Difficulty with Klonopin-Gabapentin withdrawal

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History

I’ve been on Klonopin 1.5mg up to 2mg a day for 30 years.

 

I’ve tried a Klonopin rapid dry cut twice and failed in my 30’s. The withdrawal was too strong for me and the oral/facial nerve pain I was treated for came back with a vengeance. So I decided that I still needed Klonopin.

 

I’ve lost my Klonopin once in my 50’s and my doctor would not prescribe it for almost a week, so I know what a CT withdrawal feels like. It brought a grown man to his knees crying. Totally broke me. As I was crying in the closet, my wife saved me by calling and begging the doctor to give me a new bottle. He did.

 

I am now 59 and my doctors are really pressuring me to get off Klonopin, as age 60 is when dementia is a real risk. So they put me on Gabapentin (Neurontin) to ease the Klonopin withdrawal and were allowing me to taper at my own pace.

 

Problem

I am on 800mg gabapentin and feel worse!  The anxiety is too strong to start a Klonopin taper. I’ve read online how gabapentin is not a good drug to help with withdrawals since it also effects the GABA receptors, so healing will be much more difficult. My insurance plan has changed and I will be starting with new doctors, hopefully ones who understand Klonopin better. Until then my idea was to taper off the gabapentin. I tried once, reducing 100mg every two weeks. I got down to 400mg, then the anxiety got as bad as a strong Klonopin withdrawal, with the oral/facial pain that I have not felt since my 30’s returning! The insomnia was impossible. I could not sleep. Not near as bad as a Klonopin CT, but way too much to function. I can’t drive anywhere, etc. This is all from Gabapentin. I can’t believe it! I went back to 800mg gabapentin. The anxiety is still unpleasant, but not as bad as when I was at 400mg, and the oral/facial nerve pain decreased to where it has been for years, not fun, but tolerable.

 

Gabapentin has been a nightmare. Has anyone else had a doctor prescribe gabapentin for getting off Klonopin? Any suggestions on ways to get off gabapentin would be most appreciated. Thank you!

 

I did read the Ashton Manual and will bring it to my next doctor visit. The Klonopin to Valium crossover makes the most sense, but not sure if it would work for someone with atypical Trigeminal neuralgia. Valium does not work for that pain problem. Klonopin did for many years, but over time it has worked less. There are brand new treatments for Atypical Trigeminal Neuralgia, so I am hopeful for that pain to be reduced. If so, maybe a Klonopin to Valium crossover would work. But first, I need to get off gabapentin!

 

 

 

 

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I have not taken Klonopin, but have a long history with Gabapentin. I found it very sedating and numbing: it generated a bunch of pretty frightening neurological symptoms as well and was hard to withdraw from: if there is any other way to ease your K withdrawal symptoms I would recommend investigating them. Some people do not have any issues with the drug (Gaba), but others do, and it sounds as if you are not getting a great deal of relief from it in any case. And 800 mg is a healthy dose.