Misc Gabapentin induced seizure

[10amautomatic]

Hey bluelight,
I have a couple of questions about something that happened to me last night. I am bipolar, being stabilized on seroquel (blech) and gabapentin.
Last night I was chillin with a friend watching a movie...and i just woke up in another part of the house with my friend taking my blood pressure with my blood pressure machine (it was off the charts, but that's irrelevant). I asked what happened, and he said out of nowhere i fell off the chair, started shaking uncontrollably, and was foaming at the mouth with a very tightly clenched jaw.

I am confused because gabapentin is an anti-epeleptic. I took exactly the amount prescribed daily, and did not take any other drugs besides a cup of coffee (which has hever caused problems before). I am currently not physically addicted to anything but nicotine right now. I have been on Gabapentin for several months now, and have never encountered this problem.

Has anyone out there ever encountered this problem?
The more I started to think about it, the more i realized that my brain chemistry is...reversed. Examples: benzos and opiates give me manic energy, they chill everyone else out and make them sleep. Amphetamines and blow make me calm and focused and kinda tired, when everyone else just gets the manic energy I get from benzos. And anti seizure drugs give me seizures, apparently.

What. The. Fuck. Has anyone ever heard of this??

 

[Coraline]

I have not. I would suggest you talk to your dr about this. Seizures are serious business. There could be a underlining cause for the seizure. If it happens again go to the ER. I would talk to your dr instead of looking for info online.

 

[Birch Reduction]

A lot of substances exhibit what is termed as "paradoxical effects". This is when a compound does the opposite of the exact thing it was designed to do. For example: some people who take SSRI's for depression actually experience increased depression, hence the recent FDA warnings that state these compounds may increase suicidal thoughts in teens and young adults. The same can be said for isotretinoin AKA Accutane: most patients experience horrible acne and breakouts for months before the medicine effectively alters your pore sizes. Returning to your inquiry about Gabapentin, I too experienced the only seizure i have ever had in my life when my psychiatrist had me on it as an alternative to controlling my panic attacks. One day i was chillin, and the next thing i know i am in the ER with no idea how i got there...very scary experience. I would suggest you taper yourself off of it immediately (which is what my shrink told me to do...though i would have done it anyway). Stay away from Lyrica as well, as it is just an analogue of gabapentin and should also induce another seizure in your case. As for the other reactions you mentioned in regards to mind altering substances: those too can be explained by neurotransmitter levels and/or your own unique receptor densities. The fact that you have bipolar disorder further supports my assumption that it is your receptor, and neurotransmitter, concentrations which are the cause for your strange responses to uppers and downers. It’s quite fascinating really....receptor mapping, and the analysis of the subsequent effects induced by their agonists, antagonists, and partial agonists/antagonists, has opened the door for a new frontier of drug discovery and understanding of human behavior in the fields of medicinal chemistry and psychopharmacology. It also will allow us to eventually discover the root causes of psychological disorders (along with normal human tendencies like sex drive and anger), allowing us a way to selectively target those receptors involved as a new approach to treatment while hopefully minimizing/eradicating unwanted side effects. ...We will finally be able to move away from (in my opinion) crude and sloppy compounds such as SSRI's, which are effective only if they can manage to induce down-regulation of the 5-HT2A pre-synaptic receptors and/or if the saturation of the post synaptic cleft with 5-HT due to its reuptake inhibition works for that particular patient in treating their depression. As for the gabapentin seizure you had: I am willing to bet money that the night you had your seizure you missed, or forgot to take, your doses…abrupt cessation of high doses of gabapentin have caused seizures to other people besides just myself. My wife told me that shit would even make me twitch while i was asleep. My guess is it is like rebound hyper-tension in relation to blood pressure medicine. Just taper you dose down gradually and then stay far away from that garbage....the therapeutic benefits (in your case obviously) are far outweighed by the dangerous and unwanted side effects (which also include the possibility if withdrawal syndrome). One last idea in regards to your treatment: Judging by your physical response described by uppers, you should talk to your shrink about a substance called Selegiline. It is a phenethylamine, and I think that it would be way more helpful in treating your bipolar disorder since uppers are phenethylamines as well. Honestly, if you don’t have an anxiety disorder or epilepsy, I dont understand why your doctor prescribed you gabapentin for your condition in the first place... Anyways, I hope this info helps, and that you never have to experience another seizure like that again...because i still haven't been right since gabapentin triggered mine. …We should get together with a bunch of other people who have had this happen to them and then file a class action law suit!!! Then we could all be Oprah rich…

 

[10amautomatic]

Thank you for the advice and information, I have set up an appointment with my psychiatrist pill lady. I am just happy I was able to stay out of the emergency room, what a terrible place. Anywho I will look into selegiline as I don't think I have a concurrent anxiety disorder, or maybe an anxiety disorder is a part of the pacage. Hard to tell honestly, I'd throw down on a lawyer but you know that bluelight lifestyle.

If you bet money, you'd win. I don't normally associate withdrawal symptoms with anything besides alcohol, benzos, and opiates; sometimes I forget that everything they hand out is...fucked up.

The benefits of the psychiatrists to corner boys falls lower and lower each day. Lame. Im trying to quit and it seems like their own efforts are gonna get me back on.

 

[Moe-D]

Wow, sounds crazy..
Switch to lyrica maby? Not a dream-medicine either....

A friend of mine who had eaten about 700mg pregabalin, knocked-out on my sofa and me playing counter-strike and suddenly he woke up in a super fucked-up state panicking and shaking and didnt even know where he was 8(

And today I ate 300mg lyrica at the morning along with a little chunk of hydroxyzine, it was all good but after a couple of hour's started feeling super-dizzy and my head started to move on it's own and twitch a lot.. Was not nice at all.
Does anybody feel like a heating on your face while on hydroxyzine?

 

[Moe-D]

But I've had the same feeling while on speed!! super calm state and yawning.. weirddd