Gabapentin withdrawal and palpitations

Hi babs99203 - glad you found some of the info you needed . . .  I had a very lovely gp who helped me taper, very slowly, using 100's instead of 300's, it took a while, but we got there, wishing you well.

Susan

Hi Susan, I'm lucky that I worked in healthcare as a medical secretary for over 30 years (boy, that makes me sound old!, but I'm not that much LOL!) so I can work my way through a lot of the terms and information out there.  My GP's extremely good and very familiar with shingles, plus I've got a good relationship with some pharmacists.

To start, I had only been increasing by 100, every week until the pain was better controlled until I was at 800 mg 3 x a day. But in January, I'd been out of work for two months between the pain and the gab side effects so I dropped by 100. That was too soon, as I still had quite a bit of pain but I wanted to get back to work. I actually quit my job 3 weeks ago, as it was too difficult to work and I couldn't drop while I was working after that last reaction I had in April.

My recent palpitations were a little disconcerting, but it was still better than the problems I had the last time I dropped. It's just a good reminder how powerful this drug is. I absolutely needed it to help with the pain, but I'll be glad when I'm off it. I plan on waiting 2-4 weeks between the decreases to see how it's going. I realize now that I'm at 1800 mgs it may take a year. Or because of the PHN, I may have to be on it for a while or the rest of my life. I also use extra strength Tyelonol 1000 mg 3 times a day, Aspercreme with Lidocaine pain cream, a prescription NSAD I've been on for years and am prudent with lifting, twisting and bending. But I AM better, so I'm very grateful. I've got 85% of my life back again.

Wow you have ben thru alot!!! I have had inappropraite sinus taccacardia being on Gabapentin as well. But my dr had me drop too quickly. Now Im on 700 mgs daily and XS tylenol as well for my chest pain. My PCP wants me to go back up on it for chest pain but im torn between cardio and pcp. Be careful with that dose of tylenol. Im sure you are in quite a bit of pain, but that dose seems really. Do you have your liver and kidney levels checked regularly? Thats wonderful you have so much more of your life back. Thats wonderful!!! I take meds for high heart rate but would love to up my gaba a bit to help this pain and get my old life back as well.

Compared to others with PHN (Postherpetic neuralgia i.e. pain after shingles) I'm pretty lucky. That Tylenol dose is two extra strength every 5-6 hours, so 3 times a day. When the pain was worse, it was 4 times a day, which I know was too high. But I needed it. In your previous message, you said you pain was helped by cool or ice packs, have you tried any pain creams with Lidocaine? You can get prescription creams or patches, but the OTC work just as well. I've had great luck (as have others) with Aspercreme with 4% Lidocaine. The new roller ball one works really well and you use a lot less than trying to put it on with your fingers.   Take care!

Hi Thankyou so muchfor that info. I was just in hospital for severe chest pain and they tried lidocaine patches. Unfortunately they did nothing at all. You are absolutely right about Tylenol. Sorry I misspoke. The drs put me on 3000 mgs of Tylenol per day. Helps only a little, but better than  nothing. right???   hope you are well    Thankyou again  This pain really stinks!!!!!!

Hi Grace, Yes, the pain stinks, but so does the whole rest of this mess, right?? Last time I had problems about 1 week after I dropped by 100 mg, this time, I had hardly any problems at all the first 3 weeks, then the last few days, more pain, fatigue, confusion, memory issues and then some anxiety and weepiness. You've got to be kidding me! (I had to clean up the wording on that). Two days ago I was just "off", not myself at all, today I again and an odd stretch, but now I'm back to same old me with less pain, more energy and vim and vigor.  However I try VERY hard to avoid lifting much more than 3 pounds, no hugging (not even a laundry basket for carrying dirty wash--learned that the hard way), only careful bending and watching even my leaning.

You've got to have a life, but IF I can try and avoid certain motions, I do feel much better. Also, in a different forum we got to discussing pain and bras. Wearing one of those is the worst for chest/back pain like mine. I finally found a more comfortable style--racer backs that close in the front. As you've been diagnosed with a different problem, I'm not sure if these suggestions will help, but I wanted to foffer them.  A few years ago I had a cracked rib, and the pain is similar to that.

How many mgs are u on w Gabapentin? Im down to 700 mgs and cant seem to get any lower right now. This burning pain in chest is the pits. So is Costrocondritis. I know stress worsens it and I have been under quite a bit lately.  I havent worn a bra in a long time because Of Costro, but thanks for sharing!!!!

I'm now at 1800 mg-that's 600 three times a day. Have you read some of the other forums? Depressions with PHN is really good. I found it the other day and there's a lot of info for anyone dealing with chronic pain. I'd post the link, but these forums usually block links. You could probably also find it my checking my posts and finding it that way.

I'm so sorry Steph, yes Gab is a powerful, frustrating drug. I agree with you that doctors don't understand what it does. I almost regret taking it, but the pain was so bad, I felt there were no other options. Unfortunately, Gab shouldn't be stopped cold turkey, it can cause seizures and the problems that you mention. May I ask how high a dose you were on? I'm trying to slowly drop, only 100 mg/month, so at this rate it will be 17 months before I'm off it. AND to add to it, my depression, concentration and memory issues have worsened at times. We're all between a rock and a hard place. It's very hard not to get discouraged and down (I'm going thru a bad stretch myself right now). There a forum here about CBT that Charlie started, he's a psychologist who also has PHN. He's had some good advice. I'm not surprised that you're still having palpitations, I think gab WILL take a while to get out of our systems.  I know someone who a year later was still having memory issues.

When I have the energy, I WILL contact the FDA about the problems I'm having. Yes, they need to hear.  I googled Gabapentin withdrawal and came up with some good information confirming what we're going thru and explaining what actually happens chemically. It helped (a bit) to understand the process.

from what your saying sounds like the doctor didnt even try to find out if its gabapentin withdrawal. what the doctor should have done was a test for gabapentin withdrawal and the way he would do that is by asking you if you went back on the gabapentin and asking you if the symptoms went away after you went back on the gabapentin and if the symptoms went away its definately a case of gabapentin withdrawals thats how you do a test to find out if its gabapentin withdrawal

but those symptoms have to be new symptoms not old symptoms from before you went on the gabapentin for the first time in your whole life if you developed new symptoms after taking gabapentin for the first time in your life and then stopped gabapentin and new symptoms came up after stopping the gabapentin or even during taking gabapentin then you have side effects while during taking gabapentin and then symptoms after stopping gabapentin are then called withdrawals

One doctor wanted to blame all the side effects as my body reaction to work stress, told me to increase my dose.  I stopped 

when i went through gabapentin withdrawals i had 5 doctors tell me it was stress tell i saw the 6th doctor in the emergency who said it was gabapentin withdrawals so i guarantee you your not alone once you stop taking gabapentin watch out for withdrawals

Definitely been suffering the withdrawal effects.

It has been a year. The heart palpitations have persisted. In October 2017 (3 months after quitting Gabapentin/neurontin) I started taking beta blockers. They have helped with the heart palps quite a bit. My last bad heart palp episode was in January 2018 after getting an echo cardiogram (man those things hurt!). Since then, I've had what I call "blipies" where my heart skips a few beats. The last one was a couple weeks ago when I tried to cut some weeds outside with shears. I came in and sat down and drank water right away, and it didn't turn into a full-blown episode of heart palps. SO thankful! Life is S-L-O-W-L-Y getting back to normal. Last year the doc discovered I was hypothyroid, and I started meds for it. I think maybe that was where my foot pain was coming from??? Not sure, but miraculously, my feet have been better the past six months. 

My advice for those suffering from Gabapentin is hang in there! I know how incredibly life-sucking it feels. Don't give up! It is a long road to recovery, but now I have more good days than bad days (finally!). Surround yourself with people who will love you and take care of you if you are able. Distract yourself with funny videos or whatever you can to keep your mind off your side effects! Keep fighting the good fight! One day you will wake up and realize you can live again. <3

Hi, My name is Ellen. my username on here is ellen05533. I have been reading everyone's post on this forum and yours is identical to what I am experiencing. I see that this was posted 2 years ago but I'm hoping you reply back. I started taking gabapentin 300 mg 3 times a day for nerve damage caused by a throat ulcer the doctor told me it was similar to post herpetic neuralgia this was in 2016. I took it for two years and stopped cold turkey (not knowing) on 8/2/2018. The withdrawals were so horrific!! nausea, sweating, insomnia, muscle pain, etc etc The ultimate worst were the heart palpitations!! I ended up going to the er where they did an ekg. apparently nothing was found. Since then I have explained this to my gp and told him i know its from quitting gabapentin. To make a long story short.. he referred me to a cardiologist and I wore a holter monitor for 24 hours which did show pvs's but the dr said not to worry and to see him a year later. Anyway I thought they were gone completely but just recently they are back again. So I went back to the cardiologist and am currently wearing another monitor but this time for 2 weeks. He tells me he doubts its from the gabapentin because I quit so long ago the withdrawals would be gone by now. Which I know its def from the med because I never ever in my whole like experienced them it was only after stopping the gabapentin!! Now I'm afraid I did permanent damage like an arrhythmia problem or hoping its just paws (post acute withdrawal syndrome) ?? Since you experienced exactly what I am going through can you please write me back and let me know if yours have ever gone away completely?? I am so worried this drug has ruined my life!! Thank you..

Hi Ellen, sorry for late reply, i am useless at checking me e-mails! Yes I am completely better and all heart palpitations have stopped. I did however have to take Prozac to control my anxiety and that perhaps helped control the rapid heart beat. Mine mostly happened on waking up first thing and calmed as the day wore on. I took Valium to help but it really made no difference. After around 3-4 weeks of having to be pretty much looked after like a child by my mum and dad I started to feel a bit better.

Thank You for replying back. That makes me feel much better knowing the have gone away completely!! Thank You..