Short term low dosage Gabapentin still experiencing significant withdrawal symptoms

I'm glad someone revived this thread. Here's another update from me. I'm now down to 1200 mg/day. I found that I did need to take at least 30 days before my next taper. I did and do have side effects, just like others, as I decrease. But the good news for anyone new to this is that as I dropped to 1400 mgs, I felt a change. The fog lessened, and short term memory got a bit better and my cognitive and processing skills improved too. I could list about 20 more things this darn drug does to me, but it did help with the pain. I did skip a taper, twice since I wrote this. Once during a vacation (I have problems when my body adjusts) and when my husband had surgery. I needed to be as stable as possible. I've had increased depression during the period that my body adjusted to the lower level. I've been tempted to speed up the process by a pharmacist said I shouldn't. I seem to be very sensitive to it (or maybe we ALL are and no-one knows it.)

Hi Terry, I'm not sure if you mean me or a previous poster. I have had only a little anxiety with the Gab, but I've had an occasional brief panicky feeling. I've had a lot of problems with depression and still have since this post 3 months ago. I'm now down to 1500 mgs/day. I was dropping 100 every month, but as my husband was facing a knee replacement, I didn't want to add the problems I get as I taper onto that. Well, that didn't work. The stress and lack of sleep from the whole experience (there were problems diagnosed on his pre-op work and we went down the Bad Medical Hole) caused an increase in my memory issues, pain and depression. I'm finally doing better and did drop two days ago to 1400. I figure I couldn't possibly feel any worse than I have the last 6 weeks, right?

This drug is awful! But when they have nothing else to offer you for pain, what else can you do? I'll also tell you that there are multiple manufacturers of the drug. I normally get it from Aurorobindo, which I tolerate better than others. When they switched the supplier I had worse side effects, FYI.

I'm not a doctor, but have been dealing with this for 15 months and have done a lot of research. I have a medical secretary background which helps me understand what I read but I am NOT a medical professional, got it? However, 100 mg is a low dose of Gab. Do you mean per day or multiple times a day? Often doctors start at 100 3 times a day or even 300 3 times a day. The meds can also take several days to be effective and they often need to give an increasing dosage to determine the correct amount to relief the pain.  Yes, the gab causes confusion, fatigue,  mental fogginess and other odd symptoms. I have a love/hate relationship with it. It did help me function better and decreased the pain, but I'll be glad when I'm done with it.

What else can you tell us? Do you have shingles or PHN? When did it start? What over meds are you one? Shingles alone can cause feeling of fatigue, headaches, nausea and other symptoms. It IS a virus so you will likely feel ill in addition to the pain or itching problems associated with it.

I really wish I could ask these doctors why they don’t prescribe a lower type of GABA drug called, Gabitril since it’s lowest dose is 2 mg. 

Doctors keep denying all the bad side effects, and I wouldn’t have developed a permanent uncontrollable movement disorder if the dose wasn’t so high. Only two consecutive 300 mg doses ruined my nervous system.

I found another lady who only took it for 2 weeks before developing a movement disorder on another group question about if anyone else had developed  uncontrollable eye movements. 

I also found online information that Pfizer is distributing to doctors, that includes warning about different side effects, including movement disorders.

I didn’t push the “I’m a US doctor,” but when I pushed print, it gave me 23 pages that’s approved by the FDA. 

Different people have different reactions. Gab has helped countless people with the extreme pain of shingles and and improved quality of life. I have a love/hate relationship with the drug as I'm tapering off. But I was eventually at 2700 mgs! I assume you were given the med to help with shingles pain. If so, I'd follow your doctors directions for dosage. It may take a few days to help and you'll likely have side effects. How bad is your pain? Talk to your doctor about not taking it, that's your choice. I would have had NO quality of life at all without the drug. There's also some research showing that Gab can decrease the risk of developing PHN.

If you do want to stop, you can't "taper" unless you got a new prescription for 100 mg pills and decrease that way. But there's no need to do that. If you want to stop, tell your doctor and he'll tell you to discontinue it.

If I were you I'd give it several days or weeks to see if it helps and what the side effects are.

I’m taking it for undiagnosed pins and needles. It can become painful if I sit too long but I don’t have a lot of pain but the pins and needles along with the waves of goosebumps on my bum are driving me crazy. This has been going on for awhile. I go numb when I sit. I took the 300mg and I think it was just too much for me. I woke up dizzy and there is no way I could drive safely. It is letting up but I’m still groggy. I called the Doc and asked to be lowered to 100mg. But I’m scared of not being able to get off of this if I start since there’s not a lower does available. 

I also didn’t want to go beyond the first 300 mg capsule because the first dose made my hands tremor bad, but it resolved by morning. My husband didn’t think I had given it a chance to help my lumbar nerve pain, so I took one more. 

I wish I had thought about getting a small bottle with a graduated dropper, and dissolved the contents of the capsule, then put a small amount in water and drink it. How else can we test for sensitivity?  I felt like 300 mg was too large  a dose for me. They even make a liquid form, but most doctors prescribe the capsules which I discovered reach maximum strength within an hour. 

I’m only telling you how cautious we have to be, because I failed miserably on this drug after the 2nd dose, and it  caused a rapid onset of my movement disorder which is mainly twitching and jerking all over my body, and it’s difficult to live with.

Doctors protect this drug. After 4 years my neurologist finally sent me to a movement disorder specialist. I returned after a neck and brain MRI and she asked if I remembered to bring the MRI disc. When I got it out of my purse, I asked if she would give me an MRI review. She grabbed it from my hand and took off, and since my balance is bad, I couldn’t follow her. She returned and said, “the mass is the same size, it’s benign, it’s nothing.” Then she asked me the same question 3 times in a row, “ What about your neck?”  I told her that I wear heavy neck scarves, because it reduces the pain from the neck jerks. After the third repetitious question, I pursed my lips, and she said, “Your movements just changed, you’re Psychogenic.”  I was insulted, and told her she had been a waste of my time, and grabbed my cane and left.  Her diagnosis follows me around, and the 5 mm x 6 mm white mass at the entrance to my pituitary stalk, means nothing to other doctors.  

I doubt if  you would have side effects to stop after one dose, but your Dr. will probably label you as being non compliant.

When I discovered that there’s a very low dose GABA drug called Gabitril, which starts out at 2 mg, it proves that someone recognizes that starting low, and going slow is a better choice, but the people who developed Neurontin / Gabapentin even stated in an internal voicemail that “Neurontin is the Snake Oil of the 20th century.”  

I hope you make a wise choice. ~ Beth

 

I just read these after taking my first 300 mg last night for restless legs. I don't think I'm going to take anymore!  Will continue with other remedies, this seems too powerful. Has anyone taken this for RLS?

 

It's given for many, many conditions by doctors. It's only been approved by the FDA for 3 conditions, RLS isn't one of them. Some people GET RLS after using it. You may or may not have some "discontinuation syndrome" (they don't call it withdrawal, but it is) side effects the next few days or weeks, but I'd stop it. However, if you had decided to stop it without me telling you there could be side effects, whatever you may get, would just have been uncomfortable, annoying and confusing. If they occur, let them be positive, reminding you of a bigger bullet you dodged.

I was given gabapentin 300mg for restless legs also. I had pain in my legs at night that were hard to describe, I always had to move them and even when my fiancée rubbed them it didn’t help. I also have back problems, migraines, depressions and anxiety, especially social anxiety and trouble sleeping.  So I started to take gabapentin at night because it can make you drowsy. I was happy that I actually got tired enough to sleep at night but something strange started to happen and I didn’t realize it could be this medication. I think it started a while after taking it that’s why I didn’t pay any attention to it. I started to get a sort of pressure in my head behind my eyes and the top of my head. I would get lightheaded a lot to be point of feeling like I was going to pass out. One time I blacked out while driving, yeah that was great. My head hurt every day, I felt like I just wanted someone to just crush my skull. I would get nauseous and so tired. It affected work, I kept calling out and leaving early. I would just go home and sleep for hours. One night my fiancée had to wake me and and feed me I was so out of it. I had my eyes check and everything was fine just a little more nearsighted, I went to urgent care and they ran a bunch of tests. Blood test normal, ekg normal, thyroid normal. I did a bunch of looking on google and kept saying I think I have a brain tumor, I have an mri scheduled this week. Then I found this board and it hit me that it probably this drug and I’m experiencing all the side effects. So I’m going to stop taking this drug. I think I’ve been on it for maybe 9 months. I hope everyone is well someone can learn from this board. This drug is dangerous. 

Also forgot about the mood swings and anger. I get mad at everything and go off on my fiancée for every little thing. Also my heart pounds in my chest. It’s very unnerving. 

I hate to say it, but I’m sure you’re correct. It takes most of us a while to realize what is happening. Docs hand it out and say there are no side effects, then bam, it hits and we have to hit the internet! And this is at only 300 mg total?? Wow. Definitely tell your doctor as that may have been a seizure you had. Consider going to Gabapentin Awarenesson Facebook. They recommend tapering 10% over 2-4 weeks, but as you’re at a lower level nd you seem to be sensitive,you may need to titrate by dissolving it in water. and removing some of it.

For some of us, which I hate to admit, we are calmer with less anxiety I,e, numb and drugged. For others they have mood swings and/or anger. Yes it’s the drug, not you.

Yes it is 300mg once daily at bedtime. Every day now I wake up like I had the worst sleep and all this pressure around my eyes and front part of my head. Headaches all day everyday when it used to be every now and then I’d have headaches or a bad migraine. Then I have all the other symptoms. I was just telling my fiancée that I never was like this before and she agreed that I wasn’t angry like this, didn’t have these mood swings and get mad at everything, and I definitely didn’t sleep 12 hours a day. I have had my hands shake every now and then when trying to hold a fork to eat and sometimes my arms and legs feel weak like I can’t move them or walk. It just seems like a whole list of bad things have been happening to me no wonder I was thinking something was wrong with my brain. I’ll still get that checked out. I’m going to check out that Facebook page thanks for the info. I really don’t want to be taking this anymore. I didn’t take one last night as an experiment and today my head isn’t as bad but still not all there so I’m guessing this is the root of my problems. I just want to feel normal again, I don’t even care about the restless leg feelings at night just as long as everything else stops. 

I hope you do join the FB page, there are some very knowledgeable people there. I’ve learned so much about this drug in the last year, but from what you’re saying you are having a stronger reaction than most. It’s infuriating and wrong that doctors don’t know more about it. I worked as a medical secretary for 30 years so I can understand the medical jargon better than many and know what junk science to be skeptical. I also know my doc is really very good, but he’s totally unaware of aspects of this drug.

After I posted this I just stopped taking the medicine. I couldnt take feeling that way anymore. My head is clearer, i dont have the pressure anymore and for the most part the headaches are gone. I still feel lightheaded, and unfortunately I got a list of withdrawal symptoms, most of which I think I already had. I’m weak, tired, irritable, restless, have mood swings, i get nauseous a lot and can’t eat, my heart sometimes pounds in my chest like the drums in jumanji. Now my stomach bothers me, and the back pain was so bad. I just wanted to die. I cry a lot now and fiancée says it just kills her because I’m in pain and she can’t help me. She just wants me to feel better, which I want too. Sometimes I feel like myself and I laugh and joke around with her and then the next second I just feel so out of it. I just don’t want to do anything anymore. I don’t care about work I just want to stay in bed. I probably should have been weaned off of it the right way but I didn’t want it in my body anymore and I won’t go back on it. I’m hoping this won’t last much longer I have a life I want to live with a wonderful woman. I called my doctors office and had to leave a message but I never got a call back, take that as you may, I have. I wish you all the best. 

Oh Sam, I'm sorry. However, I give you credit for trying to be strong. Stopping cold turkey is never a good idea as there may be seizures and side effects that last longer than tapering. That said, you were on a relatively low dose. One option is to get a new prescription for 100 mg tabs and taper by 100. However, some people feel that when you get to 200, just stop, as why feel bad at both tapers? There SHOULD be a way to get help through this, but I'm not sure there is. Maybe Tylenol? I don't know. However, TRY and focus on the good and distract yourself. Allow yourself some pity time in bed, but it may make it feel worse. ANYTHING that takes your mind off it briefly will help.  Remember, you DO have good moments, and those moments will be longer as the drug leaves your body. It may be a few days yet. But stay strong.