Misc GABAPENTIN - Return of the Aliens, rash and an update.

[Steph-L]

Another Gabapentin withdrawal post and update.

I saw my doctor who decided I should go back on G at 100mg x 3 per day and taper sensibly over a three week period.

My leg stopped pulsing and rippling for a good few days, but has since resumed and is going wild again tonight and is spasming higher up the leg now, too. Not sure if that has happened since going back on a low dose. It's cramping like a mofo, too.

Another wretched thing that has started is a rash on my forehead and over my temples down to the top of my cheekbones. Also my hands have become dry between the fingers and all flaky. Never had anything like it! I have an itchy redness over my wrist, too.

I'm also hugely stressed and panicky all the time.. Dwelling on everything and my heart feels like it's beating really quickly

What the fuck is happening to me

I should mention that I'm a natural catastrophiser and bi-polar, so if you respond, please bear in mind that ill most likely have a panic attack over anything overly negative.

 

[pasha]

The muscle rigidity is a normal symptom of gabapentin withdrawal. I would ask your doctor for a muscle relaxant to tide you over. Anxiety and heart palpitations are also very normal symptoms of tapering or withdrawing from gabapentin.

Also, if you're naturally bi-polar, a condition which the gabapentin treats, then you're mood will become unstable once you stop using it. Neuropathy, another condition which it treats can flare up doing gabapentin withdrawal, causing a wide array of dermatological symptoms, one of them being a rash.

You're symptoms are not outside of the norm, and you seem to be handling it pretty well. Just sit tight.

 

[Steph-L]

Hi, thank you very much for responding!

I was prescribed diazepam for the cramping, but I've been so freaked out by the side effects and consequent withdrawal effects of Gabapentin, that I've avoided taking it in case it starts up a whole new set of problems! Might have to take the risk if it doesn't calm down :/

 

[laCster]

weird, i was taking 5+grams of gabapentin a day for 4-6+ months and when i quit cold turkey, i did not experience ANY withdrawal. i also was taking 600+mgs of lyrica a day for 8-9+ months and did not experience any withdrawal. maybe i had a little trouble sleeping, but really i did not notice any change in my mood, or how my body felt.

for me, lyrica/gabapentin withdrawal is comparable to marijuana withdrawal...that is it was all in my head, no physical symptoms what-so-ever. mainly just mental cravings, but nothing serious..and definitely not even comparable to opiate withdrawal!!


idk, i have heard mixed accounts, some people either experience INTENSE withdrawal, or barely any at all...