How long does Gabapentin stay in the system..Still dizzy after 7 days.Will it cause damage?

Thank you Sandy I been on for 4 months off now for two weeks and still not feeling my total self. Doctors say it will not cause damage. How long does it take to feel your toatal self? God bless you  Naomi

Don't know if I will ever be my total self again!!

Been off since February and feeling better but think it really messed my stomach up!!

Keep hoping it will get better on its on with time.

Good Luck.. Hang in there.

What is happening with your stomach?

Occasional stomach ache, feel bloated and appetite still isn't great..

Most doctors don't even know if it will cause damage, or even what a proper dose would be. There are going by the manuf. recommenations and of course the manuf. is not going to criticize the risks or effectiveness of the drug they are creating and marketing !  There are no conclusive studies at all on the long term effects. Who is going to fund and conduct those studies......not the mauf. for sure . 

YOUR RIGHT..JIM..THEY SHOULD INTERVEIW US AND GET MORE INFO ON GP. I AM NOT MYSELF AND I BEEN OFF FOR A MONTH OR SO. WE CAN ONLY PRAY. NEXT TIME I GO ON SOMETHING I WILL PRAY FIRST. . ITS HARD TO BE IN PAIN AND NOW THIS WITHDRAWAL STUFF. GOD BLESS YOU...

Ive been off for 10 days and still reeling from it. Have only God to help me.

My husband  took this medicine for  3 weeks it really messed him up, he don't have appetite to eat, losing weight  18 lbs just for 3 weeks,  no streaght,  restless,  walk like a zombie,  bad tremors ,  he don't care for anything he just want to sleep the whole day.  My husband can tolerate usually any medicine but this one I don't know why, he's doctor told him to be off  this medicine just  today we will see what's the result, hopefully he will go back to normal.

Hi Jim i belong to a website called Fed up with the gal that runs it is a journalist who has fibfo and posts articles and research...interesting though she posted an article whereby people were trying to come off cymbalta......and filed a class action lawysuite against the manufacturuer as they misquoted the degree of trouble coming off the drug...and the lawyers found it was a play on words in the manufacturers reports...wonder if there will ever be a class action lawysuite on gambepentin..should be !!

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hello rick, i am trying to taper off 300mg but finding it brutal. i am having paradoxical side effects like severe anxiety/depression/daily crying /fear/dread/terror and extreme fatigue along with unrelenting constipation and cognitive issues. i have trouble with spelling even though i was an english teacher before i retired 3 years ago.  i cannot imagine working in my current state.

how are you now? what were your side effects? let me know your details as i am going through hell at present with no end in sight....hoping for us all

Elizabeth, I was also on that amount but for a few days when all of a sudden I started having horrible lower back pain.  So bad that I couldn’t stand straight up or walk. Shuffled a lot. 

I called my Doctor to see what to do and they said to wean off this new drug they had put me on. It has now been only 4 days off the stuff and I’m still in pain. 

I did call the pharmacist to ask them if they had ever heard of this(the back pain). She told me there was a 1% chance and I seemed to be it.  

Heating pad bound and  the most I can take for Ibuprofen at the moment. Saturday I was taking aspirin and Ibuprofen. 

Thinking about taking a very low dosage of a muscle relaxer that was given to me for a shoulder injury last year to see if it helps.

I'm currently weaning off gabapentin and My lower back is very painful. I can't stand for more than 10 minutes without My back locking up!  Same as walking!  I don't know how long this will last as I'm still tapering off at 500 mg twice a day.!  I have to get off of gabapentin because if other worse side effects!  Around 20x in Hospital about 15 being ICU for chronic infections and low sodium plus pnuemonia! The last infection was bacterial menegitis. I have just about every side effect listed. The memory problem and lost words are finally improving. I started at 3600 mg per day dose for pain. Took it for 5 years before I realized it was gabapentin increasing my pain. Every time I complained about the pain it seems Somebody just increased the gabapentin!  Not once was a decrease suggested until about 3 months ago!  I was in the ER after having a seizure and a Neurologist asked if I was crazy taking that much gabapentin plus 1000 mg daily of oxicarbizapine!!  So He said cut 2400 mg immediately. Thank Gid I only cut 1200 mg because that about did Me in! There is nothing that surprises Me anymore when it comes to this killer medicine. Almost all Doctors must have learned a script... they say.. it's a safe and great alternative to opioids!  Well that's a line of crap!  Good luck! Now if they could teach these Doctors a good, safe alternative to the suffering of these withdrawals. I thought withdrawals like this would come from a addictive medication. Not addictive, huh?!

Hello Elizabeth, I was wondering how you got on with your withdrawal from Gabapentin? I took 300mg for around 3 months and weaned down by 100mg each week, stopping completely a couple of weeks ago. For just over a week now I have felt utterly awful. Flu like symptoms, headaches, loss of appetite, major anxiety, crying..the list goes on!

?Did your symptoms pass? and if so, how long did they last?

Wow . . . I am so grateful I found this discussion. My dr started me 5 days ago on Gabapentin for what I am not sure, it happened so fast, was not my intention to take any new Rx. Anxiety I think. But I have no major complaints and do not think I need or want this med. After 5 days my primary reaction has just been feeling "high." But after reading this discussion I am not going any further with this drug. Wow. Thank you all.

That sounds brutal! I've been on it for 5 days and not going any further. Sounds like I should wean off even with just the few days I've been on. I was opioid dependent for years and went thru hell kicking that stuff. No doing that again. The thing is, I am not even sure why my dr prescribed it. Anxiety I think. But essentially I am fine and pain free so it seems crazy to take this medication. EEK!

dear ingrid, i am the same as you in taking gaba for 3 months at 300mg daily.i developed sdx early on and the just got worse to the point where i could not go lower than 200 mg so i jumped or cold turkied as you like. the wd's have been worse than anything ever. it has been 1 month now. bedbound, anxiety, crying, miserable wanting to die along with no appetite and relentless runs. i feel this drug ruined my brain. hoping time will heal but wish i had never taken this poison even though others have benefitted from it. so still in major wd after 4 weeks. how are you? hope you are good please let me know................

Hi Elizabeth, It has been around a month now, I reckon, since I stopped taking the Gaba, and the withdrawals were awful, I felt flu like and extremely tearful and anxious. The main problem is though that I have been left with the major anxiety. I have suffered with it before but have been well for a full twelve years until now. I can tell the doctor doesn't believe me when I tell her I think it's the Gabapetin that's triggered it, but I was so utterly changed mentally, practically overnight that I am convinced that's what its been. Sadly it doesn't really matter as its too late anyway, despite the drug being well and truly out of my system I am left trying to recover from what has essentially been a nervous breakdown. On Nov 2nd my doctor increased my Prozac prescription from 20mg to 30mg and then again by another 10mg last week, so I am now taking 40mg. I only feel now, nearly 4 weeks in that I am improving very slightly. I started with the worst anxiety I have ever experienced, literally paralysed with fear at times and clinging to my husband like a child. The crying came spontaneously and I was powerless to stop it. I have hardly eaten a thing in weeks and woke each morning for the first 3 weeks with diarrhea, and have now lost almost a stone in weight. My anxiety is always worst In the mornings, but this has been easing slightly but has been replaced with what I can only describe as a deep depression. I feel numb and like I've lost all interest in the simple things I used to enjoy like baking, gardening, even watching TV is a struggle and these last few days have been unable to get out of bed before lunchtime.

?I know that Prozac takes a while to kick in so am trying to bravely take it one day at a time but with two young children who I don't want to see me distressed it has been extremely difficult and at times utterly terrifying.

?Please let me know how you are doing, it is awful that anyone should suffer like this. 

Hi ingrid... I also had the same issues coming off gabapentin... Worst wd in my life. Worse than xanax.. Its now been 4 months since i been off of it... And i been on buspars and they didnt reaply do much... And now out of nowhere im feeling those same symptoms again.... For days straight... I never had serious issues before untill takin medication... Now i wonder if its possible the gabapentin still affected my brain somehow... But im glad i found people the relate to the issue... I havent heard of anyone else having the same problems as me

Hi Naomi  I was prescribed this drug about 8 month ago. 6 mg 3 times a day. I never took it because I was concerned about the side effeats. But last night I took one 600 broken in half during the night and woke up dizzy. I have only taken one 600 pill. I am not taking any more. Will I have side effects from this and do I have to wean off one pill. Thanks and I hope you are well now.

Hi Sue and Naomi, my dr prescribed Gabapentin 2 months ago for anxiety. I have tried every SSRI out there for anxiety and migraines and every one either makes me hallucinate or triggers a migraine or both. I am a recovered Opoiod and Valium addict so I am really curious as to why she prescribed it because from what I have read it is easily abused. After reading all of these comments I tried to wean away from it but ended up taking it 3 times a day. It does seem to help with anxiety but after reading this new stuff, I am back to weaning off of it. I have kicked heavy duty drugs before and I do NOT want to go through withdrawal again. Before she prescribed it I had been using the natural supplements GABA with vitamin B6. GABA is an amino acid that works on the gaba receptors of our brains like benzodiazapines do and as Gabapentin does - even tho the pharmacist has no idea what I was talking about. I think taking the magnesium is a good idea. I just started a new job after not working for 7 years and the stress is hard. I do not need Rx bullshit on top of everything else. Hang in there. Beth

Hi ingrid67824 

I am beggining to stop gabapentin as it’s apsolutly rotted my mind! I can’t believe the horrible mental side effects it has had on my mind!  Nearly sectioned myself today because I genuinely felt I was losing my mind. But now I’m realising the last few days that’s it is the gabapentin!

I take 300 mg’s 3 times a day but I haven’t take any in 2 days because I am so scared of taking another pill of this awful ‘medison’ 

I see your comment & wondering how you are feeling now??? I’m not sure wether I should just continue to just stop or to wean off slowly? 

I’m desperate for advise x

Elizabeth - did you recover from your withdrawal symptoms?  I hope so!!!