Do Not Take Gabapentin for Withdrawal Help!

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First, i no longer believe in using any kind of medical doctor for help as they are all uninformed pill pushers. In Toronto where I live no medical psychiatric ward will accept you unless you are willing to be drugged. That is what psychiatric care has come to. It's a disgusting disgrace. But then being a "mental patient" is a disgrace to the medical community and beyond.

 

Would cancer patients be dismissed with a script for another psychoactive drug, about which really no one including doctors really knows anything about! Including the life-shattering effects of withdrawal, side effects, damage to the nervous system or even the way the drug actually affects our precious brains. Like trying to mend a fine Swiss watch with a sledgehammer?

 

My Dr Pharma who I have seen for 30 years and trusted explicitly basically is done with me now because years of poly-drugging have left me worse than before the endless meds and basically at rock bottom and no pill can help. His answer was that I should wait for a new anti-d to come on the market.

 

He put me on 6mg. of clonazepam and he doesn't believe in withdrawals! Hey, this is 2017. So I am withdrawing on my own and down to 3.5mg. Also withdrew from Prozac in mid-June so there's that.

 

To help with my emotional he prescribed Gabapentin in August. A major dose but I soon got down to 300mg. but not without the worst withdrawals that haven't stabilized since I cut on September 15.

 

Look up gabapentin withdrawals they are horrific. I have never felt this badly ever. So deeply depressed, anxious, fearful, agoraphobic to the extreme, incredible fatigue, ongoing muscle weakness, aches and pains, throbbing headache, dry skin and hair...

 

But the worst is the absolute feelings of despair, fear, joylessness and at time looping thoughts of suicidal ideation. You feel dead inside already so why not finish off the job.

 

So trust me stay away from gabapentin at all costs. The withdrawal even while still on this drug is so brutal I can say it is on a par with benzo w/d if not worse.

 

Just to warn you and let you my daily hell from this so called 'safe' med.

 

Pray for me as I will pray for you...

 

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I found this to be so true as well. I had all kinds of psych symptoms as well. I am actually on Valium to try to cover the hideous withdrawal symptoms I had when I went fro 50 mg a day to 0. I know I was on it for a long time, and that some people seem not to have such a bad time getting off it, but if you do, it can be the worst thing in the world.

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Dear Callidex,

did you taper off gabapentin or c/t??  with each taper did you suffer withdrawals.  after you jumped did the side effects get worse??

 

i am still suffering from long-term anti-depressant withdrawal and wondering if i should stabilize first before tapering off the gabapentin?

 

i am definitely in ssri withdrawal already but sadly now addicted to 300mg. gabapentin.

 

am terrified of experiencing more debilitating side effects. however even on 300mg. i have cognition issues/aches and pains and occasionally very desperate thoughts with suicidal ideation looping through my brain.

 

but the gaba does i think take the edge off my ssri withdrawals but at a huge cost.  so i feel very 'stuck' and afraid.  my doctor is totally useless and have no desire to find another one as really what can they do??? my life is bad right now i really don't want to be here.

 

pray for me as i will pray for you.....

[Guest [ou...]]

I no longer believe in using any kind of medical doctor for help as they are all uninformed pill pushers.

 

Not ALL of them.

 

Would cancer patients be dismissed with a script for another psychoactive drug, about which really no one including doctors really knows anything about! Including the life-shattering effects of withdrawal, side effects, damage to the nervous system or even the way the drug actually affects our precious brains.

 

Kind of. About a 3rd of patients undergoing chemotherapy experience CIPN,

an often irreversible condition causing pain, numbness, tingling and cold sensitivity.

 

Look up gabapentin withdrawals they are horrific.

So trust me stay away from gabapentin at all costs.

 

1. Yes, but how likely?

2. Trust an anecdotal report to stay away from a drug at ALL costs?

[[Ca...]]

Dear Callidex,

did you taper off gabapentin or c/t??  with each taper did you suffer withdrawals.  after you jumped did the side effects get worse??

 

i am still suffering from long-term anti-depressant withdrawal and wondering if i should stabilize first before tapering off the gabapentin?

 

i am definitely in ssri withdrawal already but sadly now addicted to 300mg. gabapentin.

 

am terrified of experiencing more debilitating side effects. however even on 300mg. i have cognition issues/aches and pains and occasionally very desperate thoughts with suicidal ideation looping through my brain.

 

but the gaba does i think take the edge off my ssri withdrawals but at a huge cost.  so i feel very 'stuck' and afraid.  my doctor is totally useless and have no desire to find another one as really what can they do??? my life is bad right now i really don't want to be here.

 

pray for me as i will pray for you.....

 

I will pray for you. I cut down slowly over 18 months or so, and each time I reduced I had a predictable hell. Could not sleep, stop moving during the day, horrible sanxiety and all kinds of neurological stuff. It would last a while, maybe even months each time. At 50 mg I thought I could jump, but when I did I got dreadfully sick - hospitalized twice for what looked like strokes, the worst return of spine pain, and other kinds of physical complaints. I had to get on Valium to deal with the withdrawal, and now I am slowly tapering Valium. Gaba was the devil for me, and for many many others

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dear callydex,  at first the gabapentin seemed to help but now I have hit tolerance and experiencing paradoxical reactions like:

 

    > servere anxiety

    >ongoing crying spells

    >major depression

    >terror/dread/fear

 

as you can see they are mostly all emotional sides effects except for unrelenting contipation which i am seeing my doctor for tomorrow as nothing over the counter works.

 

last night i took my 300mg. gaba at night instead of in the am to see if the daily side effects would be more bearable.

 

as in paradoxical fashion i was awake all night even with trazadone 200mg 2mg. klonopin as i am still tapering. before last night i slept like a baby on those night meds. in the early dats gaba helped me sleep and not it is interfering with sleep in a huge way.

er

i am so afraid of tapering from the 300mg. as i have heard from some buddies it is brutal.  how did you do it??  was the side effects from each taper very bad. what side effects did you get? why did you end up in hospital after you jumped?

 

do you feel better now you are off the gaba?? and when did you jump?  sorry if i am repeating myself but in such a dark spot right now knowing the gaba is making me feel worse but cannot really face any more emotional pain.

 

so you live in Toronto too. What part?

you sound very strong to me. i am so sensitive and my cns is particularly sensitive to  all meds but i never expected gabapentin to turn on me as i thought it was a benign med. guess now i shoud know that my tolerance for almost anything that affects the cns is dangerous for me.

 

you've come so far i truly admire your strength. do you have support?  sadly neither my daughter nor my husband are supportive. they believe i should be fine by now even though i have printed out numerous subjects on withdrawal i don't think they either bothered to read them .  but i have to care for myself no matter what they think. i was always the 'leader' in our small family. the planner, cheerleader, doer and the fun maker. now i am in this deadened state there is a pall over our house and it seems no one else can pick up the pieces.

 

so please reply to me as i feel very alone and i am brand new to this forum and have not made any connections which is why i came to this board.

 

sorry for the typos the gaba has affected my cognition so my spelling is badly off even though i was a college english teacher untill i resigned 3 years ago.  all for now sweet callydex. hoping you respond.........

pray for me as i will pray for you.................