Misc Why do I have to take so much Gabapentin to get a decent effect?

[NarcoTerrorist]

I've been reading threads about Gabapentin and I'm reading about people getting effects on doses like anywhere from 1000mg-3000mg?

I am prescribed more than 6000 mg a day, and I don't notice anything. I personally have to take 50-75, 300mg Capsules to get a drunk/alcohol, effect similar to lyrica but more "hollow" and less intoxicating.

I have a pretty high Benzo tolerance, I just got down to 4mg of Ativan per day, and 2mg of Clonazepam per day. I used to be scripted 16mg of Ativan ,4mg of Clonazepam, and my tolerance was so high I would sometimes take 30-60 mg.

In order to get a buzz from Benzo's it takes about 8-12 of the 2mg Ativan, taken sublingually. Clonazepam gets me high, but I find it's so amnesic you don't even realize you are messed up when you are. When I take a big dose of Ativan, I get very cheery, talkative, intoxicated much like Alcohol in a pill, minus the the haze.

Could it be that because I have such a tolerance to Benzos I need tons of Gabapentin in order to get an effect?

I also had a pretty large tolerance to Zopiclone. I'd place Zopiclone pretty close to benzos. I used to take 30-60 (7.5mg tablets) of them at a time with 16+mg of ativan, and 300-400mg of Methadone and I would be totally screwed up. But still very conscious. I don't take Zopiclone anymore because I took 60 of them one night, and a bunch of Ativan/Clonazepam, and for some reason downed a 26er (1/5th) of vodka, and ended up blacking out and waking up in the hospital being held on a mental health/baker act type thing.

Could I have some sort of tolerance to GABAergics? I can drink like a fish when I do drink.. My tolerance is enormous, I quit drinking but drinking 40-50 ounces hard liquor was not unheard of in a night.

Is it dangerous to take alot of Gabapentin? I was under the impression it was not metabolized very much. My neurologist told me he had people on doses up to 20,000mg. He told me it was very safe because it wasn't appreciably metabolized. I know it's excreted renally so does that it still screw up your kidneys?

What I take when I take it is 50-75 of the 300 mg pills. that's like 150-225 grams. Seems excessive.

Am i insane?

 

[Znegative]

I'm going to close this thread, as BL isn't here to help you get the best high out of your medications.

That being said, gabapentin does not have a cross tolerance with benzodiazepines or Z-drugs, as it does not actually target GABA A receptors. The exact mechanism of action is not really understood. However, it is still dangerous to mix with other CNS depressants such as benzodiazepines and alchohol

As far as using high dosages, it's really a pointless thing to do. Gabapentin is kind of like buprenorphine, in that less is more. As you increase your dosage, the BioAvaillability decreases, so you're essentially wasting the drug.

You can also check out the Gabapentin Megathread for more information.