Some positive changes have helped my PAWS Gabapentin Question

FordRiverFailed

Bluelighter
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Feb 19, 2010
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In the middle of the tunnel, I think I see a light
So I've made some real lifestyle changes after coming off of Suboxone somewhere around 60 Days ago, I lost count but that's pretty close. At first, all I did was lay in bed. I used to play video games, loved them, built my own computers and stuff. Now I look at things I loved just a few months back and it's like, "Why did I ever like this?". I know that I'm still in here somewhere, and I know my brain is going through changes, and that even though I don't feel great, that means I'm healing.

The changes I've made were lifestyle changes, I cut out red meat, limited caffeine (trying to stop totally), limited processed sugar (it's in everything?!?), and I do some circuit training for at least 45 minutes a day no excuses. Later, I soak in an epsom salt bath. Mmm, lavander. I also really recommend that for any stage of, well I guess, any withdrawal.

Meds I'm on right now:
2mg Clonazepam x2 Daily (I don't always take both, but often do)
.25mg Triazolam x1 at Night

And that's it folks. I have access to Gabapentin or Neurotin, legally prescribed with basically unlimited refills. They gave me this when I had my benzos stolen a few months ago. I have generalized anxiety disorder so they also gave me Hydroxyzine HCL, which is just an antihistamine but I'll admit I don't know if it's useful or not.

Anyway TL;DR I have Gabapentin and Hydroxyzine prescribed to me. Am I wasting these by just letting them sit in my drawer?

Thanks guys,
FRF
 
Congrats for staying sober!

Seems to me that you are doing great considering that there has been only two months from your quitting.

You can't be forever on those benzos or atleast you have to up your dosage.

Pregabalin, which is pretty much the same as gabapentin, is precribed here for GAD and might provide better long term solution than clonazepam. Might talk about switching clonazepam into it with your doctor. Atleast for me pregabalin has been a mood lifter and did better job for depression and non acute anxiety than any benzos although it was prescribed for neuropathic pain along with opiates.

Hydroxyzine is my preferred sleeping aid as I try not to take benzos or z-drugs anymore. If it is prescribed for insomnia then I would suggest trying it for sleep as it is way better in long term than any benzos or z-drugs for sleep.

These are just my views and are biased by the fact that I have had problems with benzos before and those might as well work for you even as a long term solution if you haven't had any problems with them before but I would still ve careful.
 
Kudos for getting off Suboxone! I have a few questions. What are your goals? Are you trying to get off of all addictive medications or are you just trying to stay off of suboxone? What are your plans with the benzos - are you fine where you're at or are you going to eventually want to taper off of them? It sounds like the gabapenton and hydroxyine were prescribed as a substitution for your benzos for when you were without the benzos, which if your end goal is to be off of addictive medications I would not take them while taking the benzos. However, if you plan of tapering off of the benzos they may come in handy during that process, though I would recommend discussing it with your doctor. Gabapenton is not without its own risks, as I've read reports where it becomes somewhat habit forming and also has its own set of withdrawals, however, it has assisted many in facilitating withdrawal from other substances. Not knowing the answers to the questions I asked makes it hard to give you an answer, as I am not certain if your asking if they have recreational value or can facilitate stopping benzos, or if you want to take them with the benzos.
 
Congrats for staying sober!

Seems to me that you are doing great considering that there has been only two months from your quitting.

You can't be forever on those benzos or atleast you have to up your dosage.

Pregabalin, which is pretty much the same as gabapentin, is precribed here for GAD and might provide better long term solution than clonazepam. Might talk about switching clonazepam into it with your doctor. Atleast for me pregabalin has been a mood lifter and did better job for depression and non acute anxiety than any benzos although it was prescribed for neuropathic pain along with opiates.

Hydroxyzine is my preferred sleeping aid as I try not to take benzos or z-drugs anymore. If it is prescribed for insomnia then I would suggest trying it for sleep as it is way better in long term than any benzos or z-drugs for sleep.

These are just my views and are biased by the fact that I have had problems with benzos before and those might as well work for you even as a long term solution if you haven't had any problems with them before but I would still ve careful.

Thank you, I will take this warning to heart. I haven't had problems with any other drug aside from opiates/opioids in my life as of yet, but I do plan to ween off of the benzos as my Psychiatrists discretion whenever he says it's time. I will discuss taking pregablin with him, as my addiction specialist prescribed the neurotin (Gabapentin). Not sure I mentioned it to him.
 
Kudos for getting off Suboxone! I have a few questions. What are your goals? Are you trying to get off of all addictive medications or are you just trying to stay off of suboxone? What are your plans with the benzos - are you fine where you're at or are you going to eventually want to taper off of them? It sounds like the gabapenton and hydroxyine were prescribed as a substitution for your benzos for when you were without the benzos, which if your end goal is to be off of addictive medications I would not take them while taking the benzos. However, if you plan of tapering off of the benzos they may come in handy during that process, though I would recommend discussing it with your doctor. Gabapenton is not without its own risks, as I've read reports where it becomes somewhat habit forming and also has its own set of withdrawals, however, it has assisted many in facilitating withdrawal from other substances. Not knowing the answers to the questions I asked makes it hard to give you an answer, as I am not certain if your asking if they have recreational value or can facilitate stopping benzos, or if you want to take them with the benzos.

Goals: First, to stay off of opiates because those were the only drug that, if left unchecked, would have certainly killed me or isolated me from my family.
Second, I have made the decision to suspend all other drug use, limiting even caffeine and alcohol, the acception being benzos as they are prescribed by a psychiatrist, and dispensed by my family. They are not in my possession at all.
Third, yes I don't want to take benzos for the rest of my life, but I was diagnosed with GAD before I was ever an addict. My psychiatrist is afraid that, if left unchecked, my anxiety would make me relapse. Not sure if I would, right now my brain has not felt ANY cravings at all (is that unusual?).

Plans with benzos:
Do what my therapist, addiction specialist, an psychiatrist say to do. If that means stay on them, then stay on them, if they say taper off, I will taper off.

You are correct, I was arrested and my benzos were confiscated, but so was my suboxone. I was withdrawing of both and they saw that as dangerous. Therefore, neurotin.

To you last question, I am still having a ton of trouble sleeping. A direct question, would taking just 600mg along with my normal benzo dose (which I don't always take all of) at night be risky? I do not plan to take the Gabapentin every night at all. Just on nights where the PAWS are making me ride an invisible bicycle. I would eventually like the aid of them later, so no I would not take them daily. They are also locked up, I can only get them if I ask my family.
 
I have to say I'm impressed! You have a solid plan and support team - that's fantastic! You are in a great position for continued success.

Several people mix benzos and gabapenton, usually to alleviate anxiety, though I know gabapenton works wonders for restless legs when going through opiate withdrawal. I'm not certain if it would be just as effective when mixed with benzos as they have similar mechanisms, and there is conflicting evidence online. Unfortunately, I have never personally tried gabapenton so I have no first hand experience to draw from.

I did query the net for the combination and many people actually take 600mg gabapenton with their benzos for anxiety. I did see the general dosage of gabapenton for restless legs to be half that, at 300mg. I couldn't find that combination referenced for restless legs, but you may want to consider trying 300mg. If you started any new medications after you got your prescription for gabapenton you may want to research the combination to ensure there are no dangerous interactions. Benzos and gabapenton themselves should be fine. If you take the gabapenton, you may want to also consider slightly decreasing the amount of benzos you take with it, as gabapenton seems to enhance benzos.

I'm sorry I don't have a definitive answer for you. Again, kudos on your 60 days off of suboxone, and good luck through the rest of your journey!
 
I have to say I'm impressed! You have a solid plan and support team - that's fantastic! You are in a great position for continued success.

Several people mix benzos and gabapenton, usually to alleviate anxiety, though I know gabapenton works wonders for restless legs when going through opiate withdrawal. I'm not certain if it would be just as effective when mixed with benzos as they have similar mechanisms, and there is conflicting evidence online. Unfortunately, I have never personally tried gabapenton so I have no first hand experience to draw from.

I did query the net for the combination and many people actually take 600mg gabapenton with their benzos for anxiety. I did see the general dosage of gabapenton for restless legs to be half that, at 300mg. I couldn't find that combination referenced for restless legs, but you may want to consider trying 300mg. If you started any new medications after you got your prescription for gabapenton you may want to research the combination to ensure there are no dangerous interactions. Benzos and gabapenton themselves should be fine. If you take the gabapenton, you may want to also consider slightly decreasing the amount of benzos you take with it, as gabapenton seems to enhance benzos.

I'm sorry I don't have a definitive answer for you. Again, kudos on your 60 days off of suboxone, and good luck through the rest of your journey!

No that was more helpful than you know, just from the support side alone. Yes, I'm so lucky to have an understanding family. Sure, they were pissed at first, like any parent would be, but they actually sat down and listened. Asking the right questions. So, they got me to a doctor about 8 months ago and here we are. Yeah I'm still under house arrest, but Im fine with it. After six years of heroin addiction I was going to die pretty young so I'm happy to comply with whatever makes them feel at ease.

Last night I took 600mg and it did help my anxiety but oddly enough you're right, it didn't help my restless legs which is what I was after. 300mg it is. I'll let you know how that works out. Also, I'm going to take half my benzos today to be on the safe side. Thanks.
 
Not a bump, a word of caution for Harm Reduction Purposes.

I took my benzos as normal (listed above), should have taken half the dose, and took 300mg Gabapentin for my restless legs and 25mg Hydroxyzine PAM to go to sleep. This was working, ehh ok at best and after tossing and turning for an hour so I took another 300mg tablet in hopes it would just make me sleepy. Instead, I felt totally fine, but now I'm wired for some reason. My PAWS are totally in check, but it does not at all make my drowsy, I felt at the time as if I had just drank 2 cups of coffee. After another 30 minutes of rolling around in the dark listening to Queens of the Stone Age, I hit the fridge because I was thirsty.

Here's the harm reduction part, I grabbed a Corona, studied Spanish all my life, and was like hey you missed cinco de mayo, one beer wont be so bad. Well, it might have been if I had finished it. Halfway though I started feeling way more restless, and now intoxicated. Foolish mistake on my part I know, just wasn't really paying attention. I'm clean off of Subs and Opiates, but never had any problems with drinking too much alcohol so I still have a beer every now and again. Probably not a good idea when trying new medication and I've been around the block enough times to be smarter about stuff like that.

TL;DR I have drank a beer or two with my prescribed dose of benzos no problem, I'm not a big drinker and not a daily one, but mixed with Gabapentin it feels like these three types of drugs, alcohol, gabapentin, and clonazepam and halcion are a perfect storm of feeling crazy drunk but WIDE AWAKE at the same time. Glad I stopped in time. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to listen to my vinyls if I'm going to be wired and tired too. (Band reference for ya, but accurate to my state)

Conclusion, I do not feel that I am in any danger, I just feel like I popped a 30mg instant release adderall which is not at all what these drugs seem like they would do together. Maybe someone smarter than I can explain the paradoxical reaction.

Thanks to those that commented and anyone who comments in the future on this, you guys rock,
FRF
 
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Ouch - sorry to hear that you were wired. It's possible that the hydroxyine causes that feeling. Antihistamines have always wired me. When I was in rehab the first time they gave me visteral for sleep and I was bouncing off the walls. On the other hand, it could also be the beer. Alcohol used to make me hyper which is one of the pitfalls for my over consumption. I would have one or two drinks and be ready to start the night. Alcohol also interferes with he sleep cycle in a major way. Try taking the gabapenton one to two hours before bed, and then taking your benzos as usual. I wouldn't skip the benzo dose for fear of risking superfluous anxiety.
 
As for the cravings those might not exist because you seem be surrounded by people who love you and you seem to have a life which you can live without being unhappy all the times.

I have struggled with cravings a lot because I didn't at first have things to do and my social life wasn't too good either. Now I have been dating a girl who I have known for few years and she finally noticed that I might want to try if something deeper than friendship might work for us. At the same time a long time friend of mine and a former subordinate is staying at my home for a while as she is currently quitting drug use after an amphetamine binge which ended a bit badly. I have also started again some hobbies of mine such as Warhammer 40K, playing bass and fixing cars.

Currently my cravings are pretty much gone during days but at night when I go to bed and try to sleep I tend to stay awake and think about drugs and how I would feel after taking more than my tapering schedule allows and how I could get more. It doesn't help at all that on these latitudes sun won't get lower than 12' degrees below horizon so there is just dusk instead of a real night until fall and soon there won't be even dusk for a while.

I remember reading that someone on bluelight was about to go to detox for three months which cost 120.000 USD and he would get a new Camaro if he finishes his detox without using and his family was paying for all that. I would say that your parents are doing a lot better than that guys parents as your parents seem to give time for you as they are taking care of dispensing prescribed amounts of drugs to you and such instead of just trying to deal through those issues with money.

I hope you got some sleep after all. Hydroxyzine (not hydrazine as I accidentally wrote, which is rocket fuel :) ) along with beer caused pretty rough feeling atleast for me and I try to avoid using alcohol at all these days.
 
Ouch - sorry to hear that you were wired. It's possible that the hydroxyine causes that feeling. Antihistamines have always wired me. When I was in rehab the first time they gave me visteral for sleep and I was bouncing off the walls. On the other hand, it could also be the beer. Alcohol used to make me hyper which is one of the pitfalls for my over consumption. I would have one or two drinks and be ready to start the night. Alcohol also interferes with he sleep cycle in a major way. Try taking the gabapenton one to two hours before bed, and then taking your benzos as usual. I wouldn't skip the benzo dose for fear of risking superfluous anxiety.

Thanks, and it's good to know now it was the hydroxyzine PAM and not the Gabapentin because it really does help on the rough days (I don't take it daily). As for your idea of how and when to dose, that is what I will do today and report back.

Thanks for all the love and support, this is why I'm a bluelighter and will always be one,
FRF
 
As for the cravings those might not exist because you seem be surrounded by people who love you and you seem to have a life which you can live without being unhappy all the times.

I have struggled with cravings a lot because I didn't at first have things to do and my social life wasn't too good either. Now I have been dating a girl who I have known for few years and she finally noticed that I might want to try if something deeper than friendship might work for us. At the same time a long time friend of mine and a former subordinate is staying at my home for a while as she is currently quitting drug use after an amphetamine binge which ended a bit badly. I have also started again some hobbies of mine such as Warhammer 40K, playing bass and fixing cars.

Currently my cravings are pretty much gone during days but at night when I go to bed and try to sleep I tend to stay awake and think about drugs and how I would feel after taking more than my tapering schedule allows and how I could get more. It doesn't help at all that on these latitudes sun won't get lower than 12' degrees below horizon so there is just dusk instead of a real night until fall and soon there won't be even dusk for a while.

I remember reading that someone on bluelight was about to go to detox for three months which cost 120.000 USD and he would get a new Camaro if he finishes his detox without using and his family was paying for all that. I would say that your parents are doing a lot better than that guys parents as your parents seem to give time for you as they are taking care of dispensing prescribed amounts of drugs to you and such instead of just trying to deal through those issues with money.

I hope you got some sleep after all. Hydroxyzine (not hydrazine as I accidentally wrote, which is rocket fuel :) ) along with beer caused pretty rough feeling atleast for me and I try to avoid using alcohol at all these days.

Hey my father owns and autobody shop and I play drums and guitar! Those are great hobbies to keep your mind off of things. Instead of cravings, I'm battling boredom. I would just get a job, but my family wants me to wait for my court date (yeah, went six years with no run ins, but it caught up to me). I'm not mad I got pinched though, although being naked for three days in solitary withdrawing off of heroin wasn't my best few days. It did however make me decided to bite the bullet when I got home and just do it. That was somewhere around 62 to 65 days ago! (Sorry, go me, I'm trying to keep complimenting myself).

I'm sorry to hear that you are going though cravings like that, I can't even imagine how much harder that makes the whole process, because it's hard enough. Actually, it's probably the hardest thing there is. But since you said you're feeling cravings, does that mean you're clean? If so, great job my friend! You're a machine! Look at how far you've come then turn arouond and look forward and what you can do now. Like, get on a plane without freaking about TSA (I will not elaborate on how I did that once).

I'm a gamer too, if you game on steam, hit me up I'll give you my handle. We can play some games and stuff. And as for fixing cars (or anything) you have a mind like mine I'm guessing. You liked those things, but now they seem a million miles away. If you make yourself do them for an hour a day, for 28 days, that's how long it takes to create a good habit and have your brain remember it. I've been forcing myself to play guitar or video games for one hour a day, then exercise or read a book for one hour a day. So far I've kept it up for a week and I must say I do feel better, although it's VERY hard getting started.

You must live way up there, I'd invest in some black out windows. I actually got some and I don't live so far North. That way, if I have a panic attack or something (I have GAD), I close the blinds, put on calming music, and get as comfortable as I can. Even if you can't sleep, it's important to rest during that period. Eventually your mind will pick on on it's circadian rhythm again.

You could not be more right in your fourth paragraph, yes I am so very lucky. My parents are not super rich, but we live comfortably on a farm with lots of land. There are two houses, normally I'd be more on my own, but they're keeping an eye on my because when I was an addict...well...I was a wily bastard for sure. And yes, my meds are in a gunsafe that only my dad can open. He leaves out my morning dose of Clonazepam each morning, when he gets home around 5PM I get my night time dose and Halcion. I try to take as little as I can, but I must admit I sometimes take the full prescribed amount.

I actually got great sleep, I lifted weights until about 3 a.m. and crashed like a baby. My arms are killing me, haha, but I gotta say best sleep I've had in 65ish days (wish I could remember the exact number). Haha, yeah I caught that and it was pretty funny. Thanks for the laugh, it left like I drank rocket fuel after I took that hydroxyzine pam though for sure. And I do plan to avoid alcohol. I've never had a problem with any drug but opiates, but I am aware of the "switching addictions" phenomenon and right now, your right it's just not worth it.

Now to you, You've done great man. You have the right mindset. I think you can pull it off, just be careful of being around users at all. I had to cut almost all of my friends out of my life, which to be honest was harder than quitting the drug. I cannot be around them. During my taper, my only relapse was because I got back around those friends, and even just the environment made me want to use. Like, just sitting in his house, is that possible?

Thank you for the earnest and caring responses guys, again, this is why I'm a bluelighter, much love and respect,
FRF

P.S. I was studying Spanish/pharmacology/neurology/biochemistry and cellular molecular biology for a years in college actually (but I sure as hell don't know everything). I was more into what illicit drugs did and they actually let me study that in University as well. My "knowledge" eventually bit me in the ass though, I was a big psychedelics user, and started using opiates for the comedown and the rest is a long painful history. If I can help out, or just give people some encouragement, I'm happy to do so.

Cheers to all us crazy bastards, and I mean that in an endearing way.
 
My doc told me gabapentin makes you sleepy.

It eventually did, I've now learned though that it takes around 900mg to make me sleepy but the catch is, it takes two or three hours before it works that way. Before that it acts as an anxiolitic sorry for spelling, it stops anxiety. The reason it makes a person like me wired is I have generalized anxiety disorder, same thing happens if you give me a benzo. I get wired because my anxiety is gone.

Gabapentin would work wonders for people with withdrawal, or PAWS, I know first hand because I took it during both. However, if you want to use it for sleep and you have anxiety, (this is my experience, not fact) I think it should be taken 2 to 3 hours before you actually want to lay down. It seems to work better that way for sleep and RLS. Again, this is just how it worked for me, everyones brain chemistry is different, and the benzos I take may be affecting it.

To recap, it wired me up for 2 or 3 hours, then I crashed, I could feel it make me sleepy, my legs stopped kicking, and I was anxiety free. It seems to be a timing issue.

That being said, I cannot understand how invaluable this medication was to me during acute withdrawal, I even got a little sleep because of it! Is it a miracle drug as some claim...well...sort of? It coveres a good number of symptoms that people in withdrawal often get, and it seems to cover the more annoying and painful ones, like RLS, Insomnia, and anxiety. All things that can cause a relapse in acute withdrawal. So wonderdrug status? Maybe? Pregablin might be better, but higher chance of it being habit forming.

The other BIG symptom it helped me with was crawling skin. Don't know if it will stop that for everyone, but it stopped that for me as well as all the other things I listed. The other big plus? Most doctors aren't afraid to prescribe it. It isn't known to be all that habit forming. My doctor knows I'm an addict in recovery and quickly wrote that with no hesitation. I mean, I had to walk her though what withdrawal even was (emergency care clinic) but once she understood she was happy to write it saying something like, "this is a very safe drug, hard to overdose, and not very habit forming".
 
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It's an informative thread - no need to close it ;)

ETA - I'm glad the gabapenton is helping you FordEiverFailed. I wish I had known about it going through my withdrawal. Keep us posted!
 
It's an informative thread - no need to close it ;)

ETA - I'm glad the gabapenton is helping you FordEiverFailed. I wish I had known about it going through my withdrawal. Keep us posted!

Thank you for your kind words Benzo Girl, so much more helpful than you may realize, and a great way to start a day,
Oh and it usually is prescribed for Benzodiazepine/Alcohol withdrawal, not sure if that's what you DOC was, just guessing based of your name, but in truth, I can't imagine any type of withdrawal it would not help in some way and to some degree. It's considered very safe, you can take a ton of them, and considered to be very mildly addictive at most. Lyrica or Pregablin, has more abuse potential, but it does work better I can say from experience, however I actually prefer gabapentin because you don't need to take it everyday if you don't want to.

So I ran an experiment last night based on my previous hypothesis that the Gabapentin should be taken 2 - 3 hours before you would like to go to sleep. This worked perfectly! It was all a timing issue. Since I don't take them during the day, there probably isn't much left over concentration wise 24 hours later (Think the half-life is 30 hours? Not sure). So each time I was dosing, it was sort of like introducing my brain to it totally fresh. I think that's why it caused me to be wired for a few hours, my anxiety would go away and therefore I would want to do things. Play video games, I'm writing a harm reduction initiative for my state, etc.

When I'm feeling very anxious, well it's sad, but I pretty much go fetal and hope the world explodes so I don't have to deal with it. My Generalized Anxiety Disorder is of the sever kind. Without proper medication I have full blown panic attacks and will break out in hives on my hands. Benzodiazepines have been a necessary evil for me since the age of 14, and I am now 26. I've never abused them or been addicted to them, luckily, because they are kind of like a lifeline. That's the reason I have my family lock them up and dispense them as the label says.

On a side note, some my find this interesting, I've never had to up my dose of Clonazepam. In fact, I was taking 6mg/day and I requested to be taking 4mg/day. My psychiatrist said I may be in the category of people where I may grow tolerant to the "feeling" of benzos but I don't seem to grow tolerant to the anxiolitic effects, even after years. Anyone heard of this phenomenon? I'm sure he's not wrong, he's a good Psychiatrist not some candy man handing out things willy nilly. Plus he is working with the other two doctors, an addiction specialist who did my suboxone taper, and my therapist.

Unimportant, this is a just a cautionary tale:
Although, my taper was interrupted when I was arrested for Suboxone...something at the time I was literally prescribed...Sorry I'm still mad, and then spent 3 days naked in solitary. There reason for coming? I was beaten senseless by an old drug dealer who was mad he wasn't getting my business. He was kind enough to put me unconscious in the back of my car and throw some drugs in there too. But, they couldn't search my car until they saw, you guessed it, a Suboxone strip I was allowed to have. I was so concussed from getting hit with that pipe, I could have done a better job of fending them off, but se la vi.

The moral of the story? Stay away from the people you KNOW you need to stay away from. In my case, if they won't stay away from you? Get a restraining order. It's worth it. Because the next time I get hit in the head with a pipe...or was it a crowbar...I'll post a picture if y'all want my face was jacked, whoops I digress. The next time that guy hurts me or tries to hurt me, he will be the one breaking a serious law. Hopefully that will deter him.

And yes, as you can imagine, a crowbar to the side of the head and then face does pretty real damage, I asked for medical, and they laughed in my face. Believe it or not, I'm meeting with the Mayor to discuss the Opioid epidemic (that's just what they call it here) and police negligence as the reason no one trusts enough to call them during and OD situation. Narcan cannot even be carried in ambulances here. It's a joke, I'm going to do all I can to change it.
 
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