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Gabapentin Withdrawal IMPORTANT

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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:!:

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  • joy70467
    joy70467 Guest

    Posted

    My 81 year old husband was on Gabapentin 100 mg per day for three weeks for diabetic neuropathy. I began to notice he was having mood swings so I called his doctor and she said stop taking it. It's been six weeks and he has been through appetite changes, restlessness, insomnia, itching, and mental confusion. He had none of this prior to taking this drug. He still can't remember some names when he is talking and I have to remind him several times about plans we have. I hope all of this problem with his mind is not permanent. I would not recommend this drug to anyone elderly.

  • kirk51905
    kirk51905 Guest

    Posted

    i wouldnt recomend it to anyone young iether becuase everytime i stopped taking it i was awake for one week and when i finally decided to stop taking it for good i was awake for 3 weeks straight and that landed me in the emergency room which turned out to be withdrawals
    • Guest
      Guest kirk51905

      Posted

      Hi Kirk,

      Turns out I am having GREAT difficulty tapering off this stinking gabapentin. I started at 600mg 3 times per day. I am down to 300mg 2 times per day. I was put on it for back pain 8 mo. Ago. I have relocated to a small town in SC and the one Doc I saw completely ignored my request to tapper off and wrote for 300mg 3 times per day and told me I'm imagining withdrawal. At 48hrs off I have sever nausea, insomnia, anxiety, and aggitation. I am unable to find your YouTube video and I need to know how to get off this medication. I am a RN by trade and shocked to find myself in this awful situation. If you could plz tell me how you got off I would be eternally greatful. I have an order for Xanax that I could use if ya can tell me how.

      As a practitioner myself I am so angry with the disregard that doctors through serotonin and gabapentin at pain. I have a history of carcinoid which in itself is contraindicated for serotonin. That Doc I saw last week told me I was depressed and needed an SRI knowing my carcinoid history. So disrespectful, uneducated, unwilling to learn something new, and   Condescending.....all symptoms of  arrogance . 

      I look forward to hearing from you as it seems you know what your talking about. Thank You Kirk

    • kirk51905
      kirk51905 Guest

      Posted

      ok i was on 300mg three times a day and i did like the doctor said i went from 3 in one day down to 2 the next day then down to 1 the third day and once i stopped taking it i was awake for 3 weeks straight so once you get down to one 300mg gabapentin a day then what you need to do is get 100mg capsules of gabapentin and then start off tapering the next day by going down to 200mg of gabapentin and 1mg of ativan take them both at bed time and do that for one week then goto 100mg gabapentin and .50mg ativan at bedtime for all of second week then goto no gabapentin and .25mg of ativan at bedtime for all of third week then goto no gabapentin and 12mg of ativan at bedtime for all of fourth week and at the end of the fourth week take no gabapentin and no ativan for the rest of your life and you should be able to goto sleep on your own you might think your not sleeping for the next couple months after you stop all pills but you will know your sleeping because one moment you will see night time and soon after you will see the sun light and thats how you know your are sleeeping now
    • kirk51905
      kirk51905

      Posted

      if you want me to send you the video i can you would just have to give me your email address and i can email it to you because im looking for a job right now and because of workers comp with my foot smashed at work and the doctor prescribing me gabapentin and causing withdrawals i had to take workers comp to court because of the gabapentin withdrawals and now that im looking for a job im hiding the video from the jobs im applying to so that the jobs dont see the video and think that they shouldnt hire me for a new job because of workers comp
    • kirk51905
      kirk51905

      Posted

      i meant .12mg ativan that was my mistake basically you will do the same amount everyday at bedtime for 7 days and at the end of each week you will go down to the amounts i show on the last post so all through your second week every day you take the same amount each night at bedtime so basically your tapering down on both drugs at the end of each week for 4 weeks and at the end of the four weeks your not taking anything to get to sleep and then for a couple months after you take your last pill it will seem like your not sleeping but you really are because you never notice the sun coming up every morning its just basically you goto sleep with no pills and one moment its night time and then without you even noticing the sun come up next thing you know the sun is out already now you might have sleep disturbances for a year were you wake up to early for no reason and my best advise is to just relax and trust me you will go back to sleep because if you keep looking at the clock you will notice the time and it will be early and then it will seem like 5 minutes passed but you notice 2 hours go by so that to will tell you that you fell back to sleep so you will be sleeping but you just wont notice it it might seem like you just laid there awake for 2 hours but your really sleeping you just dont know it so like i say if you continue to wake up to early just relax try not to get upset about it and you will go back to sleep and if you diet and excersize for a year then after a year your sleep should start to go back to completely normal but i also noticed that not excersizing made me sleep straight without sleep disturbances so its just a matter of finding your own way of doing things
    • kirk51905
      kirk51905 Guest

      Posted

      give me your email address and i will send you the video through email
    • kirk51905
      kirk51905

      Posted

      i meant .12mg of ativan your fourth week sorry about that 
    • Sally9022
      Sally9022 kirk51905

      Posted

      I wouldike your video. I just got over withdrawals from ambien that I took for years, then 3 weeks of not sleeping , I tried  nstural supplement with Gava, and it caused dizziness and critical lack of focus. Did not figure out that it was the cause, gor 6 weeks, thought it was still ambien symptons. I have a spinal stimulator for degenerative arthrits and bone on bone. The gababentin has helped with pain, but more specifi specificay, if I only take at night, I can get a whole nights sleep...BUT, I have only done it for a couple of nights and not interested in taking it, if its harming me, or is going to be anither addiction that I will have to start over on not sleeping. Please show video and advise...and much good luck in finding perfect job!
    • kirk51905
      kirk51905 Sally9022

      Posted

      did you stop taking gabapentin and start having problems sleeping? and if so did you try going back on gabapentin and you were able to go back to sleep? because if you went back on gabapentin and were able to sleep then its withdrawals
    • kirk51905
      kirk51905 Guest

      Posted

      hi this is kirk did my method to get off gabapentin work?
  • Rener
    Rener Guest

    Posted

    Please help Me. I've been on this for 5 years. I've almost died 6 times. Ending up in ICU!  I was taking 3600 mg per day. The Hospital said take only 1200 mg per day. My Doctor said only cut 1200 mg not 2400 mg!  So I did. It's been 5 weeks. Having terrible withdrawal symptoms. It's almost if My body is rewinding to the time I was only prescribed 2400 mg per day!  ONLY seriously!  This is the nastiest drug I've ever taken for back pain!  I  only have 2percent function of adrenal glands. Because of the increased Pain!  From this drug!!  Did I cut to fast?  If so should I go back up some?  I don't want to!  The stomach pain is almost electrical!!  Not exaggerating!  Go back up or stay!! I also cut klonopin!  Should I start that back to?  Thanks

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