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Misc Gabapentin Withdrawal - Alien Muscle Rippling

Steph-L

Steph-L

Greenlighter
Joined
Mar 1, 2013
Messages
9
Location
Scotland, UK
Hi,

I've just joined the forum as I have a question about Gabapentin.

I've been taking this drug for pain caused by multiple prolapsed discs since the beginning of December. I decided o stop as I thought it wasn't particularly effective, but I have been experiencing peculiar muscle rippling as spamming in my calf muscle. It's pretty much constant and feels like the muscle is bubbling and you can see the skin moving ... Looks like an alien swimming under the skin. As well as this I have been feeling very depressed, and have been having horrendous headaches. The most concerning thing right now is the muscle twitching ...

Has anyone experienced anything similar? Could you share your story, or offer any hope?

Thanks so much for reading!
Steph <3
 
By your description I would guess its a muscle spasm and not uncommon for withdrawal from a number of different substances, like benzos or opiates and WD from gabapentin is likened to a cross between benzos and opiates. What dose were you on daily? Ive never hearrd of a gabapentin WD doing anyone any permanent harm like in a high dose benzo addiction but it can be very unpleasant and alot worse then your symptoms are at the moment (not trying to trivialize your suffering at all. :-) ). Didnt you taper your dose down before stopping? It say in the instructions to only discontinue under doctors advice, not having a go just wondering why the doc didnt warn you. If you have some benzos lieing around then they will stop your symptoms. Failing that then you could start to take the gabapentin again and after you get back to the same blood level as before you WD symptoms will cease. Hugs your way though, cause WD sucks but sucks worse when you dont expect it.:-(

'Alien muscle rippling' was a great description though, made me chuckle. :-D
 
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I was taking six Gabapentin per day, then after finding it not very helpful, a few weeks ago I started to forget to take them regularly ... Sometimes I'd take full dose, then may e just two ... Next day four etc. I think I misunderstood their purpose and took them like paracetamol (Tylenol) ... For the past week I've been taking just one. The cramps/spasms are intensifying and now travelling to my thigh. I'm just scared it is more than WD :/ Seems most likely to be WD considering the circumstances.

I have an appointment with my doctor on Tuesday. Do you think I should stop the GABA all together tomorrow? I have no other meds a ail able ... Maybe I should go to A&E ... As four days is quite a long time to wait ... I don't know what to do :/

bunge said:
'Alien muscle rippling' was a great description though, made me chuckle. :-D
Click to expand...

Heh, it's what instantly sprung to mind ... It's vile :(
 
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What dosages of gabapentin have you been taking? "6 gabapentin" isn't a dose. With dosage and frequency of dosing information we'll be able to help you a lot more.
 
As NT said above we need an accurate dosage in order to help. Ie. How many mgs each tablet is and many hours apart you take them. What I can say though is there not designed to be taken as needed needed like paracetamol. They work by building up to a certain level in your blood (plasma concentration). Once the optimum level is found then you get pain relief and the relief continues as long as that level is maintained. That vastly simplified but is the general overview. You shouldnt stop the gabapentin, continue it as you have been recently but dont take more then usual to compensate as you could overdose. Tell us how much you have been taking and how often and how much your prescription tells you to take and how often. Your doctor should be soundly whipped if they didnt explain all this to you.lol

Sorry for leaving that post for you to tidy up NT. I should know better.lol
 
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I'm quite addled by this fog around me ... My responses are slowed and dulled, and while I'm normally very quick with thinking/acting/speaking I can hardly complete a sentence (nor be bothered to proof my posts, which are littered with typos - apologies and it's mostly my iPad to blame ;).

Normally I would have included the mg dosage ... I was advised to take six 300mg, but I really haven't followed that for weeks, taking two here, four there, sometimes none. I haven't been sensible and I wasn't informed of the way the tablet worked. I've been taking one in the morning for the past four days and that is all. I don't know what to do?
 
Confusion, disorientation and altered reflexes can be withdrawal symptoms of gabapentin. Your doctor is damn-well negligent for not explaining this to you. Especially when prescribing at that high a dose, I dont think your in any major danger but gabapentin WD can last for a couple of weeks. Your taper was too erratic to be completely effective and thats probably why your getting these symptoms. If you have any doubt about it being WD from the gabapentin then you should seek medical assistance just to be safe as some health conditions could also give those symptoms. If you feel that its the gabapentin for certain or that your symptoms arent bad enough to warrant emergency care then I would take 600mg in a split dose (thats 300mg twice a day, once in the morning and once in the late afternoon each day until you can ring or otherwise contact your doctor to gain his advice. If you start to feel your symptoms easing then it was the gabapentin WD. If your symptoms worsen at any time then seek medical assistance. you have to understand that since im not there to see you with my own eyes I cant say anything for certain. Also since you dont really know yourself how much you have been taking and how often it makes it even harder to judge a correct response.:-) how long have you had these symptoms?

Btw. Theres no need to apologize for the odd typo as I certainly dont.lol and your posts are composed better than many that ive previously read.
 
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I have had the spasms for a week, and the headaches for two days.

I think I will call NHS 24 tomorrow and see if I can talk to a doctor. I have a lot of other conditions going on, so I guess I must be sensible.

Thank you!
 
Ah, the good old NHS! Im UK aswell.lol since you live here in the land of free healthcare, it would easy enough to get an out of hours GP appointment and sensible aswell. I do think its likely to be WD but the docs will know more then me and might give you a bit of diazepam or similar to ease the symptoms. If theres anything else you want or need to discuss then you know where I am.:-) oh yeah and welcome to BL, theres alot of chronic pain patients here (including myself) so theres always good advice floating about. Also the Other Drugs forum has a large thread on pregabalin withdrawal and pregabalin is almost indentical to gabapentin so you might find some more info there. Hope your feeling better soon.
 
Hey Steph, i think muscle relaxants would be the answer to your problem, at least till Thursday when you'll visit your Dr. As a matter of fact, muscle relaxant is one of gabapentin action (among some others). Diazepam (valium), carisoprodol (soma) are some other MR, but i don't think you've to go so far, naprosyn (aleve, naproxen, etc) is one that could fit you, or baclofen, flexeril, ibuprofen, things like that..Anyway, i hope you soon will feel better...

MartinFn
 
^
The poster above made some good suggestions regarding MR diazepam and baclofen would be useful although the baclofen can cause vomiting at high doses and is contraindicated for use when WD from benzos due to increased seizure risk. Soma is a no-go as the OP is UK based and its not availiable here. I think cyclobenzaprine falls into the same catagory (though im not certain). diazepam would be the best option as it will help with the OP exsisting health problem as well as treating the gabapentin WD. The ibuprofen and naproxen im struggling to understand though. They arent muscle relaxants and while they will relieve some pain fron the damaged discs, they arent a good choice for muscle spasm and a worse choice during GABA withdrawal. ibuprofen will raise blood pressure and during any GABA WD blood pressure will already be raised due to excitation of the sympathetic nervous system causing a potentially risky 'double whammy' effect.
 
I was so busy today that I didn't call OoH and now that I'm back in the house and lying on my sofa, the spasms are going mental. I have loads of other health complaints, so I think I better call NHS24 either tonight or in the morning.

I really do not want to go on to any more medication, but I'm not sure I can stand the bubbling feeling :/

Thanks to everyone that has posted!
 
I would give them a ring and see if you can get a out of hours gp appt at your local hospital, its really easy. If it is muscle spasms then they might give you a little bit of diazepam to help til you see your own gp. If yours symptoms are what we think they are then diazepam would likely give instant relief. Either way, I would ring them just to be on the safe side. That is after all what the out of hours service is for.:-D keep checking in to let us know how your getting on please, I know it sounds daft but I will worry otherwise and I know that alot of the other people on here are the same as me.
 
Well, Gabapentin is a great muscle relaxant (along with Lyrica) that relaxes your muscles, especially helping decrease the muscle tone of a spasmodic muscle, so it's no surprise that its discontinuation would have the opposite effect, making your muscles so stiff they are tearing like "alien muscles."

Also, what the fuck is an alien muscle tear? ;) In this context, I'm guessing you're using alien by definition of something foreign or novel to you? If it's the latter (novel or unusual muscle spasms), then get back on Gabapentin and taper down, or at least get on a small dose of valium (5-10mg/day) and start tapering down, but don't do both. However if it's the former
alien.gif
, then please seek help!
 
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^LOL. I thought s/he just meant s/he could see the muscle rippling under the skin, appearing as though a tiny alien was trapped under the skin. My muscles often twitch of their own accord, I can be lying perfectly still and see one or more muscles in my leg rapidly contracting and releasing. If that is what the OP means, it is called Myoclonus, which is not in and of itself that worrisome. It can happen to anyone and is very common. If it seems directly caused by taking less gabapentin (which is very possible/likely) and it seems to be getting substantially worse, is painful, etc, then it would be a wise idea to raise the dose of the gabapentin up a little bit and then do a proper taper to gradually get off it. Which would probably be wisest anyway.

Here is a video of what it can look like (so that the OP can say if this is what they're experiencing). When it happens to me I don't usually get the kicking motion in my leg though (unless I have RLS induced by opioid withdrawal, which is a different thing I think), normally just the muscles rippling/twitching under the skin.

NOTE: Mute your speakers in advance so you don't have to be subjected to her horrible music.

 
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I saw my doctor and he said to quit the Gabapentin (I had gone down to one 300mg pill per day).

I did that and now I've broken out in a rash on my face and my hands ... My other doctor has said to go back onto 3 x 100mg of Gabapentin a day, after four days take one less and so on over a three week period until I'm off them completely. She thinks I didn't taper enough, which I knew.

However the rash is upsetting me ... Redness with a tight, drawing feeling and in a couple of places, minute lumps ... Like pinpricks. My hands have gone flakey and dry ... It's so odd. Has anyone had a withdrawal rash before?
 
"Alien muscle swimming" was descriptive only. I wasn't being literal!

It felt like a little alien was swimming under my skin, causing rippling etc. 8(
 
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