r/gabapentin

Ive been prescribed gabapentin for opioid withdrawals but Im pretty upset because I got prescribed 100mg twice a day which isn't enough for a man my size and definitely not enough for someone with my tolerance to drugs. Especially when the only reason I was able to get it was because my doc didnt like me using kava. I was using about 600mg kavalactones a day of an extract and it was really helping me not want to relapse but I feel like giving up on tapering. So is there anything at all I can do to absorb more of it since its so non-bioavailable cause otherwise Im either gonna relapse or keep doing kava and lie cause im honestly pissed ive been asking for a benzo from the start and all I got at first were shitty ass hydroxyzine and trazodone. I start natural medication so of course my doctor gives me 1/10 the needed dose of a less psychoactive medication im not very familiar with but at least its some semblance of what i actually asked for. Only she knows what shes willing to prescribe me so its like, fucking thanks doc but why didn't you give me this in the first place and do you have to dose me like a fucking 8 year old girl? Every healthcare professional has their own little agenda and its why I keep going back to self medicating, I actually do the research on the pharmacology of anything but most prescribers just shoot in the dark its so dumb. What should I do?

I had injuries to neck shoulder and elbow with a lot of nerve pain and was put on 900 mg gabapentin daily. Been through surgeries and medical procedures and nerve pain is gone (not all pain but nerve pain) and I slowly tapered down to 300 mg day it will take me another month of reducing to be done. Recent Incidental findings showed I have 2 types of cancer and I’m at the early stage of figuring it all out. I feel anxiety, panicking, nauseated, outer body, and not sleeping. I’m living in shock. Should I continue tapering and ask for Xanax and use as a PRN. I’m sincerely overwhelmed.

i began taking gabapentin to combat anxiety and fast heart rate (not prescribed, please do not judge i am already feeling immense shame)

it helped, until it didn’t?? i guess ive been having symptoms for a while of blood pooling, slightly tachycardic, appetite changes, and everyone thought it was just “anxiety”, so i was given a gabapentin 300 to help. it worked, so i asked my brother for more just for when my heart rate is high, or when im anxious. this turned into an every other night dose of 900-1200 dose just to feel normal. i didn’t realize that i was probably withdrawing when i wanted more.

i have had symptoms now of weird hr and blood pressure, and im scared i did it to myself with gabapentin. i didn’t know it had strong physical dependence or withdrawal. i am currently on a heart monitor and am also set up with a cardiologist. he prescribed diltiazem and potassium because i was having palpitations , and he saw it on a 24 hr monitor. i just went through a whole work up for pots and cardio, and i didn’t even think about the fact that i am taking gabapentin. i dont know what to do about tapering, all i know is that i feel god awful.

i dont have racing heart, but pounding heart, im able to finally keep food down, and water, but last two days weren’t good. i ended up taking 1 gabapentin yo help.

i feel like i should go to the doctor, and be honest about my usage, but im afraid they’re gonna send me off to a rehab, or worse they just wont do anything. i’m scared, i know i need to taper, and my anxiety is only making me feel worse physical wise.

should i go to the er?? my regular doctor?? do i tell my cardiologist? i’m afraid they’re all going to scold me but i don’t want my heart to stop, or have a heart attack.

I don’t know how else to say it. I want to lower my dose because I’ve been on Gabapentin for 5 years and my memory is getting worse BUT I take it for anxiety and it helps with my alcoholism, so I’m scared.

So, I just want to come down a little- to 150mg. My nurse practitioner suggested that I take 200mg on a Monday, 100mg on a Tuesday, 200mg on a Wednesday, 100mg on a Thursday, etc.

Has anyone heard of this? Does it work? Thanks for any help.

Hey, i have trouble sleeping long time, i was using lunesta, trazadone, bunch of ssris, atarax, and lots of other meds. Any of them help that much like a gabapentin, i have find taht if i take 300mgs at 19:30 and next 300mgs at 21:30 that i can sleep like a baby at 22:30 till 6:50 my alarm goes on. Waking up is much more better than with other meds and i dont get any weird sideefects like i see here. Now just one question, will be the 600mgs dose enought for long time or will i Need to increase the dose, i read that halflife is About 5 hours so you brain will be not too much afected by the day till the next dose so it can a bit reset.

I really want to give Gabapentin a chance for my several neurological issues. But I am deathly tired all the time. And I’m still only at 200 mg per day. (Planning to go up to 900 mg) Will this tiredness ever go away? I’m stuck at 200 for longer time than planned, just because this extreme tiredness never gets better. It’s my fifth day now on 200 mg.

Ask me anything!

Hi,

my doctor prescribed me 300mg pills Gabapentin for nerve pain and yesterday I only took a half one so round about 150mg and it made me drowsy and chilled but I couldnt sleep at all, its so weird!

today Im so exhausted because of the lack of sleep and I dont know if I should take more or stop it. will this disappear with continued intake, or probably not?

Thanks for any advice or help.

I have been on 900mg gabapentin for almost 4 months, and the side effects are horrible now. My doctor said to go down to 600mg for a week, and then 300mg for another week, and then stop. I’m terrified I’ll have withdrawal symptoms or that the pain with intensify. I’m mostly scared of the anxiety it could cause. Has anyone gotten off of 900mg after a short amount of time and been fine? I’m just looking for some reassurance.

I’m new to gabapentin, anyone else feel high ? I know there’s a lot of disagreement about this topic but I genuinely get that effect, I feel like my whole body is sped up, time flies by much faster when I’m at work, life genuinely feels amazing and I’m way more social than before. I take 3x 600mg 3 times a day. (Prescribed)

(Edit, I forgot to mention It just feels like I don’t have a care in the world, earlier today at work during its peak I found myself reading the same three sentences for about 30 minutes)

Hi folks,

I am on day 4 of no gabapentin after being on 2400mg daily for years. Of course, my doctor is saying that there's no withdrawal from gabapentin, but I feel like I am crawling out of my skin. Can't sit still, super depressed, jittery. The good side is that by the end of the day I'm so exhausted from everything that I haven't had any trouble sleeping, thanks to the help of trazodone. My question is, for those who have gone cold turkey, am I over the worst of it and now it's just a matter of my brain recalculating how to function without it? I want to be OFF this drug, permanently. And I am trying my best to tough it out, but it's getting harder and harder with each passing hour.

And I know technically I'm supposed to taper, but please save those lectures for someone else. No offense meant, it's just not possible for me.

Thanks everyone.

Hello friends,

So I started 100mg of Gabapentin about two weeks ago, primarily for neuropathic pain. All has been well up until yesterday.

All of a sudden, I felt like I was in danger. Couldn’t sit still, stomach started to act up. After a little while, it faded, and I realized I haven’t felt anything like that in years. I really hoped it was a random fluke.

But then it happened again, just 20 minutes ago. My chest feels heavy, my stomach is a mess, and I feel like my body is in a panic but not telling me why.

Gabapentin and Mobic are the only two new meds I’ve been taking. Up until now, I was totally cool with the Gabapentin. But if it’s going to make me feel like my nervous system is freaking out before I can even register it, I don’t know if I can keep taking it.

Any insight, personal experience, etc is appreciated. I grew up with anxiety and OCD, but I’ve never really experienced sudden random panic to this degree before. The only time I’ve ever felt close to this is during my cyclic vomiting flares, so it’s like the panic is triggering me into more panic

I have absolute agonizing sciatic pain on my left side- doctor recommended Gabapentin- started 3 days 100mg, next 3 days 200 mg, once I got up to 400mg my foot/ankle swelled and got very nauseous. No relief whatsoever with the sciatic pain- now I am tapering off and can cross that off my list to try to help with this sciatic nightmare

Yo everyone T1 diabetic neuropathy sufferer here, so my doctors got me on 600mg in the morning, 600mg at lunch and 900mg in the evening.

I've recently learned about gabapentins saturable absorption mechanism, the numbers I've read have been 52% absorption at 300mg in one dose and 42% at 600mg in one dose. Now I was wondering the most efficient way I could ask my doctor to help me tweak my medication. (I will be seeking medical advice however this gives me anxiety so I'd like to go there with a decent plan and information to ease and hasten the appointment)

My questions are as follows if anyone is knowledgeable enough and kind enough to help:

- I know the saturable absorption is correct, are the numbers?

- what would be the highest absorption% dose, I understand lower than 300 and it may be specific, but could you maybe round it to the lowest figure available from the doctor in a single tablet please?

- how long will the absorption take before I have to redose?

My main goal is to lower my dose to what I can to cope with my pain by taking low doses but often as and when I need it; whilst lowering the extra dementia chance long term use carries, given that the cure to type 1 isn't anywhere near around the corner of being released if it has been discovered, money and all that aye 😂🤷‍♂️

Lore/Info to maybe avoid unnecessary advice on other ways to ease the pain:

The damage is caused by long term a-buse (apologies for using a loophole around a banned word, this medication is exactly that, a medication, I purely mean my diabetes, my apologies if not allowed.) and carelessness of my diabetes perpetuated by the youthful me; who I'd very much like to have a kind word with (throttle within an inch of his life). I am currently and have been working towards lowering my hba1c since mid-late 2022 I've dropped from 137(14.7%) to 79(9.4%) in the past 3.5 years give or take as id fall off occasionally, but I'm near the finish these last 10 points are stubborn bar-stewards to get down.

Hope everyone's well 🫡

Hello my fellow Gabapentin users ..I have been on it for many many years. I am in recovery and have been on this journey for about 20 years and have been on it for most of that time. SO being that honesty is one of the main tenets of a strong recovery, I had to get honest and say I will use the sh*t out of gabapentin. It doesn't do anything, it's not like it gets me elevated in a way that would make it worth it, as I am sure you all know. That's the insanity of my malady...it's a completely compulsive or impulsive behavior that is causing problems present day. I get prescribed 800mg 3x a day. I am currently day 2 in sticking with taking it as prescribed but it literally has to be given to me like I'm in a hospital. I figure I will do that for a week then I'm wanting to go down to 750mgs 3x a day to 600mgs 3 x a day, etc (don't worry, I will be working with my doctor) Has anyone gotten off of gaba and used any natural supplements to help. If I come off slowly will I still experience withdrawals? I know everyone is different...I'm just wondering what other people's experiences have been tapering off or stopping. Any feedback is appreciated. Thank you.

I used to take gabapentin years ago for physical and mental anxiety and it got to the point where I needed to get off it (personal reasons). However I've been struggling with weekend binge drinking disorder for the past year and half. Just got re-prescribed 300mg as needed when I get cravings (which are horrible). I take this medication and the cravings are absolutely non-existent. I can think about alcohol all I want but I have no desire to drink it or curiosity about being drunk.

I have high-functioning Autism with lots of anxiety. I have taken Gabapentin for decades but at a steady dose. I acclimated within the first 6 months years ago. Thinking it was an ineffective drug I quit about 5 years ago but recently started again at a higher dose and more intermittent. I keep from growing a tolerance this way. Man, it sure calms my nerves. In a way that even Xanax can't.

I was prescribed 300mg gabapentin to be taken 3 times a day for 5 days after my surgery. I completed that course and stopped cold turkey after 5 days since I took all the capsules that were prescribed. After 2 weeks I had a follow up appointment with my doctor and told him that I am still experiencing some pain around my incisions and general backache and he prescribed gabapentin again 300mg dose once a day at night. I have been taking 300mg dose once daily for a week now. I would like to wean off of it. How to safely do that?

Hi all...male 51.

I have had terrible physical symptoms since covid in 2022. The slightest thing sets off my nervous system (big meal, too much exercise, hot or cold, stress etc) and i get burning skin all over, shivering, anxiety and panic. Docs said it was mental health but its always started in the body first and never in my head.

Anyway after 3 years a doctor said it sounded like my nervous sytem was compromised after covid and suggested gabapentin.

However i was told take up to 900mg a day as needed.

So i started taking it as needed and would get zen like calm for short periods but the symptoms always returned.

I have since spoke to a different doctor who advised it should be taken regular as it is not a rescue drug.

I have just started taking it now 3 x a day but now rather than zen i feel like my body has a background anxiety and burning all the time. Its only been 2 days.

Is this to be expected as i now have the drug in me constantly rather than intermittent? Its a little disconcerting as i was expecting it to help not make me worse.

Thanks..

Hello,
I have taken gabapentin for my rls for almost 2 months. I have this weird feeling. Every time i take low doses like 600-900mg i feel a little sleepy, but at higher doses i get almost energised feeling.
Anyone else experiencing the same?!