Potential Long Term Effects Of Gabapentin
Posted , 132 users are following.
I have been on Gabapentin on and off for about 7 months (since approx January). I was taking it for chronic pelvic pain, and it worked well, but it made me very emotional and made higher cognitive functions difficult. After 4 months of semi-regular use, I got off it quickly, but kept it around in case of a severe pain flare up. As of now I have gone through 2 "100 capsule" bottles of 100mg pills, so not too much. Never took a higher dosage then 300mg and never took more than 300mg in one day.
I've used it a few times recently (in July, just a few weeks ago) when the pain really flared up, thinking it would only have minimal side effects, but it has resulted in continual severe depression and dark thoughts even though I haven't taken any in two weeks. I took it occassionally because I thought the depression was predominantely from the chronic pain, but now I realize the gabapentin was the root of it. I'm terrified because I know the drug has long since left my system but I can't shake the side effects. Doctors and psychologists won't listen to me. They say I'm just depressed and it isn't the medication, but I'm positive it is. The pain is finally improving, I'm going back to school, and things are looking up. But there is this unshakable auora that is plauging me. No matter how hard I distract myself and push through there's this cloud that impares my ability to emotionally and physical function (feelings of detachment, separation, depression, and some suicidal thoughts). Words come slower, it's harder to focus, memory is very dull. I wasn't concered within the first few days, but it's been a few weeks now and I'm alarmed that it doesn't seem to be improving.
Do the side effects ever go away... How long does it take and what can catalyze the healing process? Is it possible to incur permanent damage from a low dosage, or does it take months to heal. Can anyone explain the biomechanics behind how gabapentin can affect patients weeks after usage.
Hopefully there is an answer and the possibility for recovery, but at the moment things are very frightening.
13 likes, 287 replies
Tagjeffrey adam3355
Posted
Rener Tagjeffrey
Posted
hoffman Tagjeffrey
Posted
If you replace the drug gabapentin with heroin, you would also love it. If you need to be on a long-term drug, make it CBD oil. Legal in all 50 states, the research and results speak for themselves. No side effects either!
karen00697 Tagjeffrey
Posted
Wait till you go off of this drug that's when all the real problems start. 24 hours after I went off this drug I ended up with 15 side effects and I'm still struggling 2 months later. Good luck
hoffman karen00697
Posted
JUNEBUG1938 adam3355
Posted
Hello, my name is Denise and I've been on gabapentin since the year 2000. I did go off of it a while because it was giving me a strange feeling right around my temple. I know that probably sounds weird it was weird but then the doctor prescribed it again for me and 2003 and I've been on it ever since my normal dose is 600 mg 4 times a day. I'm sure that sounds like a massive amount to you since I've read your article about how much you were consuming. I don't know any other thing to help you with those side effects that you are having except for prayer. I don't know if you're a religious person but symptoms like that need prayer you would be amazed at what the Lord can do. God bless you
changejobs JUNEBUG1938
Posted
junebug,
do you have side effects or any issues with the drug during the last 15 years
Daisylover adam3355
Posted
My goodness Adam3355 I could not be more frightened for you and your well being. I hope that you will seek professional help for your depression. I can tell you that for the passed 2 1/2 months I have been taking 300 mg of Gabapentin 4 times a day as prescribed by my doctor and I have not felt 1 of the side effects you have been experiencing. Is it possible Adam3355, that just may be the professionals you've spoken to may be right in that the depression you are feeling is not because of the Gabapentin? Please have an open mind and maybe allow a professional to dig a bit deeper in a different direction in order to find the root of your depression. I say this only because you said that you have not been taking the Gabapentin for a few weeks yet you still have these feelings, this alone should prove to you that the way you are feeling is not from the Gabapentin. You sound like a smart person and there's no shame in being depressed, I implore you to please seek the help of a professional that you feel you can trust. You may have to go through a few professionals before you find the one you like that will help you. May God bless you son.
adam3355 Daisylover
Posted
Hi Daisylover -
Wow. I totally forgot about this post.
Over the years I've received sporadic email notifications informing me of new responses to my original post, but I never realized they had grown to nearly 300 strong. For whatever reason, I felt compelled to click on today's notification, and I came across your incredibly sweet and caring message.
After so many ups and downs in the years since posting my above statement, I've finally found some normality and stability within the relentless barrage of otherwise severe and long-lasting chronic pain. Looking back, I'd chock up my Gabapentin issues to inconsistent use of the medication.
Thankfully, those issues only lasted for a few weeks after my initial posting, but at the time I was superstitious about coming back to this thread to share my subsequent experiences (afraid the mere recognition of those terrifying side effects would catapult me back to a dark place)
Regarding the biomechanics of the drug itself, I've come to understand that Gabapentin is not an "as needed" medication, but rather something that you take habitually (like SSRI inhibitors). Back then, my nervous system was highly distressed and dysfunctional. Depression was an issue, but anxiety and panic were the real culprits of my misery.
But anxiety can often be much harder to recognize and come to terms with, and to someone who was as belligerently ambitious as I used to be, panic and anxiety were ostensibly an inherent part of a stressful and demanding profession.
At the time of my posting (back in 2014) I was nineteen years old and in a California Film School -- passionate, driven, self-starting, and enthusiastic -- but also under the duress of years of pain. And it was something that I was constantly trying to "push" back against, and fight through. I was chasing career success and accolades to compensate for the fear, doubt, exhaustion, and unpredictability that plagued my everyday life.
But as I learned the hard way, the more you "fight back" against pain -- especially pain revolving around chronically tightened and inflamed muscles -- the more it punches you back in the face and further up-regulates your nervous system, tightening those distressed muscles. And in the end you discover you were just digging the hole even deeper, not climbing out of it.
Anyway, after my bout with Gabapentin in 2014, I went through an awful two year long experience with Valium that resulted in me taking near fatal levels of the drug. The prolonged use also weakened my body (worsening my pain, panic, and muscle spasms) to the point that I was bedridden for almost a year.
In April of 2017, when I was in a truly dark and dangerous place, I finally went to an outpatient Benzodiazepine detox program, and successfully got off the drug on my first try. Since then, I haven't taken a single pill, and under no circumstance will I ever ingest one of those goddamn pills again.
While muscle spasms, pain, and anxiety were (and continue to be) the issue, I've found that medications like Valium only temporarily sooth a gaping wound that needs profound, lasting, and holistic healing. And while the signature "benzo" relief is a godsend in the moment, your body is stripped of its natural means of coping with and healing from pain, and your entire life revolves around a dangerously addicting and emotionally manipulative chemical.
I've also found that Valium makes the panic attacks and muscle dysfunction even WORSE. For those who take benzos for musculoskeletal issues, I would implore you to consider alternative avenues, and offer myself up as a resource for personal support and consulting.
But back to the Gabapentin -- I'm glad it works for so many people. Clearly most others did not suffer from the same symptoms that I did, and instead found much more stable and lasting relief.
And that's probably because they were using the drug PROPERLY, unlike me.
Ironically enough, however, I'm currently on 200mg of Lyrica, and I haven't felt a trace of any Gaba-like side effects. It's currently one of the most powerful tools in my tool shed, and has given me significant relief from the pain (though weight gain is an ongoing issue).
But coming in for a landing, now, I do want to reassure you that I'm doing well, and continuing to make real progress toward total healing.
And don't let my Gabapentin horror story scare you -- it was undoubtedly user error.
Lastly, and most importantly, I deeply appreciate your message of support and empathy. Best of luck in your own journey.
All the best.
Adam
changejobs adam3355
Posted
adam,
how long have you been on lyrica?
how do you compare it to gabapentin?
tony67282 adam3355
Posted
I took gabapentin for pain for nearly 3 years following an automobile accident and had the same side effects... like myself, you are most likely an ultra-rapid metabolizer for the drug and you should avoid taking it altogether. When I asked my pain management doctors about how long it would take to return to normal, they told me 2-3 years!!!!!! It's been at least three years since I stopped taking it, and only now do I feel able to write without having to do multiple edits just to make any sense to people.
Because Gabapentin damaged my ability to communicate, it very nearly ruined my life!!!!!
The drug works my slowing down (interfering with) the nervous system so you can't feel pain.
Unfortunately, your brain "is" your nervous system!
anne77555 adam3355
Posted
Adam, I have been taking Gabapentin for 11 years (since 2018) and it is my lifesaver. I take 10 x 300mg daily = 3,000mg daily and I couldn't get out of bed without it. From Day One I called them my 'happy pills' and would only be depressed without them. My problem was caused by a surgeon damaging the nerves in my leg during a hip replacement operation. The femoral, obturator and saphenous nerves are affected and without the Gabapentin I am in too much pain. Yes, I do wonder what the long-term affect will be but, as I'm heading for 80 years of age now, I also wonder how long is long-term? I do wonder if it is the Gabapentin what's causing you the depression? But I also know that we are all different. I do hope that by now (4 years later) your problem is resolved and that you are better. Take care and best wishes. Anne
anne77555
Posted
Adam, I'm adding to my above reply and probably answering Tony at the same time.
Not only did Gabapentin not cause me depression but is also didn't affect my ability to communicate - other than the naturally occurring lack of that ability due to my age which, as mentioned above, is nearly 80(!). But I would like to tell you that I have recently written two books which I have self-published, and I am now on my third and fourth books as I have had to speed up a little.. lol. So, as you can see, the high dosage of the medication hasn't affected me one bit.... (Of course people who know me well might tell you something different!)
I'm pleased you have sorted out your medication and wish both you and Tony all the very best for the future.
Kind regards
Anne
APHill1 adam3355
Posted
Not rue why this wont allow me to reply on its own instead of making me reply to someone so this is not a reply to anyone.
Gabapentin is evil and a bad drug it needs to be removed from ever being prescribed at all for anything.
I am now in 9 months of hell. I began having visual and auditory hallucinations in late Oct or early Nov. of last year. The visual hallucinations have left but the now it's turned to Musical ear syndrome or it caused musical ear syndrome in me. But even if it's musical in design it sometimes makes me hear what sounds like demons speaking to me and no! I do not have mental illness for musical ear syndrome has nothing to do with mental illness. Nor have I ever been diagnosed with it but once twenty years ago something similar happened and was wrongfully diagnosed with schizo-effective disorder this is Bull. So when I can I have that removed from my medical record. but it keeps showing up for some reason. I have to keep telling myself that none of that, that I go through or hear now is happening and never was real. After that episode the other night I got up and used a EMF meter to check on signals WiFi hitting our house and it still shows high in the house but not outside so this lets me know I am not targeted like some people may think when they hear voices. So now those symptoms again have dissipated and I am now again researching and replying whenever I can on the dangers of this drug. Stay away from it if you can its bad news. run for your lives from it for several people are dead now because of it. I more than likely have brain damage do to it and may or may not ever get rid of the noise I hear but I am trying to take supplements to try and help regulate the already done damage and hope they may subside these awful side effects I've had from this worthless drug!
APHill1
Posted
I hope I don't have dementia as well. For what I've read about it can cause dementia and or Alzheimer's disease.