to help with the pain, which my current dosing does not even put a dent in. He prescribed the gabapentin yesterday to help with my pain, but i havent read much that states that it is actually good for pain. I'm only 2 months out from my 2nd spinal fusion and still in a lot of pain. What does potentiate opiates? I heard grapefruit juice does, but that kinda scares me from what I've read. Is there anything else that might be more safe?
Thanks again I'm still learning whats appropriate here and what is not.

 

[dirzted]

Grapefruit juice will make the opes slightly stronger but definitely not to the extent to make them dangerous (if that's what you're scared of). The drug tagamet (OTC heartburn relief pill) also potentiates opes, and anything else you would possibly want to know for potentiating opiates will be found here
http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/threads/...ion-Thread-v2-0?highlight=opiate+potentiation

 

[Swimmingdancer]

Thank so much for taking the time to answer. I usually don't get much of a high off anything I take since I have been on them for so long, but a nice head buzz is definitely a bonus sometimes. i guess I shouldn't have phrased a few things the way i did. I apogize. What what I need most is to help with the pain, which my current dosing does not even put a dent in. He prescribed the gabapentin yesterday to help with my pain, but i havent read much that states that it is actually good for pain. I'm only 2 months out from my 2nd spinal fusion and still in a lot of pain. What does potentiate opiates? I heard grapefruit juice does, but that kinda scares me from what I've read. Is there anything else that might be more safe?
Thanks again I'm still learning whats appropriate here and what is not.

Try the gabapentin first. Gabapentin has been found in studies to reduce the use of opioids by people recovering from spinal fusion. Gabapentin also has a wide therapeutic margin, meaning people can be safely prescribed a wide range of doses, so if your prescribed dose doesn't seem to do anything that doesn't necessarily mean it can't help, you might just have to take a higher dose and could discuss that with your doctor. Gabapentin also tends to work best for certian types of pain when you take it every day for at least a week, but you should notice a difference around 4 hrs after taking your first dose and spinal fusion patients found it helpful on the first day. It only works for some types of pain, but it is a pain reliever and has been found effective, especially in combination with opioids, for the type of pain you have. It also decreases anxiety, making you care less about pain even when you can still feel it. It can make you feel high and sedated, almost a drunk or benzo-like feeling though, even at low doses (depending on the person), so don't just take a whole bunch of it your first time. Also you always want to be careful mixing CNS depressants, but gabapentin + opioids is safer than benzos + opioids. And you also don't need to unnecessarily build a tolerance to it right away by taking more than you would actually need.

If the gabapentin does not help and you've given it a real shot you should talk to your doctor about other options such as raising your opioid dose as opposed to just taking more than prescribed and then running out early or trying to potentiate your opioids with unreliable things like grapefruit juice.

 

[Venrak]

Try the gabapentin first. Gabapentin has been found in studies to reduce the use of opioids by people recovering from spinal fusion. Gabapentin also has a wide therapeutic margin, meaning people can be safely prescribed a wide range of doses, so if your prescribed dose doesn't seem to do anything that doesn't necessarily mean it can't help, you might just have to take a higher dose and could discuss that with your doctor. Gabapentin also tends to work best for certian types of pain when you take it every day for at least a week, but you should notice a difference around 4 hrs after taking your first dose and spinal fusion patients found it helpful on the first day. It only works for some types of pain, but it is a pain reliever and has been found effective, especially in combination with opioids, for the type of pain you have. It also decreases anxiety, making you care less about pain even when you can still feel it. It can make you feel high and sedated, almost a drunk or benzo-like feeling though, even at low doses (depending on the person), so don't just take a whole bunch of it your first time. Also you always want to be careful mixing CNS depressants, but gabapentin + opioids is safer than benzos + opioids. And you also don't need to unnecessarily build a tolerance to it right away by taking more than you would actually need.

If the gabapentin does not help and you've given it a real shot you should talk to your doctor about other options such as raising your opioid dose as opposed to just taking more than prescribed and then running out early or trying to potentiate your opioids with unreliable things like grapefruit juice.

This.

You really shouldn't be running about trying to potentiate your opiods when you could be talking to your Rx physician and get your dose adjusted to be more inline with your needs. These medications can be synergistic and hap-hazard meddling can lead to complications you would much rather avoid.