1. Community
  2. Brain and nerves
  3. Gabapentin

Gabapentin Withdrawal IMPORTANT

Posted , 149 users are following.

Guest
Guest

I spent 4 days in intensive care following a spinal operation. This was found to be the result of the sudden complete withdraawal of Gabapentin.

For 3 whole days I was, to quote my surgeon, 'on another planet.' The only drug, of the many I was taking for pain, the only one that could not been given in an alternative form was Gabapentin. Fortunately, on the 3rd day there happened to be a charge nurse on duty who had seen a [b]previous case similar to mine, also resulting from withdrawal of Gabapentin.

My husband insisted that some way was found of administrating the drug. (I myself was una\\ware of any of this until later). There were objections from the staff since I would need sedating and was unable to consent! My husband over-rode them - thank goodness - and said he would take full responsibility and 'just do it.'

Some time after he left they did sedate me and administer the Gabapoentin. Then, as now, I had been taking 900mg 3 times daily for nerve pain, so I had obviously fallen off a cliff in terms of amount taken.

The following morning I woke up back to normal and asked for a cup of tea. When my husband arrived I saw him wipe tears from his eyes. If not back from the dead I WAS back from a living nightmare.

WHAT CONCERNS ME MOST IS THAT THIS WAS DISMISSED BY THE MANUFACTURERS WHEN ONE OF MY CONSULTANTS MENTIONED IT. YET IT IS A TERRIBLE REACTION, ALBEIT NO DOUBT EXTREMELY RARE. IT SHOULD BE MAD E KNOWN:!:

16 likes, 474 replies

474 Replies

Prev Next
  • rita52071
    rita52071 Guest

    Posted

    so glad things turned out good...I am taking only 100 mg of gabapentin....hopefully I will be off it soon.......Does anyone knoe anything anything about depakoe......been off it a month with little to no withdrawals a nd now i am getting dizzy and just feel horrible...Can I be getting withdrawals now???
  • rob23592
    rob23592 Guest

    Posted

    Hi everyone,

    I am so glad I found this discussion!

    I have been taking Gabapentin since Dec 2015, prescribed for prolapsed disk to help with the pain. My doctor started me on 100mg 3xdaily at first but by February/March I was on 900mg 3x daily. I did n't really have any issues whilst on it, except that I always doubted whether it actually worked to decrease my pain.

    Anyway, I finally got a date for surgery on 29th June 2016, and being optimistic about the results I started to taper the Gabapentin dose. I consulted with my doctor over how to do this and he said reduce to nothing over the course of a couple of weeks!

    The week before surgery, I was down to 600mg 3 x daily, and continued to reduce the dose every couple of days. In all I took four weeks to reduce to nothing, my last dose being 100mg about 8 days ago.

    The trouble started when the dose had reduced to perhaps a third of what I had been taking, this was about 2 weeks ago. Since then I have had all kinds of strange and unpleasant symptoms. The worst is the nausea and bloating, but also diarrhoea, weakness, lethargy, skin irritations. Even if I do manage to sit down in front of a meal, I can only eat about half of it before giving up and feeling dreadful afterwards.

    My doctor will not believe any of this is related to Gabapentin withdrawal, and now he's insisted on tests for stomach bugs etc. 

    Many people pled here have had similar experiences to me, but the doctors seem oblivious to any of these withdrawal symptoms!

    I am determined to keep going and never use it again, but I am still worried by how long I have felt so ill despite not taking any now for over a week.

    I'll try to post again in a week and see how things are by then.

    Good luck everyone,

    Rob

    • sandy97889
      sandy97889 rob23592

      Posted

      Rob

      Sorry you to are going through this! I was taken off this drug to fast In February and withdrawal was awful. Finally starting to feel human again except for stomach issues. Appetite is still not great and my biggest problem is the bloating!! Tried Zantac and gas x helps a little. My doctor wants to send me to gastroagist bit I keep hoping things will improve don't want to be scoped.

      I had read on here the FDA has said Gabby causes stomach issues. Makes me mad never had any problems before.

      It's a nasty drug.

      Good luck

      Keep us posted!

    • rita52071
      rita52071 rob23592

      Posted

      hi Rob......I am sure you read all the withdrawals symptoms of Gabapentin?? Everyone is different....some people have no withdrawals while others can have withdrawals for months after completely being off of it....Gabapentin can cause stomach problems.....Is it possible for you to see another doctor for another opinion?? Maybe a neurologist??   Remember Gabapentin is a horrible dangerous drug.....I am now down to 100 mg once a day..been this way for months....when I went to every other day all hell broke out after 4 days....had to go bad to 100 mg a day.......a very low dosage  but it does effect me when I go lower......going to try again I think the end og August......maybe I can take it 6 days instead of seven.....Completely off of depakoe since une 8....thats another dangerous horrible drug.......Good Luck.....Keep us posted!!cry

    • rob23592
      rob23592 sandy97889

      Posted

      Hi Sandy,

      Thanks for the reply. 

      So, you have been of Gab for 5 months now and you are still having stomach issues?!

      Without going into too much personal detail, what are you experiencing?

      Thanks,

      Rob.

    • rob23592
      rob23592 rita52071

      Posted

      Hi Rita,

      Thanks for the reply. Best of luck on your quest to come off Gab.

      I consider myself quite robust normally, so I went for it in four weeks, it is horrible but I'm sticking to my guns.

      Fortunately I am signed off work until September so I can be as miserable as I like in the privacy of my own home. My wife is a star though, so she does a good job of keeping my spirits up.

      God luck with everything,

      Rob.

    • rita52071
      rita52071 rob23592

      Posted

      Good luck....Its good that you will be home......Lets us know how things are going......
    • dorbocon55
      dorbocon55 rob23592

      Posted

      I was only on 300 MG at night decided to go off .Awful time after 2 weeks of 100mg .First week 2 100 MG second week 1 100mg then stop .After that I had withdrawals.used magnesium then started to have nerve burning .Had to get back on it .Now I'm having side effects that I didn't have before. Cant stop again because of nerve pain .Don't know how long side effects last never had before. Wish I hadn't stopped in the first place.

    • maureen90295
      maureen90295 rob23592

      Posted

      Am having the awful stomach and gastric issues after stopping gaba (had a pretty awful time on it, joint pains, tummy etc so decided to taper it).  Just wondering how everyone who commented here is doing now and just how long after stopping did folks start to get back to 'normal'.

      Maureen

    • sandy97889
      sandy97889 maureen90295

      Posted

      Have been off Gabby since February. Withdrawal was nasty! Just in the past month I finally started to feel like myself again!!

      Been a long road. The last of the withdrawal left me with stomach issues. Not much of an appetite, bloated just didn't feel good. Zantac helped some. Think hopefully it's finally letting up!!

      It's a nasty drug that I wish I had never taken.

      Good Luck be patient. Takes time smile

    • maureen90295
      maureen90295 sandy97889

      Posted

      Thanks Sandy.  Starting to think I have become a complete hypochondriac and that all I can think of is my ailments.  Only been a few weeks but hopefully it will calm down in time.  I reckon tho it causes more problems than it solves.  Hope things continue to go well for you. 
    • rita52071
      rita52071 maureen90295

      Posted

      Hi....I was on 400 mg once a day since uly 2015  I am now on 100 mg once a day......about 3 to 4 minths ago I started taking it every other day...by the 4th day I felt horrible   stretched it out for 6 days....by that time I was not able to function   had to go back on 100 mg everyday....I was told by someone on a site that they make a liquid gabapentin....I didnt know that.......when you get to a low dosage it makes it harder to get off of it and you need to do it even slower...she suggested dropping dowm 10 mg every 3 to 4 weeks and when you get to around 40mg then drop it down by 5 mg for a month or so...it depends how your body reacts.....going to get an appointment with my doctor soon....headache specialist...and I am going to try this....medicine is doing me no good.....dont know if this helped anyone  Good Luck
    • maureen90295
      maureen90295 rita52071

      Posted

      Thanks Rita.  Keep in touch.  Good to have a few folk to share experiences. Maureen
    • sandy97889
      sandy97889 maureen90295

      Posted

      Don't give up!! One day at a time... My Rheumatologist said there would be no withdrawal from it lol. So wrong!

      Keep me posted.. Hang in there!!

    • naomi64
      naomi64 rob23592

      Posted

      Rob we know its the GP.  that  is why we have this thread of discussions. I hope you are doing better, and your surgery turn out well.  We should all get our discussions together and write to the drug administration.  
Back to top
Prev Next

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.