Gabapentin/Neurontin + Tramadol Advice :/

[BonePopNMI]

Hello I am a 230lb male and I need a little advice (I have been lurking on here for quite a while and finally made accound lol)

here is what was taken today (all which i have Rx for)

At around 6:30am I took 900mg of Gabapentin

From 811am - 10:37am I took 8 Tramadol (I have been Taking 8 tramadol a day every moring for months)

I later took 2700mg of Gabapentin at 10:56 am

Do you think it would be safe to dose two more tramadol and not go into a seizure since the Gabapentin has anticonvulsant properties? ( it is currently 2:42pm where I live)

(I am sorry if this is in the wrong part of forum and I would appreciate any form of help on this matter. Thank you everyone. :D

 

[Toz]

No. Gabapentin does not work well for the type of seizure (tonic-clonic seizures) that tramadol causes (I'm pretty sure of this, someone else chime in please). I've taken tramadol+gabapentin and I still had a seizure.

Gabapentin is mostly used in combination with other meds to treat seizure, alone it is not very effective at preventing them. You need something like diazepam/clonazepam or other muscle relaxing benzos.

Also, 8 tramadol is not telling me anything about your dosage.

 

[BonePopNMI]

Oh sorry 8 50mg tramadols so 400mg and Also I have taken from 2:00pm - 3:20pm 2 mg of xanax.

 

[Toz]

Well I usually don't bother with anticonvulsants unless I take above 500mg (and then I always dose it all at once too) so you should be fine. Keyword being "should", everyone is different. I guess it was a while since you took the 400mg tram? (having trouble with thse pm/am timeframes since I'm from europe). It should be ok, especially if you have taken xanax too and waited between the doses of tram.

 

[BonePopNMI]

It has been alittle over 5 hours since the tram ( and I take 400mg almost every day for months -.-' I need to slack off also I always heard that 400 mg was the limit. Thats why I am alittle concerned but kinda want to try taking extra for once [had a sorta bad day ], oh and thanks for your help so far ^_^b

 

[pasha]

No. Gabapentin does not work well for the type of seizure (tonic-clonic seizures) that tramadol causes (I'm pretty sure of this, someone else chime in please). I've taken tramadol+gabapentin and I still had a seizure.

Gabapentin is mostly used in combination with other meds to treat seizure, alone it is not very effective at preventing them. You need something like diazepam/clonazepam or other muscle relaxing benzos.

This ^ is correct.

Gabapentin/pregabalin are mostly effective at treating partial seizures, and mostly as an adjunct to a stronger anti-convulsants such as carbamazepine or clonazepam. Tramadol provokes generalized/grand-mal seizures. If you feel at risk, a benzodiazepine would be your best bet as it's interaction with tramadol would most likely not be a negative one.

 

[BonePopNMI]

So since xanax counts as a benzodiazepine and I have taken 2.0mg xanax around 3 hours ago, and the tramadol 250mg 9 hours ago and 150 mg 7 hours ago, would taking 1 or 2 50mg tramadol now be safe or still a big risk even though I have taken the xanax?

I listed it in a hours format for people in different timezones

 

[pasha]

^ The alprazolam (Xanax) should have you covered, but try to always take the benzodiazepine with the tramadol, or if you're taking tramadol in divided doses, take the benzodiazepine in divided doses also with the tramadol in order to be certain that the alprazolam stays active for the same time the tramadol stays active. If the alprazolam runs out before the tramadol, that could worsen things for you as the seizure threshold becomes particularly sensitive after the effects of benzodiazepines disappear.

 

[bronson]

My understanding is that you start running the risk for seizure if you exceed 200mg in one dose, or 300mg in a 24 hour period. Benzos obviously effect this to a degree, but as chromo stated, with a short acting benzo, the effects will wear off long before that of the tramadol which stays active for a good while.

Even if you've been taking doses in excess of what I've posted for a long period of time, this by no means excludes you from seizure risk. Just a quick search on these very forums will confirm for you that they can, and do strike out of the blue. Tread carefully.

 

[jljar5]

My understanding is that you start running the risk for seizure if you exceed 200mg in one dose, or 300mg in a 24 hour period. Benzos obviously effect this to a degree, but as chromo stated, with a short acting benzo, the effects will wear off long before that of the tramadol which stays active for a good while.

Just a few things to add... First thing is there is DEFINITELY no hard and fast rule about what's a safe dosage, every one has different seizure thresholds, opiate tolerance, body chemistry, etc.. I've read TONS of experience reports and was surprised to see how many people were talking 1000 - 1500 mg (that's 20-30 50mg pills) per day for weeks, months and sometimes longer. Occasionally I'd hear of a seizure from this, but what surprised me is it seemed more people had seizures when taking high mg for long periods and THEN going back to it, I read several reports of people having seizures from as little as 100mg, but it was never 1000mg or anything it always was way less than they used to take.

My main point, be careful you can always take more, but it's much more difficult to 'un-take' something.

So

Even if you've been taking doses in excess of what I've posted for a long period of time, this by no means excludes you from seizure risk. Just a quick search on these very forums will confirm for you that they can, and do strike out of the blue. Tread carefully.

is an excellent caveat.

Also about seizures:
Alprazolam (Xanax) has very little anticonvulsant value, and also a short half-life so when it's wearing off you're actually lowering your seizure threshold even more than if you hadn't taken the alprazolam. Clonazepam (Klonopin) is probably the one of the best choices, Diazepam (Valium) is also a decent choice, they both have good anticonvulsant properties and long half-life's (diazepam being quite longer but klonopin is still 30-40 hours). Lorazepam (Ativan) is also a decent option, and I'm sure there are others, these are some of the most common.
Even still, tramadol puts you at risk for tonic clonic seizures and benzodiazepines aren't the best choice for this, carbamazapine (Tegretol) actually is, however this interacts with tramadol by decreasing it's effectiveness. So benzos AND gabapentin would be ideal for seizure prevention, even know it's not as efficient at seizure prevention, it won't decrease the effectiveness of your tramadol. Not to mention the combo of benzo/gabapentin will potentiate and increase tramadol's opiate and pain relief properties, so be cautious with these combinations, people have died mixing very high doses of benzos and tramadol. I would stick with recommended therapeutic doses. Hope this helps.