Short term low dosage Gabapentin still experiencing significant withdrawal symptoms

Tannersan, I agree with you. At it's acute phase, gab can help with the pain of shingles, but there is so little research into it's use that it's prescribed incorrectly. From what I've read and learned, I'd take the lowest dose for the shortest time possible. Anything over 1800 mg of gab won't help more, just cause more side effects. The reality is that gab helps less than half the people tested and then within that subset, it decreases the pain moderately to mildly, yet the side effects (of which most doctors are unaware) can cause significant negative impacts. It can cause miserable problems when you get off (SLOWLY) and Cymbalta for many is even worse. I'm more familiar with gab, but many people think that getting off Cymbalta has MUCH worse withdrawal. Start doing research on your own as doctors are clueless, even tho the info and research is out there.

Amelia, twitching and jerking, tremors, loss of coordination, eye movements are common side effects. The FDA, approved Pfizer information for US doctors on November 7, 2016. My doctor received it, so what excuse can they give for not knowing? I had an adverse reaction on the 2nd dose that caused my permanent movement disorder.

I'm so sorry Maggie, I wish we could get this drug off the market, you're not alone with these problems. You are going through withdrawal now. IT WILL GET BETTER! You were only on it a short time, but no-one can predict how long the side effects of the withdrawal will last. However, as some of us have dealt with it's problems and then withdrawal for years (I'm now off it after 3 years, been done for 3 weeks) be glad that you're done with it. If you had continued to be on it for months, it could take you many months to get off it. Think of feeling like this time after time! Do self care, take it easy, take plenty of fluids, avoid any additional stress, distract yourself the best you can with music, TV, books, some simple project, pets etc. Believe me, I know what you're dealing with. I had a rough day yesterday, didn't do much, very down, took a long nap.

You'll get through this. Ignore doctors or people who say they can't believe you're having this reaction. Millions of us do, docs just don't know.

Thank you so much for your kind words. This feeling is horrible. I just hope it passes soon. What an awful drug.!!!! All for nothing sometimes I feel like a Guinea pig all these different drugs they've tried me on and non work for the pain.

In the US, once a drug is "approved" by the FDA doctors can prescribe it for any reason they want. Gabapentin was only originally approved for epilepsy (it's really a seizure medication) and two types of nerve pain--shingles (and the lingering pain from that called PHN Post Herpetic Neuralgia, which I have/had) and small nerve diabetic neuropathy. I read in some FDA info that it is now approved for restless leg syndrome (RLS). Yes, we're Guinea pigs. The drug companies did an outstanding job of marketing the drug years ago (there was a lawsuit they lost) and that impression is still out there with doctors. There's NO information that it could help arthritis, but many doctors feel, what the heck, I may as well try, right? Except this drug has many serious side effects and dependency attached to its use.

There can be numerous side effects and symptoms of WD, which you may or may not have. Depression, sleep disturbances, abdominal problems, increased pain (it's withdrawal pain, NOT your original OA), tremors, confusion memory loss. But I hope for you that you have longer stretches where you feel better until the bad times disappear.

Maggie I just realized, I was making the assumption that you were taking three 100 mg tablets/capsules for a total of 300 mg/day. Or where these 300 mg pills? If so, this could be more tricky. It's recommended to drop by 10% over 4 weeks or more. That would be drop 100 mg from one of the doses.

But you WERE on it for only a short time. IF you were at 900 mg/day, the best option would be to gt 100 mg pills also, telling your doctor you want to slowly get off it, then drop 100 or even 200 taking 200, 200 and 300 for a month, and then dropping. Not everyone gets withdrawal and you may be better soon, but I felt I had to update this in case you went cold turkey from 900 mg. Stopping gab abruptly from a high dose can cause seizures and other health issues.

yes i had all of these symptoms:this is what that damn Gabapentin has left me with.. 😡😡 I’ve been off the drug for a little over three years and I’m still dealing with withdrawal symptoms.. just recently Gabapentin has been listed as a control 2 drug right up there with Percocets and Vicodin’s etc... time to get this damn drug off the market, I suffered with over 40 side effects of coming off of that damn drug, and I still suffer today from PAWS ( post acute withdrawal symptoms) it is real and it happens, healing from this drug is a VERY SLOW process.i suffered EVERY DAY and ALL DAY for a year and a half before they let up, Symptoms: nausea, diarrhea, stomach pain, joint and muscle pain, stabbing migraines that moved every 3 days to a new location, blurred vision, double vision, 3-d vision for 5 months, pancreatitis, akathisia, memory loss, cognitive impairment, amnesia, dementia, manic episodes, severe depression, anger, aggression, panic attacks, rapid heart beat, dizziness, loss of balance, dystonia, tar dive dyskinesia, insomnia, trigeminal neuralgia, fatigue, pre-diabetes’s, high cholesterol, anxiety, sadness, paranoia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, I lost muscle mass, lost 30 pounds in 10 days and lost control of my bowel functions.I hallucinated coming off of this drug and did not sleep for 4 days because my brain would not shut down ( I was delirious from lack of sleep) it took me a year to get a regulated sleep pattern and 2 years of being off of it to be able to take a short nap again, unfortunately the list goes on and on.. i only took Gabapentin for a year and a half total and I was on a high dose for 9 months,it doesn’t matter how large or small the dosage of this drug is,the side effects are relentless and can take months even years to heal from it, sometimes the drug leaves you with irreversible damage. Gabapentin and the big brother LYRICA are very powerful drugs.. I still have restless legs real bad and the migraines are horrible..

Heather, when I first joined Patient Info, I'd read comments like yours and think, really? They've GOT to be exaggerating. To anyone reading this NO SHE IS NOT! I suspect you either went off cold turkey or too fast. But nobody tells us we can't so we do the smart thing and get off it. Except it can take years to get off a high dose. I was at 2700 and it took me 3 years. I'm very fortunate that while I've had tough times (and am right this second, exhausted from not sleeping last night) I found out early to go slowly.

Not everyone will get these problems but enough people do that doctors should be telling us and helping us once they crop up. So to anyone reading this, get off the drug as safely as you can. If you just started, and it's been less than two weeks and you're under 1000 mg/day, you could just stop. Of course it's best to stop as soon as problems get too bad and before the higher doses. Good luck everyone. I know it gets better, but today, it's hard to remember that.

Hi Maggie, it's Babs again (it's tricky I know to click "reply" on the person who sent the last message, this thread is pretty long). I'm very relieved to read your answer. Yes, sleep issues and those cold and hot flashes happen to. There's an axiom: what the drug can "help" it can also cause. It works on the central nervous system and it seems many parts of the autonomic nervous system.

WOW. I've worked as a medical secretary for 30 years so I picked up a little knowledge that makes it easier to navigate the medical world. My own theory was that it also worked on the ANS, but I hadn't read that. Yes, I did a search and found out that it does. SO, that's why docs give it for hot flashes and menopausal problems! Idiots! As you are finding out, this then unleashes a cascade of other problems. The ANS controls the bodily function such as BP, heart, digestion etc. so that's why gab causes problems with those. It acts on the brain, hence the emotional problems like anxiety, rage and depression. Fun drug, right?

In an odd way, you've realized that no matter how miserable you are now, it could have been SO much worse if you had stayed on it. You're going to feel lousy, likely physically and mentally, but these will be relatively short-lived and won't be serious. However, as mentioned going cold turkey from high doses can cause life-threatening complications.

Hang in there, it will get better. There's a chance that some of these symptoms may reappear on the future, so just brush that off, don't let it alarm you. They'll be short-term.

Thanks for leading me to the explanation as to why I'm not either freezing or sweating and waking at night sweating. I never had hot flashes during menopause and tend to be cold. Not now, during withdrawal. I'm SO glad I'm off this drug, but it's going to take me months or longer to fully recover from it.

Hi babs been wondering why my heart fealt weird see you've mentioned this affects blood pressure too. I suffer with high blood pressure. Pity my doctor tommorow if I get to see her. Wow am I going to go into one. Not her fault I know this horrid drug may help some. Sadly not this oap.

I'm laughing about you and your doctor. The one who prescribed it for me was a very good doc, but like almost all of them believed there were no side effects (I convinced him he was wrong). He's since retired and I see my new one on Tuesday for a "med check". I'm only one med, and NSAID I've used for over 25 years, but they won't refill it without a check up every 6 months! If she asks about the gab I'll give her an earfull. Luckily my insurance changed their policy this year so it's only $35/appointment. But in December it could have been several $100.

If you do talk with the doctor, be mindful that few of them are aware of the side effects and many of us have doctors dismiss it, saying it's in our head or we should get more testing or try more drugs. No thank you.