Misc My experience using Gabapentin for opiod withdrawals

I am posting to let others know how Gabapentin (Neurontin) worked for my cat while coming of off both Morphine and Oxycodone. For a background on the kitty, she has been using opioid based drugs for 10 years. She ran out of everything she had. On a Tuesday at 3PM, she took the last of her stash and her and I knew that life was going to really suck unless she found something to alleviate all of the nasty effects that were about to hit her like a train wreck. She was currently at 300mg a day on average of both Morphine and any type of Hydrocodone/Oxycodone she could find.

When she went to bed on Tuesday night at 9PM, I took a 600mg dose of Gabapentin and put it in her food. After laying in bed and feeling ok, she took another 600mg at midnight. 50 minutes later, she was out like a light and slept straight through until 8AM. When she woke up, she was a little groggy, but after a few cups of coffee, she was somewhat clear-headed and could function. She also took another 600mg at 8AM and another 300mg at 10AM for a total of 2100mg. Under normal circumstances, she would be edgy, lots of anxiety and any type of caffeine would have made her crazy at this point. The only thing that is even remotely close to bothering her is her legs. They have a very slight soreness to them, but nothing that stops her from functioning.

She is only 19 hours into this mess and the Morphine she took was time release, so it may take a little while longer until the demon rears its ugly head. In the last 5 years, she had never run out, as there was always SOMETHING out there? This time however, the party is over! She could have scored a bag of tar (heroin) but she always said could never shoot up, so smoking it would have been her only option. With my cats job, it would have been possible for her to stop every 4 hours or so and heat some up and chase the fun little dragon She decided that enough is enough. I will keep you all posted as to how she is doing and the entire experience she has with Gabapentin

Gabapentin works great. I am on day three and the last couple nights I took 1200mg at 6 and the 600mg at 7. I was out by 930 after feeling pretty damn good for about an hour. Slept through the whole night and actually felt great the next day, no groggyness or anything. During the day I just deal with it, luckily my habit isn't too extreme onlyabout 75-100mg of hydrocodone daily. All I can say is the gabapentin really helps out at night after work, especially with sleep.

OK, An update on my cat. She has been taking lots of Gabapentin. Around 3300mg a day. My cat slept great this first nite but is now going through a little bit of issues. Some Restless leg, insomnia and lots of emotional issues. She cries at the dumbest thing. While it is still a LOT better than nothing, there is still some evil coming through but it is much more manageable than flying solo without any help. She can watch TV and stay focused and also have a conversation without any issues. Under normal circumstances, this would NEVER be possible. I won't say it is a Godsend or end all issue cure, but it does really take the edge off. She does not have any stomach or diarrhea issues either. She is still running to the bathroom to pee every 5 minutes, but that always seems to be an issue when she is in this situation. I just wish she could sleep for a few hours, as it would make all the difference in the way she would feel!

I used gabapentin for buprenorphine/clonazepam withdrawal. It gave me a withdrawal afterward that was/is alot worse than the buprenorhpine and clonazepam COMBINED. It doesn't have to happen to you, most people shrug off gabapentin withdrawals as if they were nothing but I'm saying it anyway because I'd hate to see it happen to someone else.

Sounds like you're probably building up a tolerence because gabapentin is used to treat RLS. That is one of the Shitty things about it is that you're tolerence builds extremely quick, but a good thing is that the effects last a long time, so maybe try taking more at a time and staking that but fewer times a day. Promethazine really helps with sleep, it always puts me out. Also, if you have or can get some marijuana, that stuff really helps potentiate the gabapentin or the promethazine. Even by its self it really does wonders for the wd's.

Sounds like you're probably building up a tolerence because gabapentin is used to treat RLS. That is one of the Shitty things about it is that you're tolerence builds extremely quick, but a good thing is that the effects last a long time, so maybe try taking more at a time and staking that but fewer times a day. Promethazine really helps with sleep, it always puts me out. Also, if you have or can get some marijuana, that stuff really helps potentiate the gabapentin or the promethazine. Even by its self it really does wonders for the wd's.

As of today, I could no longer watch her suffer, so I had some Suboxone laying around and I gave her a dose. Since it was over 48hrs since her last dose of oxycodone/morphine, it worked. She did have a TERRIBLE headache for quite a few hours afterwards though. The RLS and the non-ability to get comfortable was getting worse by the minute and something had to be done. Once the Sub hit most of that went away and she actually slept for few hours last nite. I guess to sum it up, the Gabapentin worked pretty good for the first day and a little bit into the 2nd, but by the 36 hour mark, it's effects were diminishing rapidly. As much as I hate to say it, I am not going to encourage others that much with my experience. While I do know that everyone is different, my cat wasn't impressed that much. It looks like the next time this happens (because you know it will, my cat is an addict and a stupid moron), I am going to try the loperamide route. There have been quite a few people who swear it works?

Please dont use things like SWIM or "my cat". It is against the forum rules and makes it hard to read. Everybody knows its you^^

And I agree on Gabapentin as a great support medication for Opioid WD. But only short time.

Toz: have you ever thought that maybe it was the PAWS from the Benzo and Opioid WD rather than a Gabapentin WD? I mean Benzo and Bupre Withdrawl last loooong and so does the post-acute phase of both drugs. Just a thought because I still can't imagine that the one from Gaba could stay for a year+.
I know the Withdrawl exists and we have stated often that it differs immensely between people but I have not found any sources with that long time frame.

Sorry. I didn't read all the rules (imagine that?). Most other forums require that you not self incriminate? Anyways, It helped for the first 24hrs. After that, it did nothing but really mess up my system. I felt strange and kind of "spaced out" for 48hrs after my last dose of gabapentin. IMHO, it also messed up the effects of the suboxone for the same amount of time. It is only today that I am starting to feel like a human being again (Thank God, as I have to MC a fundraising event today with over 500 people attending!!). I have no clue what I would have done without having the sub laying around?

One more thing, I also had strange joint pains and some really weird muscle issues. They have now gone away, but I thought it was worth noting?

How long is it safe to take gabepentin/pregabalin for before it starts becoming a potential problem to get off in its own right ?

Im currently coming off bupe, and have been using pregabalin a lot more than the once or twice a month i used to use it. In fact im using it 2 days running, trying to leave it a few days before taking more, but it helps so much. The last thing i want is a new and 3rd dependency to top off benzo and opiate depedency. I would guess prega is very similar to benzos in its risk profile, is that right ?

Id love to take some more right now, but am trying to hold off.

DickTate said:

Please dont use things like SWIM or "my cat". It is against the forum rules and makes it hard to read. Everybody knows its you^^

And I agree on Gabapentin as a great support medication for Opioid WD. But only short time.

Toz: have you ever thought that maybe it was the PAWS from the Benzo and Opioid WD rather than a Gabapentin WD? I mean Benzo and Bupre Withdrawl last loooong and so does the post-acute phase of both drugs. Just a thought because I still can't imagine that the one from Gaba could stay for a year+.
I know the Withdrawl exists and we have stated often that it differs immensely between people but I have not found any sources with that long time frame.

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Nope it is not, tried reinstating both, it did fuck all. 3x 300mg gabapentin pills however, cures all symptoms. or at least it would over a year ago, who knows now.