Gabapentin withdrawal horrors
Posted , 9 users are following.
It has been a while since i have posted here. I am not sure where to start. Suffice it to say that it has been hell for 2 and a half years, and it continues. i tried to come off this horrible drug two years ago this past December. i went from 900mg to nothing in just 4 weeks. As soon as i started to drop the dosage, i had immediate withdrawal symptoms. waking every morning with horrible burning and heat on my face and arms. When i got down to 200mg, my skin on my arms and face felt like it was crawling but I just thought eventually my body would get back to normal. It didn't happen. Everything just intensified, so I thought that if I I gradually went back up on it again, my symptoms would disappear. THAT DID NOT HAPPEN! Someone on this sight said that if you go off too quickly, your symptoms may be permanent. I thought that person must be wrong, but I am living proof. I even went up to 1200mg which was higher than what i was on to see if that would get rid of this daily suffering but it didn't help. I am now back to 900mg and still suffering. I still wake up every morning with horrible heat and burning face which lasts until I can drag myself out of bed at which point it eases somewhat. Then the skin crawling begins and sometimes the burning face and arms comes back as well. Wearing long sleeves just intensifies all that. I still have the pressure and pain in my eyes and temples that I was started on the GABAPENTIN for! I struggle just to get through the day so I can go to bed and sleep and get a break from it all. I try to get out and do the odd thing but it is a struggle. Because I look OK and sound fine, people assume I am exaggerating and that things cant be that bad. Doctors and other people say it can't be the withdrawal since I am back on it but it was the only thing I changed when it all started. I just want my life back. Two and a half years of HELL and I see no end to it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
THANK YOU
1 like, 41 replies
joyce74357 lynn72382
Posted
Hi everyone,
I've been on Gabapentin 7 mos starting like some of you at 300 . 100p at breakfast . 200 bedtime for PN that was truly terrible at night.Burning feet , cold in AM. It was remarkable at first .3 months of
relief yet lost my balance .Depth perception issues.
Like everyone else here , cognition and short term memory loss. Thank God for replay on DVR. I'm
very focused on detailed info and this drug is a killer as far as that's concerned.
I'm taking myself off it with Dr's oversight. Started 4weeks ago going down 100 every 10 days. My reason for comming off is that after a short time, I experienced intense burning of legs
arms , vaginal and swollen upper abdomen .Had every scan in the book and all o.k .Blood work
always showing higher than normal white count.
Was put on anti biotic and whole body felt compressed like it was having a war.
I'm down to 600 and skin crawling on legs .Anxiety is in and out .Burning pins and needles.
JohnAk joyce74357
Posted
How are you coping with coming down with your gabapentin
How are you finding sleeping at night ????
babs99203 joyce74357
Posted
Joyce, I'm not sure what dosage you were on. I know with gab brain, it can be hard to write, believe me, I understand. However, your doctor is having your decrease way, WAY too quickly. Support groups recommend 10% or less over 4 weeks or more. Doctors know nothing about safely getting off this drug. However, if you were having severe edema (swelling, water retention) which can occur as one of the more serious side effects of gab, he may have felt that it was needed to go that quickly.
I'm sure you're wondering when this withdrawal will get better. There's no easy answer to that. If the edema is reduced, it would be better if you could maintain that 600 mg dosage until you see a real reduction in this nasty symptoms.
joyce74357 babs99203
Posted
Hi babs ,
Thank you for the reply.I wasn't clear as to how I'm approaching this gaba
withdrawl .I started at 300 a day for 3 weeks. I was then put on 300 3x aday for
5 months where upon I started to have burning skin which was terrible . I then
asked for tablets so that I could titrate down .It was this site that solidified
my understanding that it was the gaba causing this. I've spent the last 6 weeks
cutting 100 per week which has improved the burning .I'm now at 500 per day .
Should be free and clear within 6 weeks . As far as the mind is concerned I'm
very suspicious and quick to change moods. I also got lymphadenia from it
and had a higher than normal white count which people need to be aware of . The
lymphadenia was on abdomen altho gastro tests proved 0 wrong . This is a terrible
med for me .I feel I've lost 7 months of my life .
never again for me.
babs99203 joyce74357
Posted
This taper schedule may work for you, but it's extremely aggressive. Taking a month or longer to drop 100 mg is a better route. Sometimes the WD doesn't show up for a few weeks. You may want to consider slowing down more before you drop again. As you get to the lower doses you're dropping more than the 10%. Once a bad WD starts, there's nothing you can do but wait it out. Adding other drugs can open a whole new can of worms.
If you still have know problems after a few weeks, then you can always start dropping again. Also some people just stop tapering at 300 mg and discontinue the drug. Going from 3 times a day to 2 times a day, then one time a day can be miserable. It's a personal choice. As they say, better to go through hell once, than 3 times. If you're down to 300 it should be OK to drop without any serious adverse reactions such as seizures.