Gabapentin Withdrawals (Page 4) (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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WOOOOAH there. Trazodone isn't addictive???? I came off the last 50 mg and it was hell!!! My legs ached so bad I thought I'd just go back on it...and I did. Then started biting off little bits and dealt with the leg pain. Some may not...everyone's different but gabapentin is extremely addictive and many abuse it I read....but the dea said opiods are addictive...not neurontin...so whatever they say..... lol

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I was wondering how u are doing with getting off the gabapentin... I take probably the same amount you do... I abuse it as well and take WAY to much... very very angry at myself... I've started a taper yesterday of about 1/2 of what I was taking and just started magnesium and Gabba gabba supplements today... Hope they help, feeling ok., except bad back pain and hot and cold flashes .

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My husband was told he could stop taking Gabapentin last week, after taking it for a year. The PAC told him stopping would not cause any problems. He started feeling bad within 1-2 days and it just got worse. Now a 9 days later he is still experiencing Withdrawal Symptoms:
Nausea, diarrhea, extreme fatigue, cold sweat, anxiety, irritability, back pain, neck pain, stomach pain.
I searched Gabapentin Withdrawals and very thankful I found out that is what is causing these symptoms. We are going to try high magnesium foods and epsom salt baths and pray it helps. It has been awful for him.
Why didn't the PAC warn us or offer some suggests to help deal with the withdrawls. He was taking Gabapentin in hopes of helping his chronic back pain.
If anyone has more suggestions, we sure would like to hear the things that work.

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I think that everybody handles Gabapentin differently and the way that I have been doing is to take it 300 mg every other day and now I'm down to 300mg three times a week and then I'll go down to 300mg twice a week and then once a week and then stop...I have been taking foot baths with Epson salts but I can't say if it helped with the withdrawal or not but it helped with my sore foot...:) I think the best thing to do is hang in there and set up a plan and try to stick to it, it's better to withstand a little pain than keep taking Gabapentin, that is if you can handle it... TXBGSA

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Hello was reading your post I am having problems coming off the gabapentin as well and wanted to ask you what type specifically of magnesium supplement you used ?

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One more week to go and I'm done with Gabapentin, I went from once a day to every other day to three times a week to twice a week to once a week and I feel better at this point but still have some trouble sleeping but not bad. I still take the fish oil, V-D, B-12 and this last week I have been taking Calcium Magnesium but will stop on Sunday and my last 300 mil will be on Wednesday and then I'll wait and see what happens..Nothing I hope...You have to hang in there and get rid of this drug..

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I was on 400mg one every night before bed, it was to help with the hot flashes after my hysterectomy.. The last few weeks I started to skip one every other night, until I stopped completely. Unfortunatley, I haven't had a good night sleep in days, I tried melatonin. But that hasn't helped either.. After reading about the magnesium I'm willing to try it hoping that something will help me sleep.. Still have the hot flashes, but I plan on asking my oncologist what I can do.. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

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I know this post was a couple of years ago but I just wanted to say please don't every stop taking a drug like this suddenly. You always, always have to go off slowly.

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This drug is not a bad drug for everyone. There are many possible side effects. Not everyone experiences these side effects while taking the drug. However going off any drug that alters your brain chemistry can be difficult. It must be done slowly and can still be difficult. As with any drug the benefits must out way the the negatives. This is true when considering any drug. The drug may be wrong for one but a miracle for another.

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For 2 months I have been trying to get off Gabapentin and it has been terrible. I was taking 1200 mg two times per day and tapered to zero in about ten days. BIG mistake! A week later I went to the ER because of the withdrawal symptoms. I went back on it and felt better within an hour. I went on 600 mg per day and tapered down to about 350 mg per day. After horrible anxiety, I increased to 600 in the morning and 300 at night. My doctor wants me to go to 300 mg three times per day so I am slowly trying to adjust my dosage schedule. My question is about magnesium - do you take magnesium at the same time as Gabapentin or how should the timing go?

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Hi. U want to do a slow taper. I was in 3600mg a day for 2 yrs. I taper 100mg off per week. It's about a 8 month taper. I'm at 2000mg so I still have a ways to go. Take the magnesium by pill or you can buy the oil an rub it in your skin. I first got off too fast like u did an ended up in the ER.

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I just rub the magnesium oil on my arms and legs. I don't take the pills. I don't do it everyday yet. I'm at 1800mg now from 3600mg top dose so I imagine as I get closer to getting off I'll b using it everyday

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I have Ben taking gabapentin 100 mg
2xfay. For 7 days and have
Been running to bathroom day and
Nite, constant and this has never happened to me before, iam 66 years old was given this for anxiety
I don't
Feel that this wasn't the
Right
Drug for me,I
Would like to know how long before my side effects stop,and the drug
Is out of body thank
You

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U r on a really low dose am for only 7 days there shouldn't be any withdrawal or minimal. If they perscribed it for anxiety I would get off it and try something else

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I also have been going through gabapentin withdrawal, I take 3000mg a day (that's 600mg X5 a day) I'm on day 3 after I ran out of refills over the Holiday weekend. I'm gonna make this short- I was willing to try ANYTHING last night, I read that magnesium helps with the withdrawal, so in the middle of the night I took milk of mag and a zantac (the heartburn medication)because it is all I had in the house. I was SHOCKED to wake up feeling 99% Better! For you non believers, try it. It won't hurt matters.

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If you get anxious, try Niacinamide (vitamine B-3) in high dosis in addition to B-komplex. It is safe and the only side effect is diarrhea.
Both Niacine and Niacinamide are vitamine B-3. Niacin gives you flushes, so I recommend Niacinamide. There has been some study into the healing properties of this supplement, you can find a related book on Amazon.

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I am tapering off gabapentin. Was on it for 6 months. Most of my withdrawal symptoms are muscle spasms in my legs, restless legs, irritability, crying, I can't sleep and I get very agitated over little things. I've read where magnesium supplements help with these withdrawal symptoms but I don't know how much to take. There seems to be different kinds also citrate etc. which is the best. I also have absolutely no energy. Can you recommend one please?

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So how much magnesium do I need to take? I have been on this 7-8 yrs and was on 1800 daily and went down to 300 daily and decided two days ago I am done! So... Have gotten sick and can't sleep, crying, etc. I have a refill waiting but do not want to keep relying on this! Please let me know:)

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Hi Gabbyist

Thanks for your post, I am interested in asking you more if that is ok.

I'm on pregabalin 600mg, but not from my doctor.
I hear you say "Not to discourage but some people have experienced withdrawal besides their best efforts at a proper taper.", by this, do you mean, that some people's withdrawals get worse as they go cown, no matter how much they cut?
If so, that is scary. That means I will need care, but I have no one. I am unmarried and live far away from family, so I am dreading what is to come, if mine is olnly going to get worse despite a taper. I know you say that it is not everybody, but the problem is, mine is already bad, because I got symptoms after being on 300mg for a while, and updosing to stabilise, each time holding a week before tapering, but each time, as well, symptoms would appear a week after each updose and get worse. This is why I fear that I will get worse, no matter how slowly I go down in dose, and that this could mean I end up psychotic, because this drug has already made me more paranoid, anxious and depressed, and I am seriously worried that no matter how slow i taper, I will still get worsening syptoms from what i have now. I dont mean to be rude, but one morning in bed, in my sleep, I lost control of my bowels, and had to get up and change, it was traumatic, and I am scared of that happening again, among other things like my anxiety and depression getting worse.
I tried to do a super slow taper, but the symptoms got to bad and I had to updose.

What should I do, I am ok if I have to keep these symptoms while i taper, but scared stiff of getting any worse, and not even coming out of this intact.
I am scared of being permanently scared and traumatized by this.

Do you think there is any point in tapering if I am only going to get worse anyway?
Would this not be dragging it out.

Please could you link me to online posts of people who have tapered and not got any better, or if you cannot, can you tell me where to find them.
I have been trying to look, but it's hard work sifting through and I want to read them to give myself a heads up, an idea of what to expect.

thank you

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I'm going to start taking magnesium citrate (a highly absorbable form) 400 mg once per day while reducing gabapentin by about 20% in 1 week increments. I've only taken 300 mg at night for about 8 months but reducing by 100mg to wean off gave me insomnia. So, I'm reducing by 50 mg at a time for one week increments, which will take 40 days to get off of this terrible drug. I know 300 mg is a low dosage to begin with but I'm extra sensitive. I'll let you know how it goes if you want.

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