More Gabby stomach issues!

Hi

Thanks for your reply.The feelings in my stomach are like a nervous shaky feeling from what I don't know I've never been a nervous type, it feels like my whole body is shaking on the inside and I tried leaving the house but felt absolutely awful and now never want to leave it again.I'm day 7 off gabapentin and I'm really hoping it's this, I can't cope it's making me depressed I have 3 young children and I can't function properly.when did the withdrawals stop for you ? Xx

I have been off for two months. Just went to Dr still having stomach issues. She put me on zanac for ten days and on day three now it has helped so far.

Just take one day at a time.

Good luck!! Hang in there!!

Hi sianjoanne,

What you are having is severe anxiety with a dooming sense of fear of people and places. It can cause Agoraphobia even making your whole body shake and your stomach very off balance and sick like too. I didn't know that you were sufferring so badly so I will tell you what happened. I went to a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner. After telling her how my mind and body felt and giving her my history of depression, panic and fear she diagnosed me. I am on Klonopin now and then Xanax in a very low dose 1 week before my period. I would caution that these are very addictive and you need to control your use if you take them. The brain can only accept so much Gaba before it needs more for you to feel calm and oriented again so I would only take them when you need them and get back out there and back to life. If this is a long-term condition you need counseling too which will help you find out the root of your problems. I have a lot of medical conditions and the Klonopin helps as a natural muscle relaxer. My shoulders hold a lot of tension. I do not take RX pain meds because the two do not mix. In fact my new General Practitioner who does my checkups says that the Klonopin is best for me right now being in pain because when I am in pain I have panic attacks and tend to withdraw from society, my responsibilities, my job and my family and friends. It is different for everyone. Maybe life got very difficult and you just need someone to talk it out with. Whatever the problem may be please seek help. I would call around if you have insurance or get a referral from your doctor because some of them do not charge a lot. Mine charges $60 to see me for medication checkups every 3 months now and $120 for a full hour including therapy. You may need to see more than one therapist to get properly diagnosed but if you really are sufferring and they see this they will help you. This is not a diagnosis and is just what helped me. Some people have very bad experiences with Benzo's. I only take when needed. Diazepam at 10 mg might be a good start because it is much less addictive. I hope this helps. I'm glad you are here today. I slept only 4 hours because of my manic episodes but I got up anyways because I needed nutrition. I made myself a ground shake with Swiss Chard, Goji Berries, Strawberries, Pineapple, an Activia Cherry, and some coconut milk. Notice how I have modified my diet and excercise too. Even sometimes when I get 4 hours sleep I start to feel much better even on only .5 mg of Klonopin. Now for a hot bath and I will be praying for you. If you need to go to urgent care ask them for Propranolol because they probably won't give you valium, but I really don't know. Panic and anxiety can make you feel like you are wanting to check into a mental hospital. I suggest you take deep breaths, a long hot bath and call someone who cares. Can your significant other or a relative help you with your children this weekend? I would not want them to suffer and feel neglected. I understand the withdrawal from even loved ones that is associated with this problem. Also, can you email the doctor who put you on Gabapentin? I never had withdraws because I was put on anti-anxiety meds right away. Some of them are very dangerous and are not even Benzo's They experimented on me with 7 so I know the deal. Everybody is different. I'm off to take a bath because I am in pain from overactivity yesterday. I will pray for you. 

Hi Debra thankyou for taking the time to reply I really do appreciate it, I am on diazapin but only a 2 mg dose for 1 week it is not working I don't think the dosage is high enough, I have an appointment next Friday with my doc and that had to be booked in advance it's extremely difficult here in the uk to get a docs appointment, quite sad really 😔 my doc wanted me to go straight on anti depressants but I am adiment

Continued.... It was the gabapentin making me like this he said he's never heard of the withdrawal symptoms like this, I have back problems hence why I was on gabapentin but I started to shake I had memory loss so my doc said I was depressed!! And doubled my dose then my memory was a mess I forgot everything had to write notes ask kids to remind me of things I missed bday party's appointments and was leaving things on.it was scary.doc still doing tests for dementia!!! I'm only 34! So now I'm in charge I told doc I want off gabapentin he said ok, I was taking 6 300 mg tablets a day he said stop taking 1 everyday so in under a week I had completely finished, didn't know about any withdrawal symptoms only ever taken I ibuprofen and zapain before.my memory is coming back thank god so sian 1 doctor 0 lol.I take magnesium now and my doctor had to do research because he's never heard that it helps lol and paracetamol for my headaches, not zapain though that's only for my back when it's unbearable.thankyou once again Debra it's good to take about people that go through the same, my family are there for me but haven't experience anything like it so they dont really know what to say other than youll get through this.Xxx

Hi Joanne,

6 300 mg tablets a day is a lot. I remember when a doctor put me on Gabapenting for pain and I met this young man at the store the same day. He asked me how I was doing and I said: "Hopefully fine after I start taking the Gabapentin." He then said: "My mother was on a high dose of that and it destroyed her life." I knew of the danger after that so I only took 300 mg per day. 2mg a day of Diazepam is about a toddler's dose. An adult dose is 10mg per day or 5 mg twice per day. Diazepam is maintenance therapy for withdrawal and is appropriate but i feel that your doctor is playing a psychological game with you. Have you heard of the trial studies where they give one patient a placebo and one a pill? Some of the people that recieve the placebo actually feel better just because they feel the pill is really working. Please explain that 2mg is a very small dose and it is not the standard dose. Maybe he is also doing a type of Placebo experiment to see if when he gives you a low dose; if it works and then in your mind you actually start to feel better because he gave you a small dose. But you are not feeling better because the dose is not high enough to control your withdrawal symptoms. I am glad your family is helping. And i agree that they may not understand that you may not be able to get through it without medication. Anxiety and depression are two very different things. Anti-Depressants might make you worse because they will bring more seratonin into your brain when your brain may already have enough seratonin; thus making the problem worse. Check into Anti-Anxiety meds and be careful. They had me on Celebrex, Cymbalta, Depakote. Celebrex made me sick. Cymbalta helped with the pain but caused severe nausea and Depakote caused my hair to fall out and my teeth to erode. I have since then had dental work to restore my teeth. Seroquel XR was great at first. I could sleep right and my anxiety was less but after a year I started having uncontrolled arm and leg movements and had to go off of it. I have settled on Trazadone at night for help with sleep and night time flight or fight syndrome, Lamotrogine for my mood disorder and the Klonopin for my severe anxiety. Lidocaine Patches for my pain and Advil. I tried Naproxen with no relief. I am hoping you feel better about your doctors appointment and standing up for yourself. Do not let the doctor's play God with you anymore. When they suggest an anti-depressant or an anti-anxiety please do your research on the side effects because sometimes they can do more harm than good. The Diazepam did help me through a rough time once. Have a great Sunday. I'm not sure what time it is over there but I have lived in the UK before and that is why I am on this particular website. 

Hi Debra I am determined to got at it med free and take occassional zapain if my back plays up as I did b4 which did work .I only suggested something different because I thought the zapain would hurt me but I never had any problems with it just people putting me off it really.I'm just praying it's the gaba that made me this way and not another problem.but I didn't have any problems really until I took it almost a year ago.Thanks so much for your help xxx

How long have you been off Gabby??

Hello,

I have been off of Gabapentin since 2014. I took it for only 1 year before I developed lethargy, agoraphobia and severe depression. They took me off slowly just like they did the Seroquel XR that caused the uncontrolled muscle movements. Now those were scary! It's not pleasant when you are sitting there or laying down and your legs or arms just jerk back and forth for no reason. Big Pharma is really killing us now!!!! I like the older drugs. The reason doctors don't prescribe a lot of proven older drugs that work for one symptom as well as another and not nearly as expensive as the ones we see in commercials is because they don't cost a lot to make or buy and Big Pharma won't make millions off of them. I tried those expensive ones and all I got was bad results. Except for Lidocaine Patches for my pain. (Lidoderm) works great when I need it. We definitely have a huge problem here in the U.S. with these commercials and drug pushers (excuse me, pharmaceutical sales people) and the doctors that get incentives by giving samples and writing prescriptions for them. Then there are the insurance companies too who will not pay for massage therapy or acupuncture or other holistic treatments. It's rediculous! I hope you will be ok. Don't worry too much. Try to eat healthy and take care of yourself too Worrying will shorten your life too..unfortunately that's the truth. Give your family hugs and they will return hugs. Hugs can cheer you up, make you happy, feeling needed and loved. Heal your heart and your body will follow too!  

Hi sandy it's been since 3rd April and I'm still not great my anxiety (which I've never had before) is out of control to the point where they have put me on sertraline and diazapin but only taking the diazapin in the morning until the sertraline gets in my system. been doing this now for 3 days and feel much better just wish I'd done it weeks ago when the doctors advised it, but I'm very stubborn and thought I could go at alone but with 3 young children was hard work ☺

Hi since 3rd of april but still got anxiety 😔

Hello, 

You may want to give the medication until the 3rd of May to work. Give it some time. I will say that for me those did not work. I had very severe anxiety and they switched me to the mood medication category. Those SSRI's can make your anxiety worse or even make you more depressed. Here is why: Sertraline is a Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. About 30% of people that get these medications prescribed do not have a favorable response. Do not be discouraged though. Maybe the doctor started you on a low dose to be sure it was safe or maybe it will start to help soon. 

Diazepam is ok for Anxiety. It helped me over a short hump and is used to withdraw from other benzo's when the time is right. I would not recommend xanax. I have had bad experiences with this fast acting benzo that only lasts a short time period. While it can be good for short term panic attacks that don't happen daily, I do not feel that it helped me as much as the clonazepam. Maybe they can take you off the Diazepam and start Clonazepam at .5 mg once or twice per day if you don't feel better in a month or so? I now only take 1 mg or .5 mg per day. I used to take 2 mg per day all of the time but i am more in control of my anxiety certain times of the month and don't need as much at those times. 

It must be hard with the children. You might not be having time to fully meditate or pray or gather yourself together in the morning before you start your day. I know you have family. Do you have female friends? I would also consider a support group where you can talk about your feelings. You can make friends there that understand what you are dealing with. Some might even have daycare. I know here in the U.S. some of them do. 

Good luck Gaby! I will keep you in my prayers. Have a great Thursday! 

I mean good luck Sandy. The gabapentin might not be the issue anymore. It may be the fact that the Gabapentin had Gaba in it and you are not getting enough of it anymore and have anxiety because of that. Therefore the name Gabapentin. A bad drug that is supposed to help with pain but does not add enough gaba to help with anxiety. In fact it made my depression worse. Have the doctors thought of doing any tests on your physical wellbeing like blood tests and such to make sure your body is operating correctly and you are healthy physically too? My doc has put me through a series of blood tests. I am still waiting for the results of a few more tests I had last week, an ultrasound test, and today a cholesterol test. They need to make sure you are healthy on all levels. It is a mental as well as a physical condition and sometimes doctors do not correlate the two. 

Just had blood work done even checked pancreas. Also EKG. All was good!

Stomach is the main issue now. Just feels weird. Hoping Zanac helps me with this or will go to gasoligist to find out why. Never has tummy problems.

Keep me posted!

Hi Sandy,

Does your nausea / sick to your stomach happen first thing in the morning? It could just be a medication hangover. I have it off and on either every morning or every other morning. It does go away about 90% of the time when I get out of bed. So this is actually a motivator for me. I have to get out of bed and get moving. Otherwise my stomach continues to turn and my body hurts. I have to move because I have Fibromyalgia. Some good news. My insurance company is going to send me to Pain Management (not for pills) but for other treatments like physical therapy, chiropractic adjustments and massage. Also my blood glucose was excellent and my cholesterol levels were excellent and I lost weight which is good. I have about 10 to 15 extra pounds that need to go. My doctor was like "whatever you have been doing, keep doing it." I really like my doctor. For the first time something is being done about my health problems and I don't have to beg or pay for it. 

I hope you are doing well this morning. I'll be on here off and on today. I have a few things to do. They gave me a Tetanus (TDAP) shot and a Pneumococcal shot to prevent deadly bacteria like Pneumonia, in the blood or like Meningitis. Now my right arm hurts a bit. Otherwise I'm ok. I'm looking to work from home now so I'm going to get ready. Have a good day! What is your home language? 

Mine is fine in bed!! Trying Zanac and Gas X. Just feel so bloated.

It's the only thing still bothering me!

Have an awesome day! Happy for your good news too!