Gabapentin (Neurontin) Withdrawl Support Group

[[Co...]]

IG,

If you think you need help then you should seek it. Sounds like you have been in pain too long. I have 2 bottles of Neurontin and I have yet to take 1 pill. Just having them here makes me feel better should I get to desperate. I have almost taken one but always say, only if I feel worse. Sorry IG, hope you find something to help you soon or you just snap out of this withdrawal.

[[ho...]]

Hi Island Girl. Sure wish I knew of some way to help you. Sending you healing prayers and hugs as well as wisdom to know the best solution!

Love,

Hopeful Girl 

[[On...]]

Doing worse. Same sxs. Inner shacking, no calm, no sleep, akathisia, burning face, all joints hurt, headache, eyes blurred and hurt, tinnitus and a bunch more.

 

I am thinking I need help. Meds.  I cant take it

 

I'm speechless.  And hurting for you. Sending you lots of love.

 

:smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:

:hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:

[[On...]]

Doing worse. Same sxs. Inner shacking, no calm, no sleep, akathisia, burning face, all joints hurt, headache, eyes blurred and hurt, tinnitus and a bunch more.

 

I am thinking I need help. Meds.  I cant take it

 

I'm speechless.  And hurting for you. Sending you lots of love.

 

:smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:

:hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:

[[Ut...]]

Island Girl

 

Please get some help!

[[Ho...]]

Hey everyone,

 

I am new to the forum, but not gabapentin. Here's my situation.

 

Started taking Gabapentin last February for G.A.D and Sciatica. The sciatica is an old injury. The doc told me that gabapentin was a safe alternative to painkillers and benzo's and would safely treat both situations. Then I moved back home to NY and had to start the insurance process all over. At this time I was only on 900mg a day and ran out of Gabapentin. It was at this point that I got extremely sick, comparable to heroin/painkiller withdrawal. Then I found out how expensive gabapentin is. Long-story short, I am now on 1,800 mg a day, trying to stabilize after 3,600-5,000mg a day.

 

I have never experienced such depression / lethargy / brain fog in my life...this has become the new normal. The side effects I'm dealing with on top of what I already listed - swollen feet, SEVERE weight gain, swollen neck/lymph nodes, this has WORSNED my GERD/LPR, racing thoughts and trouble sleeping.

On top of that, it no longer treats the underlying subscribing symptoms, in fact my anxiety is worse and this aggravates my throat inflammation (LPR). Life is severely un-manageable.

 

I was able to stabilize from 5,000mg down to my prescribed dose of 1,800 mg because a friend of mine gave me 4 1mg clonazepam  that I stretched over 4 days without breaking a sweat. Actually It was the first time I've felt normal in a long time. At the high doses I felt good, but the bad outweighs the good.

During those 4 days, I did not need ANY gabapentin and FELT FINE FOR ONCE.

 

I'm at a point in my life where I don't have the time or money or sanity to continue taking this medication. I have to get back to work ASAP and I cant see myself being able to function like this anymore.

 

I have no history with benzo's and was always aware of the dependency issues with this class of medication. Now, with that said would I benefit from replacing gabapentin with klonopin? 

[[Is...]]

Hi HopelessinNY,

 

Been thinking of you. Sure hope you are ok. The pain is bad and only you can decide what is right.  What ever you decide we will be here to support you. I am almost 5 months off neurontin and almost 9 months of benzo. It is still real hard for me, but I know it is right for me.  We are all different.

 

Love IslandGirl

[[be...]]

Hi:

 

I read every single thread on this neurontin withdrawal support group and was horrified by what I read. My doc put me on 1000 mg of N three weeks ago and I just want to jump off of it.  Can I just jump? Has anyone  tried depakote as an alternative? I need something to help me thru this withdrawal and don't want to get into another benzo like withdrawal with N. Anthing else e that might help me? Thoughts would be appreciated. Benzogirl                                                                                                                   

[[Is...]]

BenzoGirl,

 

I am no Dr, but I would get off Neurontin before it takes hold.  We all are different and it may work for you, but even those that find relief in Neurontin seem to have a hard time getting off it after benzo are gone.  For me I am a bad case and started having problems right awsy.  Seems to me you have not been on it long. As always ask your doc how, but it has been my experience the pdoc are clueless and we need to take care of ourselfs.

 

I was also on depokote but that was just in case of seisures. It did not seem to help me.  There is a big thread called the kolonopin club. They may have some ideas. Usually slow taper is the best without introducing so many other variables.  That is what got me in trouble.

 

sorry I could not be more help. There are many wonderful people here on BB. Keep posting .

 

Love IslandGirl

[[tr...]]

Benzo girl-

My total dose was 500 mg and I am down to 300mg

I drop 100 a month and have been doing ok.  Just to offer hope.

However I will say that most encounter a problem when dropping lower doses.

I detoxed clonazepam using neurontin and would say I'm a success story.

Good luck but don't jump off without a taper....for it's an anti seizure med.

[[Di...]]

I was prescribed Neurontin a couple of years ago for neck/spinal issues.

 

I only took it for a couple of weeks or so and had to stop, as it made me dreadfully sleepy, and I couldn't stay awake at work.

 

I stopped it abruptly and had no issues, but I was on it for such a short period of time.

[[be...]]

Island girl and others:

 

Has anyone experienced anxiety or insomnia due to neurontin? I don't know whether it's true or not, or maybe my detoxing from the evil K, but my sleep is restless. Also when I take my 200 mg pm dose of N after the 1st hour I feel anxious and then by hour 2 I feel calm again. Thoughts anyone? Benzogirl

[[Co...]]

Made me really anxious! Hated the stuff. I take depakote but I don't think it helps much. Gave it to me in case of seizures. It has bad side effects. Making me gain weight!

[[be...]]

IslandGirl:

 

I am seeing my pdoc tommorow and telling him I want off the big N. Thing is, I took N years and years ago after detoxing from xanax and I was fine. No S/E for me at all. The big big thing as you mentioned, was getting off  of it. It was like getting off of  benzos, only to me it was worse, I just had incredible anxiety after dropping a tiny amount and couldn't even imagine eating anything... they had to script me valium for a week to come off it. After a week I was fine... Totally ambivalent about the matter as I am just starting my taper off of KLON. Just started 2 weeks ago. You seemed to be on a cocktail of meds as I read in your posts, so how do you know if it was not the visteral or depakote or the other meds? Just wondering...............Benzogirl.

[[Ho...]]

I reduced my Neurontin from 1800mg down to 900mg using 1 mg klonopin a few days in a row. It helped with the anxiety, and allowed me to lower my tolerance a bit. I have no benzo tolerance at all so perhaps this method worked for me. Klonopin is an anti-convulsant aswell so maybe that's why it helped. I just recently found out I have a "mass" in my throat so anxiety is through the roof. Wish I could do something about it...I ordered kava ...still waiting for that to come in the mail......

[[Is...]]

BenzoGirl,

 

You are right the cocktail I was on makes it difficult to know which drugs caused what. I mapped all sx from each drug and overlaid to see which had common sx. So you are right that sometimes I did not know. But other times it was easy. For example shen I took neurontin my ear eould turn red, my face begane to burn and my heart would race. So each one caused something different. Neurontin and Serequol were the worst. I have talked to many other N users with simikar stories..

 

Hang in there ........Love IslandGirl

[[be...]]

IslandGirl:

 

 

I dropped 500 mg of neurontin C/T after reading yours and other threads.  No s/x from it while I was on it or none when I dropped the 500 mg, but I wasn't on it for long. I plan to discuss dropping the rest of the big N when I see my pdoc tommorow. Benzogirl

[[Is...]]

Benzogirl,

 

Great job!! How much more do you have to go? I too was able to make big drops sx free. It was that last 100mg that were the tough ones.. 

 

Nice job.....Love IslanGirl

[[Ho...]]

Islandgirl - how are you feeling? You were having a hard time getting off Neurontin, are you feeling better?

 

benzogirl - It takes prolonged use at a high dose to really give you a hard time getting off. If you plan on taking it for a long time, take breaks every other day or few days. Magnesium helps a lot when you have to cut down, especially at lower doses.

 

Im finally feeling better and almost ready to start tapering lower. Maybe 100mg every other week or longer if needed until I can get a grasp on how I react to the cuts.

 

Also prescribed mirtazapine to help ...anyone have any insight?

[[Is...]]

Hi HopelessinNY,

 

I am glad to hear you are feeling better. I know you were having a hard time.  I am hanging in there still wd from 5 meds and not doing well. I amost went insane or at least to the hospital 3 times.

 

my experiences with mirtazapine (remeron) was not good for me. It maid me severly depressed like kill myself depressed. I do know there is a big mirtz thread. I am sure they can help..

 

good luck on the cut.. Love IG

[[Ut...]]

Has anyone had any side effects from the gabapentin?  I noticed that I have a few symptoms and I found them listed as gab side effects.

 

Hair loss, loss of appetite, weight loss, blurred vision, shakiness, muscle weakness, brain fog and memory loss.

 

Anyone else have theses or other symptoms?

 

Do you think they will go away once I'm off the gab?  I'm currently reducing by 10 mgs every 2 weeks.  I am down to 270 mgs with no problems so far.

[[Ho...]]

Utah, you should be fine. Dropping 10mgs every other weeks is ultra slow and probably not necessary. Although everyone is different. If you are not tapering anything else you should be ok. Also magnesium plays a BIG role in tapering gabapentin.

[[Is...]]

Utah,

 

I had all those sxs plus a few more. My hair stopped falling out shortly after I quit.

 

good luck and sorry you are going thru this.

 

Love  IslandGirl

[[Ju...]]

Hi wise ones. I just had a surreal talk with my psych where she suggested that what I really need is to go back on klonopin. I couldnt believe it after all I have been through to get off (see sig). I am about two weeks out from stopping valium 0.5 mg and one week from stopping remeron after two weeks of use to try to get help with sleep. I hated the remeron and am pretty sure that what I am experiencing now (very very hard to sleep or even rest) could be both valium and remeron withdrawal. Since I wont take klonopin doc said how about neurontin. I want to be strong like so many seem to be here and not take anything but I deteriorate so quickly without sleep. Is experimenting with neurontin at this point a terrible idea?

[[Is...]]

Hi JKS,

 

Sorry to hear you are having such a hard time. Your dr dont get it.  Sleep is very big deal.  I never got sleep on Neurontin, but some others have. If you do decide to try ut dont let them talk you into a big dose  it is very hard for some to get off Neurontin with some pretty bad sxs.  Be careful and listen to your body. 

 

Instead of Neurontin I tried some of the ADs with better kuck than Neurontin. Ashton manual talks about ADs and sleep.  I tried trazadone, amatriptalyne and noratriptalyn.  (SP?). 

 

I wouls use Neyrontin as a last resort, but everyone is different.  Good luck  love IslandGirl