Started Gabapentin

[oldravergaz]

Hi all,

I've been suffering from bad Siatica which has been getting significantly worse. My doctor has prescribed me Gabapentin. I'm on 200mg 3 times a day & after couple of weeks its helping a lot. If I wake up in the morning with it, it soon eliminates it.
I'm just worried about the addictive side of it as read some horror stories like you do. Would it at this dose be hard to taper off of when the time comes & is it really that addictive?
I don't intend to go any higher & can't say I'm happy with the side effects. Seems to demotivate me & feel lazy. Also weight gain is a bit of concern as I've been packing on a bit lately as it is.

 

[rplate81]

I have been prescribed Gabapentin and Lyrica. I was prescribed Gaba first. I had been taking Gaba daily for months and, coming off 300 CT, I was fine with no WDs. 900mg CT. I did have some problems, but all I did was drop it to 300mg for a week, then stop taking it, and I was fine. You might need to taper a bit, but probably will be fully off in a couple of of weeks. Everyone is different though. It makes you a lot more hungry, so if you can somehow keep your appetite in check, then you shouldn't gain any, but I don't believe that it would cause weight gain if you are still consuming the same amount of calories as before.


The problem with both meds for myself and almost anyone else that I've seen post on here is that after about 4 days of ongoing use, they seem to just stop working. I have sort of been able to get around this by taking my Lyrica every other day. I honestly do not think that they helped with my pain. Lyrica gives me a bit of a head change/buzz, which puts me in a better mood and gives me more confidence to keep being as physically active as possible, which to me is very important.

 

[evo4ever]

Hi all,

I've been suffering from bad Siatica which has been getting significantly worse. My doctor has prescribed me Gabapentin. I'm on 200mg 3 times a day & after couple of weeks its helping a lot. If I wake up in the morning with it, it soon eliminates it.
I'm just worried about the addictive side of it as read some horror stories like you do. Would it at this dose be hard to taper off of when the time comes & is it really that addictive?
I don't intend to go any higher & can't say I'm happy with the side effects. Seems to demotivate me & feel lazy. Also weight gain is a bit of concern as I've been packing on a bit lately as it is.

Gabapentinoids like Gabapentin, Pregabalin, and Phenibut (except Baclofen) are known to be mildly addictive but they're nothing like Benzo or Opioid addiction not even close.

 

[rplate81]

Hi all,

I've been suffering from bad Siatica which has been getting significantly worse. My doctor has prescribed me Gabapentin. I'm on 200mg 3 times a day & after couple of weeks its helping a lot. If I wake up in the morning with it, it soon eliminates it.
I'm just worried about the addictive side of it as read some horror stories like you do. Would it at this dose be hard to taper off of when the time comes & is it really that addictive?
I don't intend to go any higher & can't say I'm happy with the side effects. Seems to demotivate me & feel lazy. Also weight gain is a bit of concern as I've been packing on a bit lately as it is.

Oh and yeah I was prescribed both meds for really bad sciatica that I got in the summer of 2023 when I accidently did the splits skateboarding. I got lucky and ended up getting it both legs yay!! Apparently that is rare. Anyways I have been struggling since then with sciatica and back problems. I have ended up in the ER twice because of my spine/sciatica. I have MRI's; 3 herniations, DDD, stenosis, and other things. I also found out that I have pretty bad scoliosis.