Gabapentin Withdrawal
Posted , 3 users are following.
Good day everyone, I'm currently tapering off of Gabapentin, completing a titration from 300 mg capsules and I'm down to 14.5 mg / 3 times a day. I'm taking Remag which seems to be helping with withdrawal symptoms. Does anyone have any guidance on tapering down in these low doses that I'm currently into? At one time I was on 300 mg / 2 times per day when I began taking the med in October 2017. I'm trying to taper about 10% per week or less...if I go more I get bad headaches and insomnia. This withdrawal really is hard
0 likes, 3 replies
jacque_10032 GLewis
Posted
Sorry, can't offer any suggestions. I was on Gabapentin from November 2017, 900mg/day, and then titration myself down to 300/day for a month, then quit taking it about 3 weeks ago. I really have no withdrawal symptoms from it though. Some days my PHN is worse now, but I'm blaming it on the ever changing weather patterns more than anything. Maybe someone else has suggestions. Good luck.
kathy87887 GLewis
Posted
Good morning, I was on 900mg of Gabapentin for about 3 yrs now. I am currently done to 200mg per day. I also suffered from headaches and insomnia really bad. Chills and nite sweats, anxiety very bad thoughts sometimes at nite when I can't sleep. Im taking magnesium oil for withdrawal symptoms helps a little. The headaches and insomnia, bad thoughts are beginning to ease. The chills are still there when I need a pill and the nite sweats and anxiety are still there. They say exercise helps. Im also hoping to get rid of this weight that I gained while on Gabapentin. I hate this drug and what it has done to my body and mind. Im taking it one day at a time. Good luck to you.
G.Allyn GLewis
Posted
Dear GLewis,
Sending good thoughts your way for a relatively painless and uneventful withdrawal.
You are at a low dose. How do you feel? What is your weaning schedule from your physician?
I was on 1800 mg/day-3600 mg/day for about 20 years. My physician put me on a six day weaning schedule. I dropped to 1200 mg for two days, then 600 mg for two days and 300 mg for two days - and then off completely. My body did not like this at all. One year and 9 months later I am still suffering. It is slowly getting better and I pray that at the two year mark I feel better.
My advice is to follow your physician's wean schedule and call if the decrease rate is too fast. I did alright until the last day I took my last dose. I wanted to perform my own eye enucleation (?sorry about the spelling/ it comes up as wrong), amputate my own legs, walk out back on my bloody stumps, blind, dig my own grave in the back garden, dive in and pull the dirt over my head. The pain was unbelievable. For this reason, in discussion with your physician, stay at a low rate for as long as needed, and get as low of a dose possible before you take the very last dose.
Good luck. I hope all goes well with you. Keep us informed. I will be wishing things go smoothly for you. It sounds like you took a more conservative wean schedule than the one I was given. This is good. I hope this gives you a better experience.