Gabapentin Withdrawals (Page 12) (Top voted first)

I'm being taken off of Neurontin/Gabapentin after seven years. I'm now crying, anxious, and itching all over! I have tried antihistamines and cortisone creams but with no relief.

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I too am suffering from Gabapentin withdrawal. My arms and face are prickly, feels like my skin is crawling on my arms. This is worse with long sleeves. I too tried antihistamines to no avail. I also wake up in the morning with waves and waves of heat on my face and arms. It lasts for a couple of hours. Its horrible! It gets worse every time I try to reduce the amount of Gabapentin I am taking. I hate this stuff. Getting off it is unbearable and I was only on a small amount. I was up to 1200 but the side effects were awful and I couldn't tolerate it so I have tried to go off it slowly over the span of 5 months but keep having to go back up on a higher dose. Even doing that the withdrawal effects have not gone away. When I went back up to 600 for a month the itching seemed to subside somewhat but was back when I went down to 400mg. I went to 300 for 4 weeks, now 200 for 10 days and I feel awful all the time. The morning waves of heat have never gone away but have not been this bad. I have tried magnesium but it has done nothing to ease the withdrawal effects. I suffered from hot flashes until I went on HRT and that got rid of them. I tried doubling the dose of the HRT to see if that affected the morning waves of heat but it had no effect so I know it is the Gabapentin withdrawal. It started the first night I dropped from the 900 to 600mg back in December and hasn't gone away since.

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My 15 year old son was on Gabapentin 400mg per day for 3 years for epilepsy. Dr. recommended B12 complex so we started him on that but didn't say anything about magnesium. He tapered off with few side effects but had a tickling feeling on his right side when falling asleep for 4 months. It would jerk him awake 4 to 5 times a night before finally falling asleep and sometimes during sleep. I started him on 250mg magnesium tablets, generic from CVS. The first night was a little better and it stopped entirely after a week.

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No nothing helps the itching except going back on the Gabapentin and even then, it took a month for the itching/skin crawling to go away. I have decided to continue to decrease over the next couple of weeks and try and live with the withdrawal effects and see what happens. I am beside myself now so I might as well go off it, it can't be much worse???
I read where someone was on a lower dose for only weeks and it took 3 months to get over it totally.
Hang in there and let me know how it goes. You are not alone. This drug is awful!

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My husband has been on gabapentin for 1 month increasing every few days, due to a pinched nerve in his neck to shoulder. Now he has been slowly decreasing as my husband felt it was interfering with his lung problem. He has had bronchiectasis for last 15 years and is doing super with it as he does breathing exercises every morning. This shoulder/neck pain was really bad but now has stopped. He was up to 900mg daily and now he has stopped every 3 days, is decreased it and now he states his breathing is better and the pain is gone.

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What do you mean he stopped every three days? Did he wean off in three days? I've been on it a month for anxiety upto 700 mg a day and I'd like to get off. The fear of withdrawal is worse for my anxiety.

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Just wondering if you weaned off and if so, how did you go about it?

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Please pray for me to stop nerotin I have to stop because the constipation from it is so bad thank you

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Better constipation gabapentin made me CRAZY INSANE WITHDRAWLING FROM IT count your blessings

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About 3 weeks ago I took 800 mg twice a day for like 3 days, and then I took 3 the next day, then 4, then 5, and on the last day 6. I was taking them because i was depressed, but I was not trying to commit suicide. Now I have horrible withdrawal. I didn't have any left so I was forced to quit cold turkey. I'm currently waiting to get a new primary care doctor so I cannot see one or contact one any time soon. I just took 1 500 mg magnesium to help. I have almost all the withdrawal symptoms of gabapentin. And they are increasingly difficult to deal with each day. This has been happening since about a day or 2 after I last took some. I really don't know what to do at this point. Please, any info and advice you can offer is needed.

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This is a terrible drug to come off of. I have been experiencing horrible withdrawal effects too and I am still on 100mg. I keep hoping that the withdrawal effects will lessen but like you each days seems to be worse. It can take months to a year for your body to get back to normal. I have been on for a year now. I started cutting back in December and have struggled with the withdrawal effects since. Magnesium has done nothing for me and I haven't had any other drugs/supplements help to ease the withdrawal. How long were you on the Gabapentin before you quit colt turkey? That will be a determining factor as well as the amount you were taking. How are you feeling now?

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I'm feeling worse. My mind goes to strange places and I start panicking. And I was only taking it for the one week. And like I said, 1600 - 2200 mg a day for the first 3 days, and I increased to 4800 by the end of the week.

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Lynn , I found when stopping that drug , drinking an adequate amount of water seemed to help for me , along with the fact the notorious ITCH has lessened substantially , I drink a minimum amount of 40 oz. daily and try avoiding salt along with reading sodium contents on packages to compare . It's better than " popping another pill " for me .

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I am taking gabepentin 800mg 3x a day. I had gotten up to 4 or 5 sometimes 6 gabapenting 3 or 4 times a day and decided that, that was not smart and tapered myself down from May 2017- current July 2017. I have used slomag before and it worked until i felt like it was going to wear off and those horrible withdrawal symptoms would return to me and I would once again be in misery. So, i took more. I think i may have taken too much because i had HORRIBLE hot flashes all through the night accompanied by chills as well as feeling sick to my stomach and I when I did manage to fall asleep from pure exhaustion i would wake back up 10 minutes later and take a deep breath in and my heart would be pounding. I also was crying a lot.. typical gabapentin withdrawal symptoms i know. But like i said the magnesium worked and then I took more and it just didnt go well. I also did not drink water once I took it and I should have. How much is too much? Can this happen if you take too much? I want to stop taking gabapentin and magnesium is the only thing that has sort of helped so far. If there is anything else I am open to suggestions. or a proper way to take magnesium for this

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Hello KitKat
The hot flashes are from the gabapentin withdrawal. Ever since I tried to cut back on the gabapentin (last December) I wake up and have waves and waves of heat and burning in my face and arms. It's horrible
My arms and face also feel itchy and burning all day long. I haven't found anything that helps. I am going to try magnesium again as so many people say it helps but I haven't noticed any difference. The longer I am at a lower dose, the worse the symptoms get. I am at 100mg and have been for a month but the withdrawal symptoms aren't any better. I am beginning to think they never will. I have recently read about a liquid magnesium called ReMag. It is supposed to be absorbed directly so no diareah. I am hoping it helps. I don't want to increase the gabapentin but it is very hard coping with the withdrawal effects. How much magnesium do you normally take to get relief. Like you I am beside myself

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Thanks for the advice. I will try drinking more water. It seems the longer I am on a lower dose, the worse my symptoms get. I have been at 100mg for a month now with no improvement but I am refusing to go any higher. I have done a lot of research and discovered that with gabapentin you should only decrease 100 at a time. I wish they would tell doctors that!
Thanks again
Lynn

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In Kentucky it is a Schedule 3 narcotic as of July 1st 2017. The news reported that addicts were taking it to ease themselves when they didn't have their opiates.

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I beleive it. It should be it was like getting off a benzo for me put me in the hospital for 19 days mental hospital but i also took it to alleviate suboxine withdrawls didnt help made me a lot worse especially wgen i dropped a 100mg dose i was raking 1600 mg for 5 or 6 months only

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I'm currently taking 700 mg of gabapentin a day for anxiety. I'd like to taper off a little although my Dr wants me to taper off the 200 mg of klonopin I take daily. I think gabapentin has worse side effects. I was wondering if I take 650 mg every other day for a week, then every day for a week, then so on, would the withdrawal be as bad?

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For those who may be at wits end why certain med's , lotions , etc. don't work or aren't doing what one would expect . Being one med works for one may but may not work for another / everyone .
We are all indiviuals with have a different make up / composite , conesquentialy , med's may act differently , aggravate or simply not work regardless of condition .
After using various med's , ointments etc. if one didn't do the job I simply used another , such , calamine , Eucerin sking calming creme , Promiseb Topical Cream , Ice Compress and Heat , do not expect every one to work , med's have different results for different peoples and individuall we are all different , the same to say with water temp's when bathing / showering and the time alloted to performing such tasks .
In many cases various med's / temps may only aggravate and worsen condition .
Along with withdrawel amount , and time tenure of withdrawel .

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I need to correct, I'm on 2 mg klonipin not 200 mg

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