• Select Your Topic Then Scroll Down
    Alcohol Bupe Benzos
    Cocaine Heroin Opioids
    RCs Stimulants Misc
    Harm Reduction All Topics Gabapentinoids
    Tired of your habit? Struggling to cope?
    Want to regain control or get sober?
    Visit our Recovery Support Forums

Benzos Gabapentin bad, scary, realistic... nightmares!?

Methacodone

Bluelighter
Joined
Sep 25, 2014
Messages
1,430
I havn't taken gabapentin in months cuz of this very reason, it gives me realistic bad nightmares where I yell in real life and not knowing it, having my sister and mom wake me up while YELLING in my dream is embarrassing and I hate it!

Another weird part, like 10% of the time in my dreams while on gabapentin feel good, like going to magical palaces and be able to fly bla bla LOL for real though, but 90% DEF. outweighs the 10%!

Does it happen to any of you guys? who use gabapentin?

I made this a prefix of benzos because I relapsed stupidly less than a month ago and already tapering. right now im only on 5mg valium and 1 mg Ativan.

And Gabapentin got me off Benzo's last time... I just HAD to go thru those nightmares, or else relapse cuz I had nothing else. Possibly seizure and shit.. that was 8 months straight tho right now, less than a month.

I have Hydroxyzine and Promethazine (Phenergan) to help me though. Light anxiety, Nausea/Vomiting, insomnia...taken care of with those!
 
I have not noticed a change in my sleep from Gabapentin. I take assloads of it. It does help me sleep and sometimes I wake up still buzzed, but no scary, realistic dreams.
 
Idk man, ever since I stopped taking them, I don't feel the urge to take them for anything anymore, really. It sacred me, which was odd, because a friend of mine let me try a Seroquel years back the same thing with that. Very weird!

I have 2 huge bottles of them.. Since I stopped months ago. I have over 200 300mg pills I believe. I'm also in the middle of a benzo taper.. un likely for a seizure (The relapse was just 3 weeks), but just in that case I'd take Gabapentin. Because it's RX'd for the exact of epilepsy, which is as needed of course. I hope I wont have to need them..

But like I said I'm thankful to have Phenergan (promethazine) 25mg's, have lots of those and love them. They help me with everything. Take away Nausea/Vomiting, good for insomnia, good for any w/d, etc. etc. Promethazine has always been a god send to me. Along with my Hydroxyzine, REALLY helps with any w/d.. Helps with anxiety, also helps you sleep, pain, light sedation, etc.

So I should be good, fuck benzo's NEVER AGAIN! I already have an opiate problem on methadone. Damn benzo's need to goooo!
 
Last edited:
Methacodone, l take 90, 300mg gabapentin capsules a month on top of 60, 150mg Lyrica caps, Klonopin and Ambien. It sounds like, a) Gabapentin is just not for you, b) the combination of Gabapentin and Benzodiazepines are too much, or c) you might have some deep down shit going on that the downer type of medicine is bring out. Really it could be anything. I've been on these medicines a long time.
I suggest that you give the medicine a break and see if that relieves your night terrors/nightmares. If your prescribed it for a reason, talk to your doctor about getting something else. Remember, Lyrica is basically a stronger form of gabapentin so that might not be an option.
 
I've talked with a good amount of people, and the consensus seems to be that benzo withdrawal can give you nightmares. I've also personally experienced bad, extremely intense/realistic dreams from benzo w/d. If you're currently tapering off benzos, I'd bet my money that's what's causing it.

I've been on Gabapentin (900mg/day) for a while now and I haven't noticed it effecting my dreams in any way. Who knows though, everyone's different.
 
Be careful with this drug! Many, if not all opiates increase blood levels of gabapentin when used concurrently. This can cause you to wake up in the ER or worse...never wake up!!
 
In my experience, I find drugs that increase the amount of gaba or are gaba agonists will cause lucid dreams in many cases. What happens in the dreams is often mostly psychological with little physical influence on the content, however the physical influence of benzo withdrawal causes anxiety, increased feelings of fears and the like along with depression which all effect the psyche.

From my personal experience and knowledge, I would think that your gaba-ergic systems are a bit whacked right now, you may not be feeling many physical symptoms of wd, but many psychological symptoms or vice-versa... I wouldn't think that they would be anything to worry about at the moment. If they continued for well over a month after wd is over and after quitting all gaba-ergic drugs, then I'd seek help from a psychiatrist.

When I take benzos and/or gabapentin, I often experience very lucid dreams, many of them containing themes of my fears or likes depending on the state of my conscious and subconscious. Sometimes if I experience pain in my dreams, I will wake up feeling physical pain for a short period of time.

From what you've said it seems that what you are having are lucid or semi-lucid nightmares, which IMO aren't a major issue unless there are severe underlying psychological causes such as mental illness or trauma. Generally nightmares lucid or not aren't considered a major issue, night terrors on the other hand are. It seems that your nightmares are caused by psychological unrest due to a whacked gaba system...
 
I'd bet my money that's what's causing it.

I experience these dreams on Gabapentin as well and I am not in Benzo WD... They are very intense and always have something to do with my close friends or family and uncomfortable situations.

My GF also mentioned this after I gave her only one 100mg capsule when she could not sleep due to exam stress and such.
So Gabapentin it is definitely the culprit especially because I usually never dream due to cannabis.

I suppose that this effect does not occur after a while of daily dosing, but if you only take it sporadically you can bet you will dream some crazy shit.
 
If you where withdrawaling from gaba or taking a lot you'll have bloody scary dreams. i have them all the time And I am so used to them it just comes as normal. I also might have PTSD so that can make it worse. I noticed that one I stayed taking 400 mg three times a day for three weeks and I had zero nightmares but once I started abusing gaba again I had crazy nightmares....Also nightmares are common when withdrawaling from benzos. Even tho the gaba helped it will not even faze you sleeping at all so keep that in mind.
 
gabapentin did the SAME thing for me, but with my combat related nightmares already I stopped using after only two times. FUCK reliving that shit over again in vivid HD gaba detail.
 
It's DEF. NOT because of Benzo W/D..

Here's why... I test things. When I don't dose Gabapentin I don't get those nightmares WHATSOEVER.
But when I DO dose Gabapentin, 90% of the time I get HORRIBLE nightmares that make me yell in real life and I awake my sister next door.. and she gets scared and calls mom 2 doors down from my room.

It's a serious situation.. I don't know why it happens to me, but it does. Everyone is different.
 
It's DEF. NOT because of Benzo W/D..

Here's why... I test things. When I don't dose Gabapentin I don't get those nightmares WHATSOEVER.
But when I DO dose Gabapentin, 90% of the time I get HORRIBLE nightmares that make me yell in real life and I awake my sister next door.. and she gets scared and calls mom 2 doors down from my room.

It's a serious situation.. I don't know why it happens to me, but it does. Everyone is different.

Like I said exact same thing happens to me. No BZD WD for me.
 
I've had the nightmare experience, especially one night after a two-three day gabapentin bender. I was waking from a dream within a dream and having incredible paranoia dreams and just plain scary dreams all night. Awful experience, changed my whole perspective of gabapentin.
 
I take a high dose of gabapentin daily (800mg 3x) and I've noticed if I take my last dose a couple hours before bed I sometimes have terrible nightmares and wake up in a full blown panic attack. So to avoid that you can try not taking it for a few hours before going to bed, works for me.
 
I just got prescribed gabapentin today. Is it recreational at all. I. Debating whether to fill the script or not.
 
crimsonjunk: Imo it has pretty big potential. If you are an opiate addict they help so much with the WD-symptoms and generally are a great anti-anxiety med in low doses as well as a "downer-light" during or after upper binges. It can take a lot of nasty side-effects of uppers away for example as well as killing paranoia and so on.

Like the Sluttypeach mentioned, some people really praise it in high doses but I have never exceeded 600mg which fucked me up alright with a comfortable body feeling.
I'd fill the script :)
 
Also, remember to stagger your dose for max effect! Gabapentin is a safe drug by itself as others have mentioned, just be careful mixing with other downers but you probably knew that ;)

What dose are you prescribed?
 
I've talked with a good amount of people, and the consensus seems to be that benzo withdrawal can give you nightmares. I've also personally experienced bad, extremely intense/realistic dreams from benzo w/d. If you're currently tapering off benzos, I'd bet my money that's what's causing it.

I've been on Gabapentin (900mg/day) for a while now and I haven't noticed it effecting my dreams in any way. Who knows though, everyone's different.

Agreed, been on Gaba for years (maybe 3.5 yrs +). Only side effects I noticed is static in my vision, lights will looks really bright, and lethargy. They've lessened with years. I'd blame nightmares on the excess panic the benzo WD is leaving you with.
 
Just last nigh I had a crazy dream I'm taking high doses of gabapentin like 3k mg but I've been on it for a couple years.I have nightmares without them anyways.
 
Top