Can anyone please refer me to any resources regarding tapering from a combination of Xanax and Gabapentin? I am familiar with the Ashton Manual, and I have skimmed the Table of Contents of the Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines (full copy should arrive tomorrow). It looks like Maudsley covers tapering from Xanax, and from Gabapentin, but I don't think it says what to do when both are being taken in combination.
For background, my spouse was on 1 mg Xanax XR per day for about 20 years. Over a year ago, he inadvertently went cold turkey when he forget his meds when traveling, which resulted in some severe manic episodes. We decided to taper, which he did via cut and hold, and he is now at 0.5 mg Xanax (IR, not XR) per day.
Within the past year he had a fall which he believes led to sciatica pain. His doctor prescribed Gabapentin, and he is currently taking 600 mg a day (300 mg x 2). Unfortunately, for the past few weeks he has become incredibly lethargic, and has debilitating confusion and memory issues.
He is not currently experiencing any of the symptoms for which these meds were originally prescribed (Xanax for anxiety and Gabapentin for nerve pain). So I believe we are ready to taper on either of these meds. He has an appointment with his general practitioner (who may not have been aware of the dangers of prescribing Gabapentin on top of Xanax) in a week. So I want to do some research beforehand to recommend short-term modifications to get past this stage of debilitating confusion. Longer term I believe he needs to be referred to a psychopharmacologist, and I/we need to read the Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines from cover to cover.
Thanks in advance for any help.
P.S. Somewhere along the way it appears that he also added a prescription of Cymbalta 20 mg / day. So it looks like we will be able to make full use of Maudsley!