Misc Gabapentin Withdrawal

[blue comet]

A quick back story; I got off valium and ambien in August 2014 after about 4 years of use. I detoxed and was set up with an outpatient center. I didn't find them particularly helpful for my symptoms but I still went.

At the beginning of February I saw the psychiatrist there because I was having major issues sleeping and was still having some anxiety. He suggested gabapentin, telling me that the medication is non-addicting, doesn't cause withdrawal, and would not require a taper. Based upon this, I agreed to start it.

I started at 1200mg per day. As I started it, my depression and anger worsened, so the dose was highered to 2100mg per day. Then things got real bad in terms of depression (very severe) and anger (uncontrollable) that we upped it to 3000mg per day, even though I would usually just take anywhere from 1500mg-2400mg per day. Then the medication began to cause a host of real bad physical symptoms, such as insomnia, bloating/weight gain/uncomfortableness in stomach, numbness, tingling on the right side of my body, insane heart racing, and shaking. It was incredibly painful.

I told him I wanted to get off of it and he told me to stop. I did and the physicial symptoms escalated to intolerable levels, so he told me to taper. As the drug was causing too many problems, I decided to stop it immediately without the help of the many doctors I saw in regards to this issue. I've been off of it for about 3 weeks (I only used the pills for 7 weeks) and as soon as I got off of them my depression and bloated feeling went away. The rest of the physical symptoms were so intolerable that I took three rescue doses of ativan (2mg) to deal with them.

Being off of them 3 weeks, I am still dealing with the following withdrawal symptoms; very rapid and intense heart racing, very bad fatigue, severe insomnia, major anxiety, shakiness, can't drive, and anger. The numbness and tingling that I was experiencing has been greatly reduced and I will say that I do feel better than I did when I stopped them 3 weeks ago. But how long could this last? I'm very scared about this lasting a very long time. Also did I really screw myself with those rescue doses of ativan? I was off benzos for seven months. Also as soon as I got off of them my hair began to fall out very heavily. It did that when I first got off benzos and did grow back but still a very aggravating symptom.

 

[alexvolume2]

I would do a benzo taper if you can handle that sort of thing. It's very hard and I only used for 6 months, but benzos in Mexico are easier to get than in the U.S. "Legitimately" of course. Gabapentin is a funny drug, along with pregabalin. I am not sure, b/c I took a combination of first alprazolam, then clonazepam with pregabalin. Finally, gabapentin when I ran out of money/got robbed thrice in one month.

Don't go cold turkey, it's dangerous to your health regarding seizure risk. Plus, it's very unpleasant. I took many drugs in a foreign country, told the doc I did after I freaked the fuck out, did a valium taper, and it was fine.
I realize we didn't have the same period of benzo/z-drug use, but the main thing is to taper as slowly as you can tolerate.

 

[blue comet]

I used valium and ambien for about four years, finally getting off in August 2014 after a very rough period of tolerance withdrawal. I had to detox to get off of the drugs and so far its been a real rough ride as my body heals from them no longer being in my system, so benzos are not an option.

Like I said I am beginning to see improvement, but I have way too many withdrawal symptoms right now. Can't drive, can't work, too much anxiety, heart races so bad I can't sleep, hair falling out, etc. How much longer can I expect this to last and what other (non-benzo) way can I calm them?

 

[Joey24x18]

I'm tapering off phenibut now. I feel you.
I would suggest kava kava. That's what I've been using to take the edge off. Look for the Fijian Waka Kava and instructions on how to brew it properly. It won't cure you. But it helps.

 

[NiceEnough]

I am currently tapering off benzos. What a bitch!!! Alex, if you read this, been trying to send you messages but your mailbox is full. You need to delete quite a few to get anymore. You only get limited space.

 

[blue comet]

Bump...

Anyone else deal with gabapentin withdrawals?

The symptoms are exactly similar to what I dealt with when I was in benzo tolerance withdrawal. They are NOT the same symptoms I had when I detoxed from benzos.

The withdrawals are cripping. Crazy anxiety, panic attacks, shakes, can't drive or ride in cars, nausea, insomnia, anger, depression. WTF is going on?

 

[chase_in_56ace]

Bump...

Anyone else deal with gabapentin withdrawals?

The symptoms are exactly similar to what I dealt with when I was in benzo tolerance withdrawal. They are NOT the same symptoms I had when I detoxed from benzos.

The withdrawals are cripping. Crazy anxiety, panic attacks, shakes, can't drive or ride in cars, nausea, insomnia, anger, depression. WTF is going on?

Gaba withdrawals are a bitch. Depersonalization, social isolation, restlessness/anxiety, and the inability to concentrate on anything... You said it - absolutely crippling. I'm not sure if you are an alcoholic, but if you aren't, I've found a few beers relieve a lot of my symptoms if I'm ever coming off gaba.

Not gonna lie, 3 weeks seems like a damn long time for gaba withdrawals to still be going on for you. I'm prescribed 3200mg a day of gabapentin and if I jump off I stabilize in one to two weeks.

Are you coming off anything else? This should be over for you soon..

 

[dopemaster]

If you are off everything and you tapered to gaba I really think you can count yourself lucky in my opinion.

Benzos are a motherfucker to come off and if you got off benzos onto gaba which isn't even scheduled that is a huge step.

I really wouldn't let some insomnia get in your way.

 

[blue comet]

This has been going on for 6.5 weeks since I stopped gabapentin. I was only on gabapentin for seven weeks, using 1500-2100mg per day when I finally got off.

I detoxed from Valium and ambien back in Sept. That was a bitch. I was bedridden for months, but started making great improvements around January. Once I got a new job and still had some anxiety and major insomnia, my doc started me on gabapentin.

Things have definitely improved but they have been very slow. All of my symptoms seem to increase and decrease in severity in different timelines and not in unison. Today my heart was racing but my nerve pain was gone. A few days ago my nerve pain was strong but my heart beat normally.

Could the gaba have screwed with the benzo withdrawal? Every doctor I see tells me there is nothing wrong with me.

 

[dopemaster]

Its gonna take a while to get over the benzos.

The gaba just masked it.

Take it this way, if shit is getting better even slowly, then you will be back to normal so don't put a time table on it.

 

[blue comet]

Good point.

The one thing that has me concerned is that I was a lot better BEFORE I started gabapentin. Just had anxiety and insomnia.

Now I got a whole bunch of other crap which arose after starting gavapentin and is still here. Don't know how it got here.

 

[pr0d1gy]

Good point.

The one thing that has me concerned is that I was a lot better BEFORE I started gabapentin. Just had anxiety and insomnia.

Now I got a whole bunch of other crap which arose after starting gavapentin and is still here. Don't know how it got here.

I feel for you m8. Gabapentin withdrawals are a nightmare. What makes it worse is that too many doctors are ignorant and think it's something you can just drop like it never happened. It's almost impossible to find a knowledgeable doctor to treat gaba wd.

I've tried twice to get off but have only manged to taper from 2400 to 900 mg. The one decent thing is that it only seems to require a minimum dose to alleviate withdrawal symptoms. During withdrawal, even a fraction of the normal dose seems to help significantly.

Other than that it's hell. I find it to be more physically miserable than benzo wd, but less psychologically stressful. I'm on it for RLS and I've found without it my RLS is exponentially worse than it ever was before. The first time I went off I had to go only one night without it due to blizzard conditions trapping me in my own home. My heart rate was in the 100s all night.

The worst thing is standard doses of benzos don't do much but take the edge off. I only found relief in doses high enough to black out. I've gotten over my share of addictions, but I honestly think this stuff is a long term commitment for me, maybe forever.

It does give me a lot of hope that some people have said the wds are much shorter than benzos. I'd love to hear from anyone who has successfully kicked this stuff!

 

[f33lg00d]

Doctors told you it was nonaddicting and didnt require a taper?!?!?! thats fucking makpractice in my book. Hell the FDA probably endorsed the manufactors claim it was nonaddicting.... Whoever is responsible should be sued imo.?Do your own research about every drug before you take it doctors can be so ignorant and misinformed about drugs. Ill tell ya, im a very very low level professional healthcare provider and i get shocked by how little most people in the field know and how often they belrive untrue things. My expertise (self taught in this aspect) is in drugs w abuse potential, I used to gentlely try and correct my superiors/senors but i gave up because theyd adamantly say they were certain and dismiss my correct information...