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Gabapentin Withdrawal Horror

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G.Allyn
G.Allyn

I want to start by giving an apology for my doubts towards patients who posted about problems with gabapentin withdrawal.  How hard could it be?  It has a short half life.  It is not an opioid.

My plan was to write about my extremely painful and unexpected withdrawal experience after I felt better, but it has been FIFTEEN months.

I was on 1800-3600 mg /day for 20 years.  My physician put me on a six day weaning schedule.  The day I took my last dose my pain skyrocketed, but the pain has changed from low back to toes pain, to pain mostly to my anterior legs below my knees.  Unfortunately, it is a very slow process.  The internal nerve shaking that accompanies the pain is beyond annoying.

I often read patients on forums stating they have no problem with gabapentin.  I did not think my problems were that terrible before I went off the drug.  They all come with cautions and potential problems.  I wish I had known of how difficult this drug was to discontinue before I had ever taken the first pill.  I wish someone had warned me.

Good luck to everyone trying to discontinue gabapentin.  I hope your experience is easier than mine.

18 likes, 1046 replies

1046 Replies

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  • marie89364
    marie89364 G.Allyn

    Posted

    My experience has been absolutely horrible. Have been off it for 9 weeks now and still experiencing horrible leg pain. And I was only on 200 mg per night for 14 mnths.
    • michele51746
      michele51746 marie89364

      Posted

      Hang in there, I too only took 300 mg 1x at night. It dosent matter. Everyone who has taken this drug has had their gaba receptors compromised. It will take time for the gaba receptors to normalize. Every nerve in the body (as well as the brain) is trying to normalize so to speak. Our nervous systems have been compromised. Period. I am off the 300 mg for a little over 4 months now. The first 1st 2 months were the hardest. The 3rd month i felt better and thought it was over. NOT! It hit again but symptoms werent as hard. It comes and goes but i know that in the near future it WILL be gone. Toward mid afternoon all symptoms are gone now. Mornings its present but not terrible. Theres NOTHING that helps lighten these effects. Just remind yourself that IT IS temporary. I think its mentally much harder for people who have much responsibilities daily. I dont and can relax which is very helpful. From much research thru reading many different stories, it could take 6 -12 months for a 100% full recovery, ( at the lower dose). Others will take longer since they were on very high doses. I know there have been people who only took gaba for one month and still have experienced wd symptoms, where others had no symptoms at all. Everyone, every body is different. I found that by not consuming foods that are processed helps. Taking anything that has chemicals, including medications can trigger the symptoms. Try to eat single ingredient foods, whole foods. The whole experience is wild. The USA military has banned this drug, yet it still broadly prescribed for us civilians. I try and let as many people as possible know about this. Public awareness is important. I blame big pharma too. We are the generation for testing. They are aware of these horrible side effects yet they still prescribe it like crazy. The pharmaceutical company Pfizer has been sued and lost, yet they still put it on the market and for every ailment. People cant fight infection while on it and get other illnesses on it. Its better to go thru the wd than to remain on it. Remember that!

    • marie89364
      marie89364 michele51746

      Posted

      Michelle, Thanks so much for writing back. How long were you on the drug. Today wasn't a bad day. Still have tingling, but pain in legs not too bad. Thur will be 14 days off it. I know it's just 1 day at a time. I'm hanging in there.

      Take care of yourself.

      Marie

      M

  • david_62241
    david_62241 G.Allyn

    Posted

    I’ve taken myself from 3600mg per day to 300mg BUT took two years. Went from 3600mg to 1800mg in one day and didn’t feel withdrawal symptoms. I stayed on 1800mg for about six months, then cut back 300mg per month until I got to 900mg. I stayed on 900mg for a about a year because felt strange when I tried to go from 900 to 600 after only a month. In the last two months I’ve cut back 300 mg per month until I’m at 300mg per day and not feeling any withdrawal, in fact I feel like I did before I started taking it ten years ago. My pain doesn’t seem to be worse and my mind is clear. I feel great in my brain after ten years of fatigue. I have my energy back. I still have chronic pain, no worse or better since going down to 300mg. My doctor said I could just stop now but I’m going to ask for 100mg caps and cut back 100mg every two months and hopefully be able to stop completely. My wife even said she sees a difference in me. Chronic pain sucks but adding feeling like a zombie is worse. 
    • marie89364
      marie89364 david_62241

      Posted

      David, Sounds like your doing great. Congratulations on a job well done. Good luck on the rest of your journey. One of these days soon you will be completely free of this horrible drug.
    • michele51746
      michele51746 david_62241

      Posted

      Good for you! More is NOT better, the opposite is true. Once i got to 100 mg, i felt so good,,,until i stopped. Then the poop hit the fan!! Im good now, better
    • garnella24377
      garnella24377 michele51746

      Posted

      It seems we are between a rock and a hard place. gong off of this horrible drug completely has been a nightmare for me but I surely don't want to stay on it.  good luck to all of you and myself as well because the the bloated, pain, fatigue is sometimes more unbearable then the pain.  At least I hope these symtoms are withdrawal from gabapentin.

    • david_62241
      david_62241 marie89364

      Posted

      Murphy’s Law- I wrote post yesterday in morning after feeling great all day then around 3pm I started getting anxiety, something I never get so after two hours I decided to take my one 300mg capsule a couple hours later and anxiety disappeared. I didn’t take another GABA but I think cutting back from 600 to 300mg after only a month might have been the problem. I still only took my regular 300mg per day yesterday but Think I’ll have to go back up to 600mg per day until I can get 100mg caps then go down to 500mg , 400mg etc. I think 600mg to 300mg was to large a jump. I had no problem 900mg to 600mg. Sucks but stopping this drug is long term. 
    • v2806
      v2806 david_62241

      Posted

      Hi David

      When I got down to one 300mg capsule.i halved the capsule.i took half in morning and half caps at night.

      I did that for about a week if I remember correctly,then cut out night one taking the half again in morning for another week before. Attempting to stop that last one.

      WD will be there,but push through,cos you're almost home and dry. I found going for walks or just a change of scenery helped me with the depression bit. It's worth putting up with the WD

      Good luck. I made it....so can you

  • tashanna85079
    tashanna85079 G.Allyn

    Posted

    I stopped Gabapentin June 2 cold turkey.  I was prescribed it for the off label use of anxiety/depression after a year of trying 7 different meds, therapy and TMS.  I pulled my back and was prescribed a narcotic and was told by the urgent care doc to stop taking it as there may be some negative interaction.  I then proceeded to have some of the best sleep I’ve had in a while for two days, but then s**t got real. 

    I starting taking Gabapentin around November and loved it.  I just as quickly started developing sleep issues but didn’t make the connection.  The medication was taken consistently with 2/3 days of misuse just to see what it did (damn you Google) but for the most part taken as directed, 3x100 mg daily.  Around Jan I started taking 300 mg all at one time, I don’t remember why.  Beginning of Feb I started taking it sporadically as I started to feel the best I had felt in over a year, me thinking it was because of a much needed career change and TMS therapy.  I was on the road to mental health recovery and didn’t want to be on meds anymore.  But around mid Feb I started developing body tremors and sleeplessness.  Staying up late because I couldn’t fall asleep but then sleeping 7/8 hours, no big deal, as I was not working and could sleep in if I needed to.  But then I would fall asleep then wake up about wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep for hours.  Plus I started having stomach issues and gained 10lbs in about 5 weeks.  I got checked for thyroid issues and leaky gut, both negative.  I also went and had blood work done and checked for vitamin deficiencies, still waiting to hear on those.  But I finally made the connection that it was because of the Gabapentin. 

    Some other notes.  My symptoms:  bloating, stomach pain/organ swelling, insomnia, mild anxiety, internal body tremors/heart palpations, throat fluttering, occasional headache, weight gain.  I have tried everything for relief over the last few months.  Valerian root, CBD oil, pancreatin, turmeric w/black pepper, gaba supplement, thyroid therapy (hypo), thyroid calming (hyper), otc sleep aids, trazadone, magnesium citrate, and now magnesium orotate, lemon balm, lemon grass, B12 and biotin vitamins.  They all (except hypo thyroid supplement) knock me out the 1st day and then palpations come back with a vengeance the next day and then bye bye blessed sleep. 

    I’m on day 12 of the withdrawal and it does get better daily, but that first week is a b***h.  The exhaustion and not knowing what’s wrong with you is overwhelming and I could barely function and was incredibly irritable.  Thankfully not too much anxiety.  Now knowing what the problem is and lessening of symptoms makes this bearable but it still sux.   My stomach pains, and bloating went away, I did adapt a healthier vegetable, fruit, low carb diet, and added probiotics tabs, komucha, and yogurt cut out fatty fried foods and junk, etc.  I’ve lost 2 lbs, since my back prompted this so that’s awesome.  Now I’m just trying to figure out the sleep as I’m getting 1-3 hrs, sometimes at one, or spread out throughout the night.

    I’m going to do a celery juice cleanse for 3 or 4 days maybe longer to detox my liver, as the palpations may be caused by a fatty liver.  I also had a colonic on day 8 and plan to have 2 more to detox me.  I’ve also reduced my alcohol intake and plan to start working out as I was already 170lb at 5’4”.

    I remember coming off of Effexor and thinking that that was horrible.  That was a cake walk comparatively, the brain zaps lasted for about a month after the last dose.  I didn’t have to take anything more than a multivitamin and magnesium and I could sleep.  Right now I’m just taking the gaba, b12, biotin, magnesium orotate and turmeric.  Hopefully I’ll be able to sleep soon.

     

     

     

     

    • garnella24377
      garnella24377 tashanna85079

      Posted

      You are lucky that your bloating and stomach problems only lasted a short time.  I am off of gabapentin for five weeks and am still having those problems.  My next step is taking pills called bloat away and hope they help.  My insomnia comes from restless legs syndrome another horrible affliction. I was on gaba for three years and gained 25 pounds that I am trying to lose.  Good luck in getting your insomnia under control. garnella
    • MiMi_off_gaba
      MiMi_off_gaba garnella24377

      Posted

      On the RLS...

      Try going totally organic and soy free...Dairy free gluten free...

      Grass fed beef &organic chicken...

      Did this for 3 weeks and symptoms disappeared...

      Try this and see if it helps?

      I believe chemicals pesticides and GMOs have a great deal to do with these problems...

      Let me know?

    • tashanna85079
      tashanna85079

      Posted

      Update 21 June:  15 Jun I stopped all the above mentioned supplements and vitamins.  I instead only took the following:  a multivitamin with the B-complex, GABA (supplement), and melatonin.  The first night my internal tremors damn near disappeared and I slept around 6 hours.  The second night the tremors were gone, the third night I slept the entire night.  If I don’t take the multivitamin, I feel the tremors again.  I read somewhere that a vitamin deficiency can last for months, so I would expect to be taking this combo for a minute, but each person is different, you gotta see what works for you.  I also added cell salts two days ago and I feel wonderful! 
    • tashanna85079
      tashanna85079 garnella24377

      Posted

      I changed my diet and added probiotics.  I'm trying the Blood Type diet.  I'm an O and have been doing it for a few days, so far I feel pretty good.  Just something to think about.

  • yvette72
    yvette72 G.Allyn

    Posted

    I have been on gabapentin 1800mg a day and 1800 mg a day of Lyrica for the past ten years quit cold turkey it's been three months off both meds I can't eat sleep shower move nothing the Dr wants to put me back on the meds I don't want to anyone with suggestions on how to feel better I don't even socialize anymore and my sweats and stomach pain is unbearable please help

    • marie89364
      marie89364 yvette72

      Posted

      I'm off Gabapentin 15 days. My doc told me I couldn't go cold turkey so he weaned me off this drug over a period if 8 weeks. Even though I'm off it my stomach burns when I eat and I have horrible pains in my legs from the knees down. My social life is non-existent.

    • leenz
      leenz yvette72

      Posted

      Yvette, hang in there. It does get better. Quitting cold turkey is really hard on the body but I had to quit cold turkey too. The first 3 months are like death, no joke and u just can’t move.

      You’ve come this far, keep going. I was the same as you. But now I’m able to get out a little each day. It’s hard work but worth it. If u can’t shower but have help then pls do strip washes each day, they will REALLY help to relax the tense muscles. For food... for now stick to all greens. Veg and quinoa are great to start with. Your appetite will slowly return but u need to rebuild your gut with the greens first. Keep drinking cold milk (semi skimmed) through the day and at night if u have to, it really helps cool ur body down. Withdrawing from the gaba fills ur gastric tract with acid hence loss of appetite. You will get there. And if you can, keep stretching your muscles whilst in bed... the more u stretch the more it’ll help. And I keep saying this but watermelon is a life saver! Just squeeze the juice and throw the fruit.... cooling ur body down will help u sleep. I did all of these things and come a long way since ! 

    • marie89364
      marie89364 leenz

      Posted

      Hi all, It must be about 21 days now that I'm off Gabapentin. I am finally starting to feel better. Have been juicing watermelon like you said, also, carrots, celery, a green apple, ginger and fresh garlic in my juicer. I do feel it is helping. Fresh garlic cloves juiced or eaten raw is supposed to dull the senses. I am also taking bit supplements, B complex with extra B12 as well as many others, magnesium etc. The pains in my stomach have ceased and also leg pain. What I'm left with is this tingling in lower extremities. Hopefully that will leave too.

      Hang in there everyone. It gets better.

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