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Please taper off Gabapentin SLOWLY! Does anyone else have a weird taste in their mouth/nose?

Posted , 4 users are following.

cherylh0614
cherylh0614

My journey with Gabapentin started 6 years ago, when I was put on 300mg x 3 times a day as well as Cymbalta and Panadeine Forte x 8 a day to replace the Fentanyl patches I was on for sciatica and cysts on my spine (chronic pain) after bad horse fall 40 years ago. The Dr who put me on Gabapentn is now no longer a GP. But fortunately he gave me advice back then saying that I could not stop taking Gabapentin Cold Turkey.  My current GP does not understand why I was put on Gabapentin and is not a fan as I am overweight and one of the possible side effects is weight gain.  

In April this year he advised me to stop taking it cold turkey, said it shouldn't be a problem!! I remembered what my previous GP told me and decided to taper myself off it.   I dropped myself from 900mg/day (3x300mg) to 600mg/day (2x300mg) and almost immediately started having things happen which I didn't recognise as withdrawal side effects.  Itching, terrible itching, especially around my feet/ankles/lower legs and forearms/wrists but also on other parts of my body.  Headaches, anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, crying for no apparent reason, terrible swinging moods, extreme fatigue, dry mouth constantly, what I call brain fog (always losing my words) and insomnia.  Its all I can do to get up and dressed each day. On really bad days I don't make it out of my pjs.

I dropped from 900mg a day in April to 600mg in May, then 400mg in June, then 300mg a day at the beginning of this month.  I thought I was going fairly slowly with the taper, but am suffering as the intensity of the side effects gets worse.  After reading other people's journeys on here with Gabapentin withdrawal, I believe I should have been reducing a lot more slowly, probably around 100mg every month or two.  I don't want to go back and increase my dosage, but will slow right down now to 100mg every 2 months until Christmas until I'm off it.

I'd be interested to know if anyone else has suffered from the horrible taste in the mouth (and some days I can smell it in my nose) It's like ammonia or Phenyle - yukky!

0 likes, 3 replies

3 Replies

  • marie89364
    marie89364 cherylh0614

    Posted

    Hi Cheryl, I don't have the smell but I know all about the itching. I have it on my back and it also hurts. I try to ignore it. I've been completely off Gabapentin 40+ days now and still experience side effects. I'm glad I'm off it. Just wonder when side effects will go away. Wanted to wish you well.

    Marie

  • babs99203
    babs99203 cherylh0614

    Posted

    I'm sorry Cheryl, as unfortunately, you're correct about the speed of tapering, the withdrawal you're having and how miserable this is. You probably also realize that for you, the taper may have been too quickly and that these symptoms may last a few weeks or longer. But I hope they're intermittent and you have some good spells in between. I'm tapering very slowly, 100 mg/month or even longer if I wanted to feel really good, like for a vacation. I still have some really tough stretches but from what I've read, not as bad as some people. I was at 2700 mg/day back in Dec/January 2017 and am now at 900 mg.

    In my earlier tapers, out of the month, I had sort of a predictable pattern as to what kind of problems, when they'd hit and how long they'd last. This month, it dragged out for 6 weeks, but like magic, two days ago, I was better. I have no advice or comment about the mouth taste/smell, but nothing surprises me about this drug.

  • ozkan10991
    ozkan10991 cherylh0614

    Posted

    when my last attempt to quit gabapentin the nose happened. that was like fume odor. 
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