Gabapentinoids (Gabapentin) withdrawal, any advice?

[JackARoe]

That was 8 years ago and I've been on phenibut ever since, a few grams a night.

Ever since the blog I have been curious. But i have to admit, I would worry if you STOP doing drugs. Your body would give out. So glad you are still going strong.

This is one of the stranger threads. A lot of one hit wonders and arguing. Some say the withdrawal is either non existent or worse than opiate and benzzos together. However a lot of posters that say that are also on benzos?

A few observations I have had with people prescribed gabapentin and pregabalin. Most of the non BL people I know claim no effect from these drugs (other than initial dizziness) and no withdrawal from forgetting to take them. (like forget them on vacation). I get looked at sideways when I asked my aunt who takes 1200 mgs a day of gabapentin if she feels withdrawal.

To the contrary every single non BL benzo prescribed person feel like hell if they forget to take their meds. So that seems more clear cut.

Still find it interesting just how short the half-life of these drugs I would assume after 24 hours they are out of your system. Getting addicted seems to need more of a round the clock administration. Just a guess. I myself never took them daily nor every had any withdrawal from sporadic use. I take like 3000 mgs over the course of a month on a few separate occasions. I find myself taking less and less and even 300 mgs I can feel these days.

 

[soulwentmia]

I used to hate the times where I would only get 2 hours of sleep each night. When your in that situation you have to realize your Psychotic.

maybe there is something at the root of your insomnia that gabapentinoids fix? i'm sleeping like a rock and am very hard to wake up despite being day 5 of cold turkey. i'm very itchy tho

 

[Antares]

Insomnia during gabapentin withdrawal, both with minor or severe withdrawal, is way more common than hypersomnia.

 

[meeer]

logged in just to confirm this - and it applies to phenibut, baclofen and pregabalin too. the bad trip head space. found in benzos too sometimes. hope everyone here is doing good today, i'm entering day 5 of cold turkey tomorrow and it's like the 5th time this year. was much easier at first.

nausea (extreme), feeling mega annoyed and homicidal, lost, anxious, etc. first 3 days i was on the verge of an epileptic seizure for most of the day

Beware of withdrawal kindling if you aren't already, personally never had experienced it but have heard a fair bit about it.

 

[soulwentmia]

Beware of withdrawal kindling if you aren't already, personally never had experienced it but have heard a fair bit about it.

yes has happened already but didn't get THAT MUCH worse. it just feels worse because i'm closer to my breaking point from repeated "torture". tomorrow will be 7 days off gabapentin and i'm now stopping codeine. but knowing both drugs very well i can vouch saying that what's worse is behind me.

 

[meeer]

yes has happened already but didn't get THAT MUCH worse. it just feels worse because i'm closer to my breaking point from repeated "torture". tomorrow will be 7 days off gabapentin and i'm now stopping codeine. but knowing both drugs very well i can vouch saying that what's worse is behind me.

Ohh brother I bet, I too know them a lil to intimately. Glad to hear its almost all behind you and I wish you luck! There is not a whole lot of things In my life that I put above the feeling of being so in control of what I us to abuse legal or prescription or otherwise, not that I was ever completely lost composure I was incredibly functional.

But In one way or another the negatives found there way through if only financially as I refused to doctor shop, so any scripts I was paying premium at the time despite my connections. It took me a long time to also even want to kick the crazy use I was doing as I never had a active downfall of, losing a job or a loved one leaving or anything from my use, other than Id have to truly live pay to pay and Hussle illegal shit harder, I considered myself impossibly lucky.

Yet despite being seemingly one of the only ones who never took too much or got unluckily laced in all this time despite the insane shit amounts or what I have done, no OD's rarely ever none pure or even outside bought shit. The abuse of these what can be miracle substances in the right scenario is truly a fucking hellish place to be. Despite saying I was impossibly lucky, the body toll finally one day warned me to back the fuck off of everything, thankfully nothing really irreversible. Chronic pain simply worsening and actually needing daily Oxy use and a doctor so fourth, and one of the best friends and people in my entire life died last year from I believe laced street drugs. In a weird way its all just helped me respect and use everything better.

 

[soulwentmia]

Ohh brother I bet, I too know them a lil to intimately. Glad to hear its almost all behind you and I wish you luck! There is not a whole lot of things In my life that I put above the feeling of being so in control of what I us to abuse legal or prescription or otherwise, not that I was ever completely lost composure I was incredibly functional.

But In one way or another the negatives found there way through if only financially as I refused to doctor shop, so any scripts I was paying premium at the time despite my connections. It took me a long time to also even want to kick the crazy use I was doing as I never had a active downfall of, losing a job or a loved one leaving or anything from my use, other than Id have to truly live pay to pay and Hussle illegal shit harder, I considered myself impossibly lucky.

Yet despite being seemingly one of the only ones who never took too much or got unluckily laced in all this time despite the insane shit amounts or what I have done, no OD's rarely ever none pure or even outside bought shit. The abuse of these what can be miracle substances in the right scenario is truly a fucking hellish place to be. Despite saying I was impossibly lucky, the body toll finally one day warned me to back the fuck off of everything, thankfully nothing really irreversible. Chronic pain simply worsening and actually needing daily Oxy use and a doctor so fourth, and one of the best friends and people in my entire life died last year from I believe laced street drugs. In a weird way its all just helped me respect and use everything better.

Brother I'm happy you are at peace now with this side of you. It is truly a gut wrenching experience some times but in many many cases, mine included I'm afraid, it was either getting wrecked, addicted and hurt while slowly healing from things and meeting the real me OR it would have been some sort of suicide. That was where I was. And the way I was using the drugs it's obvious AF I didn't care if i died or anything like that. Started this path at about 14 with alchool and cigs, weed at 18, stimulants and psychs at 19-20 and after that benzo and opioid addiction with a detour back to stimulant abuse for the past year. I will be 28 next tear and only in the time being from let's say June-July of 2023 I have stopped wanting to die. It gets better we just have to hang on and wait to get a bit older and wiser.


And my condoleances for your friend, I lost one too July 2023. Amercian dude, we met on reddit recovery boards in 2020 ish and became penpals of sorts, he quit street fent and moved to Romania to do med school. Last summer he binged "to study" on dozens of grams of amph sulphate, went to california for a few weeks after and relapsed on some deadly shit. When I realised he wasn't replying to my texts for weeks AND he was depressed af coming down AND visiting the opioid OD mecca of the world, I instantly knew. I'm still trying to find acceptance in myself regarding his situation and he is just another proof that once you are a hardcore addict, just staying away from opioids will never work. Because every drug will remind you why you actually need and want opioids and not the other drugs. Wether it's the seemingly not big enough satisfaction, getting the jitters, bad comedown, depression, weed anhedonia, whatever it is man it will bring you to the point of relapse. And street opioids are russian roulette. Nitazenes and tranq started popping up in EU oxy now as well. We do have plenty of #3 heroin as well but I'm pretty sure it will become as rare if not more than what we see today in America.

 

[meeer]

Brother I'm happy you are at peace now with this side of you. It is truly a gut wrenching experience some times but in many many cases, mine included I'm afraid, it was either getting wrecked, addicted and hurt while slowly healing from things and meeting the real me OR it would have been some sort of suicide. That was where I was. And the way I was using the drugs it's obvious AF I didn't care if i died or anything like that. Started this path at about 14 with alchool and cigs, weed at 18, stimulants and psychs at 19-20 and after that benzo and opioid addiction with a detour back to stimulant abuse for the past year. I will be 28 next tear and only in the time being from let's say June-July of 2023 I have stopped wanting to die. It gets better we just have to hang on and wait to get a bit older and wiser.


And my condoleances for your friend, I lost one too July 2023. Amercian dude, we met on reddit recovery boards in 2020 ish and became penpals of sorts, he quit street fent and moved to Romania to do med school. Last summer he binged "to study" on dozens of grams of amph sulphate, went to california for a few weeks after and relapsed on some deadly shit. When I realised he wasn't replying to my texts for weeks AND he was depressed af coming down AND visiting the opioid OD mecca of the world, I instantly knew. I'm still trying to find acceptance in myself regarding his situation and he is just another proof that once you are a hardcore addict, just staying away from opioids will never work. Because every drug will remind you why you actually need and want opioids and not the other drugs. Wether it's the seemingly not big enough satisfaction, getting the jitters, bad comedown, depression, weed anhedonia, whatever it is man it will bring you to the point of relapse. And street opioids are russian roulette. Nitazenes and tranq started popping up in EU oxy now as well. We do have plenty of #3 heroin as well but I'm pretty sure it will become as rare if not more than what we see today in America.

I appreciate it greatly and my condolences also, but straight up its a depressing and sad thing and especially so young and out of nowhere, it can really take some time to move on from these things in any way and not stagnate. Even despite my situation I daily and seldom go a day without thinking about those gone over my life, so close and to many. That's in no way meant to instil a fear like the feeling wont go away or something, but the cliché of it just gets easier i would say is kind of spot on, at least IME. I'm also terribly sorry to hear how your experience was, I know some of my closest friends and one in particular was nearly identical to as you explain maybe just a little less hardcore with the drugs as early but still close. He is going great these days and has come such a long way and one day a few years ago now turned around and kind of lost the wanting to die attitude. I myself have been very accustomed to not caring if i do or don't but now so much specifically because of a drug(s). The 27 club looked real appealing at one point ill just say that. That being said it really can be done as you said, age and maturity comes wisdom and with time, those things can really (if used right and granted you can hardness enough self control), can really help straighten out your mind and with that your life.

As for the street drugs your all to right about that. Also not to get all ranting and so fourth but fuck shit like the war on drugs that now has fent in everything, nitazenes and the worlds just not the same anymore for users, abusers, dabblers or just someone wanting to have an experience. My heart truly goes out to the younger generation coming up wanting to experiment however crazy or tame, those who would of done just that, now are more likely to just drop dead. If things where even 1/1000th as cut as they are today when I was in my hardcore phase of just wanting to try everything except harder stimulants as they just never enticed me nor enjoyed the high, id be almost certainly dead.

I'm in Australia so our Heroin despite having dealt extremely heavy in the past and loving oxy and so fourth, never had the urge or temptation to try it, and only ever did meth stupidly to see what dragon someone i knew on it was chasing having had such null experiences on the purist coke imaginable tested and all, I always us to say my father must of done so many uppers in his day playing in bands and managing, self confessed he loved and lived a whole multi decade life on so before i even ever came around, and it was just always free and plentiful due to his position and so fourth. Sadly almost all the riches and anything built up was also gone before i was around haha.

I will say i am ecstatic to hear your doing better these days.