For how long did gabapentin withdrawals stay for you guys?

ok, so 3600mg a day is a lot, but i didnt understand for how long did you stay on that dosage before quitting? And did you feel normal an back to yourself in a couple of months?

my back locked up at the beginning of MARCH 17 and i decided to come off gabapentin Sept/Oct same year. i decreased 1 tablet at a time between then and Christmas. It took me well into march to get back to reasonable normality. By that i mean the crawling skin,feeling really depressed ,not sleeping,irritable , headaches etc .

I Persevered and pushed hard to get through it and yes I'm fine now. there is NO way i will ever ever take that again.i'd sooner pass out with the pain in my back,because with that theres not those awful side effects. It IS hard but push through it,because i made it my mission to be another day without them. IT WILL get easier as the time goes by. THE less time your on it,the less chance of being "hooked" on the drug. it should be banned

thanks for the answer and good to hear that you have your quality of life back. i stopped because the side effects killed me.. I tried to up the dose, but it didnt work and i tried to lower the dose and it didnt work, so i decided to stop. 10 days tapering down from 600mg to 0mg(i was on 600mg the last two months). i had no where close to the wirhdrawal effects i read that other people had, but i am 2 months into my first job sober and i am an recovering addict. I used benzos to cope with my anxiety. I have 9months clean and soberr now and i am so F***ING READY ti svart my new life... But this new challenge has been something... I just want my life back...

Congratulations Mathias on being sober, but this is a complicated answer. It varies with everyone due to numerous factors: what other meds you're currently one or were on, your overall health, length of time you were on the drug, the dosage you were on, how quickly you dropped and your body's own response. Some people have no problem, for others it lasts for years.

Going too quickly, particularly cold turkey can cause a dangerous reaction and is likely to cause a more prolonged recovery. Support groups recommend a 10% or less drop over four weeks or more. So sadly, you may have several weeks or months. Getting off gab isn't like getting off other drugs, due to the way it affects the brain. There are similiarites in the WD symptoms to benzo withdrawal.

That doesn't mean the WD will be constant, there can be good stretches. I'm in a group that has members saying that for them, getting off gab was the hardest. Hang in there, as you've already made tremendous progress. I was at 2700 mg almost 3 years ago and had to VERY slowly taper and am now down to 300 mg. Every taper was hard, but I was so much better emotionally and physically at the end. I now take 8-14 weeks between tapers to give my body time to heal. I found this through trial and error. For me, even 2 weeks, 4 weeks or 6 weeks was too fast to drop 100 mg.

Thanks for answering, but im not getting any wiser when some people say its gonna take a few weeks, others say months and some even say years... I dont know what to do with that... I am a very healthy 25 year old man and Gabapentin was the only med i was on. now i am on Sarotex for nerve pain. I was on 900mg daily for 9 months and then 600mg for 2 months before i in 10 days went down to zero. I havent really had much problem going off as long as i am alone. when i am with other people, i feel this insane social anxiety and i am 100% sure that is because of the gabapentin withdrawal. What do you think about the timeline for getting back to myself with this information?

I truly am sorry that there's no definite answer as the real answer is, nobody knows. This is actually an epilepsy drug. It changes the brain, the neurons and the synapses. As every person is unique, there are only general suggestions as to how we each did. I can't give you an answer. Sarotex is also known amitriptyline and is a tri-cyclic antidepressant. Adding an antidepressant to gab, can occur, but doctors don't realize that for those sensitive to these drugs, they compound the problems.

You have also used other meds including benzos, all those can cause changes to the brain (for lack of a better explanation) which makes it more complicated as you add more drugs. I'm not criticizing or making judgements, it's just what can happen.

Anxiety is one of the many side effects of gab and as one goes through withdrawal, that anxiety can get much worse. I feel as if I'm only giving you bad news, but I'm just trying to help you understand how very different gab is from other meds. I've known other people who have been on drugs like anti-depressants, xanax, benzos, opioids etc. and yet when gab was added to the mix, it was a whole new, miserable situation.

Personally, I can have multiple good days, then bam, I had strong withdrawal symptoms, both physical and emotional. All I can do is wait it out. I know that adding other meds can make it worse. I hope that understanding can help ease your anxiety. Feeling helpless or powerless is scary and infuriating. But you've got this, you made a good decision, just hang in there.

I suggest doing so research and going to groups like Benzo Buddies or Inner Compass for advice on how to deal with this. That's helped me.

Deki, I hope your taper and its withdrawal weren't too bad. For many, dropping that quickly would be almost as bad as going cold turkey. That's an insane amount of gab, but technically there is no maximum dose, so docs feel free to give as much as they want. If the patient says they're having side effects or pain, the doc just says we have to increase it. IF, and I said IF gab helps with pain (95% of the time it doesn't as it's only approved for 3 things, seizures, shingles/PHN and small nerve diabetic neuropathy, and then it just had to decrease the pain in 50% of the people, not eliminate it) generally anything about 1800 mg causes so many side effects it's not worth taking. For some they say "enough" at about 1000 mg.

I didnt stop cold turkey. I was on 600mg the last two months and then i tapered down from 600mg to zero in 10 days. I really have to say the internet isnt helping a lot when you are desperate with your side effects of withdrawal and your trying to find relief and people just take all your hope away from you. Saying that this can take months even years. Thats just to much for me. I pray to god i'm one of those it goes easy with, cause i cant take another round of depression and anxiety. I came off benzo for the second time in my life one year ago and this year has been a living HELL. Now i really had hope it was my time to shine and then Gabapentin stopped working and its another f***ing round??? like WTF? I cant stand this anymore

The strange thing, is that coming off gabapentin has actually been no problem for me at all compared to my benzo experience because i knew all the time that this is gonna be challenging for a shirt period of time, but then i went here looking for relief, and it just gets completely destroyed by people saying this will take months, maybe years.

Did you want people to lie. Dont ask a question you don't want an answer for.

But maybe it WILL be faster Mathias! My body's a bit odd, but I've known others who have this. I taper, as I said, VERY slowly, so for me there's the usual that at weeks 4-7 weeks I have a really tough time. Right now I'm at 5.5 weeks and I feel better than I have in 3 years. Go figure? I think that with these other drugs, you go through hell for a shorter period of time, and I think it's somewhat similar for everyone. That's why gab is such a horrible drug, as there are so many different ways it screws us up.

No, you didn't go cold turkey, but because of the way gab works, IF you have a bad reaction when you drop (as you and many of us do), dropping 600 me in 10 days is about the same on the brain/body as going cold turkey. I know people who have taken 6-9 months to drop that much. Don't give up hope. As I said, we don't know, but you may be through the worst of it, as you're two months in. As minimal as it may seem, are there small improvements in your WD? Does something distract you from the anxiety like music, walk, pets, USE THAT! Anything we can do to rest our mind and bodies, take advantage of it. The depression can be awful, one of my worst side effects, but reaching out, talking to someone or even just saying, it's not me, it's the damned drug and I won't let it win may help. I finally saw a therapist who gave me some tools to work through the bad times. When we discuss those long time frames, that's unlikely, but possible. I don't like giving false hope.

How about this, usually after 2-3 months people see an improvement in sleep, depression, mood and decrease in pain. There are Waves and Windows, periods where it gets better and worse. The good periods get longer and the bad periods get shorter. Know during a bad stretch IT WILL GET BETTER. The insidiousness of depression is it convinces you that you always felt like this and you will always feel like that in the future. That's not right. Fight it and say, KNOCK IT OFF! "Others have done this, I HAVE done this and I will get through this. Please hang in there, try sources like Benzo buddies, Inner Compass, do and online search for Waves and Windows. Those sources helped me see that I wasn't alone, that my body is healing, no matter how much I didn't believe it. Remember, I was convinced that I'd feel in a deep pit right now. My husband's facing a heart procedure and I thought there was NO way I could deal with this during withdrawal. Well, the bad WD didn't come, so I was wrong. Be glad you're off the garbage and are healing. You're a brave, strong person for reaching out.

I dont want people to lie, its just a lot to sink in that every single person online writes horror stories. My doctor says it's maximum 6 weeks and every article i read, says 10 days to 1 month. I guess i'll hope that the people going through this with small wd's dont write about it online.. I'm really scared now. I need to come back to my new job and get my life going again. I really really need the gifts i've been going to war every single day for the last year to come.

Thank you for your informative answers. Actually i honestly doesnt think this is difficult. Not like benzos at all. The thing that takes my hope away is when i read for how long im gonna live like this. The only withdrawal effect i can say that i have, is anxiety. When i am alone, i dont care about the anxiety. Its ok. But when im around other people, this horrible social anxiety kicks in. And thats the gaba wd. I've read all over the internet about people vomiting, having hot flashes, extreme dizziness etc etc etc. The only thing i have is general anxiety alone(wich actually is no problem) and social anxiety with people(A big problem). And i have absolutely had improvement. I thought i was going to be psychotic the first two days of wd and the anxiety was waaay heavier and i also had some dizziness( is till do, but very little). It's day 8 without gaba now. BTW i met a guy lately that went off 5 years of gaba in two weeks and had no problem

I've been thinking about you a lot Mathias. I'm active in groups regarding PHN (post shingles lingering pain from nerve damage) and gab. I also worked as a medical secretary for 30 years, so I'm more familiar than some with the medical and health care world. It's terrific to hear there has been improvement in your situation. I had that happen several times (at a very nice dinner for my daughter's birthday, for one) and it's frustrating. I found myself planning around my tapers to avoid setting myself up for a difficult time. Anxiety, fear, panic, whatever you call it is from the gab activating our fight or flight instinct with cortisol an adrenaline. I remind myself, it's just a screwed up central nervous system. Yeah, it doesn't help much, but I try and fidget, or walk away or distract however I can until it lessens.

But as you noted, there are a LOT of different ways this affects people, that's why there's no clear answer as to who it will affect, in what ways or for how long. Doctors still insist (incorrectly as you now know) that there are no side effects and no withdrawal. The phrase that's used for dismissing and ignoring patients is called gaslighting. I too know several people who had only minimal or no problems, that doesn't mean others don't have problems. Why does one person get sick, and not the other? Why does one soldier get PTSD and not a comrade? We don't know. Thanks for continuing to write here. It's good to hear from you.

Few people go to support groups to say I am NOT having a problem. So don't let that influence you too much. If they do take the time to track down a group, then post, I'd be suspicious of their comments. For many who are in real emotional and physical pain, finding others who have been through this is helpful. You can feel less alone, but you also can't get too caught up in their problems. I've learned so much, but am also grateful that while I have a number of problems from gab, I don't have it as bad as others. I'm also so much better now, that I can honestly talk about my experiences and tell people they can get through this.

As far as the idea of days vs years for the problems. Some problems, like memory loss (which I have) seems to be on of those lingering problems. I've talked to many who still notice they're not who they were before. I'm trying to accept that. But many other symptoms are more short-lived such as headaches, digestive issues, those temperature variations etc. Hence that wide range of predictions. I get some WD symptoms that only appear very briefly every few months. I forget I ever had them, then they pop-up again.

Yes i agree it is kinda good to talk to like minded people. I have improved a lot and today i actually managed to talk and share at a NA-meeting for the first time in two weeks! So there is definately improvement. Those you talked to that you said noticed they were not themselves anymore.. Not themselves after how long time without gabapentin?

While on the higher doses of gab, I wasn't myself at all. Much smaller vocabulary, cognitive issues (still have trouble with basic, simple math), disengaged from life, memory loss etc. Some people have more physical problems like tremors, dizziness, Gab Gait (a specific type of odd walk). Anyway, the lower the dose, the more my old personality for both good and bad (!) came back. I believe most of the old personality came back, but some had lingering memory issues years later. That can be disconcerting. But once the worst of the withdrawal symptoms is past, I don't remember anyone saying they had lasting personality changes. But we all end up with a LOT more anger and mistrust toward the medical community. But I've also changed as in I'm more compassionate, knowing that many of us have invisible issues and that life is more tenuous than we realized. That specific comment about "not herself" came from a neighbor regarding his wife during her gab problems. I felt he meant it lasted a while, but I didn't pursue it. However, she also had cancer and chemo which can cause other problems. I'm sorry that threw you for a loop. For those who have long-lasting physical problems, that too change their lives. Some get movement disorders akin to Parkinson's from gab. Yeah, it's an awful med.

I'm on day 10 without gabapentin now and its a lot better. I really think its necessary to write for those out there looking for relief to know that this can get better fast also. I really feel like i'm 40-50% better already. I guess my withdrawal has been easier than most people here because my tapering from 600mg to 0mg in 10 days is pretty insane compared to the most i've read. From what i've read i really should be dying right now, but thats not the case

That is such good news! Remember, there may still be some harder stretches, but now you have seen the light at the end of the tunnel. i tend to forget that when i get down. Maybe a tattoo would help??