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stopping gabapentin

Posted , 6 users are following.

joycemadine
joycemadine

I have been on gabapentin for only 10 days the dose was 100 mg 3 times a day I was wondering if it would be ok just to stop it x

0 likes, 11 replies

11 Replies

  • Cassie57
    Cassie57 joycemadine

    Posted

    I would think after such a short time that you would be fine. I had to stop abruptly after six months of being on same dose; I broke out in hives.

    I had no withdrawal, I stopped having stomach pain and I no longer craved food.

    Good luck!

    • joycemadine
      joycemadine Cassie57

      Posted

      Thanks Cassie I am just going to stop them and see what happens xx

       

  • chrissie61614
    chrissie61614 joycemadine

    Posted

    That's the dose i started on, and rapidly increased to 700 mg not realising  it was the drug that was adding to my pain instead of reducing it. If it doesn't seem to be working I would talk to your doctor before you stop, but be cautious if he suggests you increase it. The side effects seem to effect people differently, good luck wherever you decide to do. 

    • Joe_Duffer
      Joe_Duffer chrissie61614

      Posted

      Hi Chrissie,

      You said that gabapentin had added to your pain...

      I'm curious, what type of pain were you experiencing?

      Thx,

      Joe

       

    • chrissie61614
      chrissie61614 Joe_Duffer

      Posted

      I have experienced migraine headaches and neck pain since being a passenger in a car crash five years ago, resulting in a prolapsed disc, and more recently suffered a prolapsed disc in my lumbar spine resulting in many months of sciatica and lower limb pain. The stiffness in my neck and shoulders and in my legs and back were made fer worse by gabapentin, but I didn't recognise it until I was almost bed bound! 

  • joe03634
    joe03634 joycemadine

    Posted

    Everyone is different its good to speak with your doctor. I was on 300 mg 3x a day for a week and I had really bad symptoms for 6 weeks. The last couple days I started to feel better. Not to scare you but everyone reacts differently I guess. The worst coming off was insomnia.
  • jimbourg8
    jimbourg8 joycemadine

    Posted

    Yes, I pretty much agree with everyone on this formum about the gaba.

    It does not take long for the addiction to take effect. So it is best to reduce slowly even though your time was short.  I've noticed that gaba. does not really do that much good for pain in general and the adverse side effects are much more prevalent  that the good it may do.  I was on 1200 mg/day for 4  years and I finally am about off of it during a 3 month tapering off.....and there were some prolonged withdrawal effects. I feel so much better now after 3 months and only down to about 50 mg/per day every other day......

    • joycemadine
      joycemadine jimbourg8

      Posted

      Thanks Jinboug8

      I agree with you I dont think its helping at all with my pain suffering more with the side affects

    • ShawnD
      ShawnD jimbourg8

      Posted

      Were you just taking it for straight pain? Gaba works great on me but the side effects suck. I have bad nerve damage in my back that affects my left leg. Like falling asleep on your arm but way more intense. I take depending on the day between 1400 mg and 1700 mg and it cuts the numb feeling down to almost zilch. I just have to live with the side effects which to me is worth it. Ive seen a ton of posts in here and I think docs mostly dont know what to prescribe this for. Muscle or tissue damage is a no go. Just nerve or brain probs works. 
    • jimbourg8
      jimbourg8 ShawnD

      Posted

      I was taking it for RLS  or neuopathic pain as per my neurologist's recommendation.  He also said it was good for neck pain which I had. But Gaba. really did not help either condition very well actually.  And the side effects just became intolerable.  The literature published on gaba. also indicates it's not really that effective in most people for pain.  Yes, it does minimize the pain somewhat, and yes the higher the dose is more effective. But I really think that is due to the numbing effect on the brain and hence the nerves as well.......oh but at such a high cost though......so in my experience not worth it at all.......

    • chrissie61614
      chrissie61614 jimbourg8

      Posted

      I have managed a fairly rapid reduction from 700mg three times daily to only 200mg X 3 daily but hav head to up my other pain meds and still stiff all over, so I don't know whether the GABA was doing anything much for me. It certainly didn't seem to be helping my nerve pain, caused by a prolapsed disc in my back impinging on my sciatic nerve, (as I now find from MRI scan). 

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