Sudden Withdrawal From Neurontin (Page 5) (Top voted first)

I have been taking 600 mg of Neurontin 4x a day for about 2 years and recentlty ran out of this medication due to excrutiating slow service from mandatory mail order RX company.... I was extremely agitated during this time (approx. 5 days), nervous, stressed out, etc. Has anyone else had these symptons as a result of sudden withdrawal from Neurontin? I can't understand why this happened, I felt so scared and lousy for that time. Is this a known reaction for this med? I haven't been able to find an answer. I take it for relief from carpel tunnel syndrom. Thanks

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You might want to try New Chapter Zyflamend nighttime as it has Valerian in it and some lavender whole food escential oil (Young Living has the Best). I say try it because each of us is different with different metabolisms and it may work for you and then it may not. It works for me and I have panic attacks often. They have decreased tremendously since taking these two suppliments. GET OFF OF neurotin if you are able to because it is a dangerous drug. Take it very slow and be patient as it does take time to withdraw from it. You can take the supplements with the neurotin while you are withdrawing. It helped me to get off a lot easier.

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In weaning off gabapentine, has anyone experienced bad burning sensation across their entire body and in mucous membranes. I was on 1800 extended release and trying to cut down. I developed the condition above. I realized I'm doing it wrong. I've taken one 600 extended release and then 300 mg non extended release. Both at dinner. Since the 300 doesn't work for 24 hours, it seems to have messed me up. I'm terrified that I've gotten neuropathic pain in addition to fibromyalgia. Was prescribed to help my fibro but it hasn't at all.

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Yes, Withdrawl from Neurotin can give you all kinds of adverse reactions to include extreme agitation especially on the high doses you are taking. Be sure to have your liver and kidney functions checked out as Neurotin is known for damaging your liver and your kidney. I took a low dose and may liver was damaged where it took 6 months to cleanse it and get my ensymes under control. Neurotin is a SEIZURE MEDICATION and it messes with your brain functions.

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My internist has made me stop all drugs and put me on high level prednisone thinking I may be having beginnings of Steven Johnson syndrome ie serious drug reaction. We don't know if it's gabapentine but my former pain guy had me on too many unneeded drugs. You have to keep searching for a great doc. But sadly hard to come by. Don't give up!!

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I highly recommend using OPC-3 from market america people who have ms have had good results it is a natural product

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Im taking 1200msg gabapentin (neurontin) for numbness in one leg & both hands over the last year the doctor brought me up to that dose. It has worked well for the numbness in my leg but not at all for my hands. I was considering letting the doctor up the dose but i never knew about the withdraw... Now Im scared

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I withdrew too quickly and had terrible side effects. So I cut back very gradually, that is I reduced as slowly as possible by requesting help from my Doctor, obtaining smaller doses, and stepping down over many months.
So the first step would be to see your doctor and get the doctor's assistance. Next stay in touch with your doctor.
If you find that stepping down to a lower dose is causing discomfort above a small amount, you probably have tried to do too much.
My Doctor said "some people don't tolerate this medicine"

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From what I see, OPC-3 is a "nutritional supplement" composed mainy of grape seed extract. How it works and what it does are pretty much unanswered questions. There's a lot of "nutritional supplements" out there with alleged medicinal qualitiies.

OPC-3 is not a drug, technically. The FDA doesn't classify it as one. Therefore, no insurance will cover it.

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My understanding from univ of so cal pain docs is that you should wean yourself gradually.

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"Helpful" Melissa states that withdrawa symptoms from Neurontin (gabapentin) do not include seizures unless one is taking Neurontin for epilepsy or a seizure disorder. She goes further to dismiss the notion entirely with some remark about not believing things you don't understand.
Neurontin, like a lot of drugs, has anticonvulsant activity and raises the seizure threshhold - whether you have a seizure disorder or not. Sudden discontinuation of Neurontin (or any other anticonvulsant) can and DOES cause seizures, - including seizures in people with no pre-existing seizure disorder. I hope no-one suffered any ill effects because Melissa took it upon herself to become a pharmacologist overnight. ALL anticonvulsant drugs must be tapered to avoid seizures.

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Thank you Gabapentin Boy! I read your remark & didn't have to read further-Nothing like experience. Have been taking Gabapentin for 2 years for nerve pain and emotional trauma. When I went to Psychiatrist she gave me a higher dosage and I felt worse instead of better. I didn't trust her judgement as alot of shrinks are being told by pharmaceutical companies to increase meds...I may have not worded it right but I know my own body. If you get the least bit of anxiety they up your dosage and give you Ambien. Altho sometimes it helps I knew what I had to do. I started to wean myself off Neurontin to start. I had a couple sweaty nights and two days of migraine. I am still on it but not so high a dosage. I'm being careful because, let's face it, who likes to suffer. The Ambien comes in handy on bad nights but I am trying to not use it every night. For me, I have a tendency to overmedicate and pay for it later. Thanks for your help. Katia

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I take 300mg once a day to help control pain w/ fibromyalgia and migraines. I have had similar withdrawal effects when there has been overlap of running out and refills. It only takes 2 days before the symptoms kick in. For me sudden movements results in the feeling that the rest of the world is slightly slower in catching up. It is unbearable and I try to avoid those situations at all cost. It has happened 2 to 3 times over the last 10 years. Good Luck

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ih am currently weaning from gabapentin from high dose went from 3100 mg to 2400 mg only thing i noticed extremely tired cant keep my eyes open doing this for 3 days then going down to 1800 mg for 3 days then down to 1200 mg where i want to stay for anxiety have weaned from klonipi before a nightmare this drug so much easier to get off of i find withdrawal from gabapentin only lasts about 3 days and its mostly anxiety so i dont know what everyone is talking about try coming off benzos horrific withdrawal

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Thank you KJB, I am very familiar with this class of drugs and its uses, including non-FDA indicated uses, and you are absolutely correct. Melissa is lucky she didn't suffer the side effects most experience but ANYONE can have a seizure for any number of reasons despite not having a seizure disorder, withdrawing from gabapentin is one of them (as stated in the drug information itself and all drug resource manuals). Please everyone talk to you PHARMACIST when planning your withdrawal in addition to your doctor and only use forums for formulating questions.

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Hi there! I hope you are doing better since your blog but I wouldn't be surprised if you are the same! I have totally dropped my morphine er 15mg and the gabapentin is the worst! I was out on my brothers boat on Thursday and had a tremor! This is the name I give it when I have a seizure like event! Needless to say it freaked my brother and his wife out as they had never seen anything like that and I had not told them about my episodes! I hope that these symptoms stop and you are on your way to a more normal life! I too am on 300mg twice a day and tonight I am going down to 1 a day! These are by far the worst meds I have ever been on and I wish you nothing but success in removing them from your life!<3

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That med also has gabapentin in it! Be very careful of what you take and look it up on WebMD because there are several meds that contain gabapentin in them!

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My Husband is doing better and less agitated and eating better the more I read about withdrawing from those meds especially gabapentin/neurontin alot of his behavior from even the early years on that drug till now are explained . The withdrawal from neurontin /gabapenton alone can cause nausea, severe headaches, insomnia, fatigue,extreme agitation,violent outburst,pain, and seizures even in controlled slow withdrawals under the guidance of a doctor.

He also told me he felt like at times he cannot breath properly if he takes pain meds so he has stopped taking it and switched to Tylenol only.So far we are lucky he suffered no permanent damage but will have to be on anticonvulsives for a period of time and followed by a neurologist until they determine if he can ever come off of them or ever drive again.

This unnerves me. He was taking gabapentin / neurontin for his back for years.He continued to complain to doctors about pain so they added lyrica, cimbalta vimova and celebrex over the years. Doctors and pharmacy gave no warning about cutting gabapentin/neurontin and other drugs. So when he had surgery He didn't restart thinking he could just get off it.

A Google search of gabapentin / neurontin withdrawal also reported nausea, somatic pain, respiratory infections in elderly and in other rare cases epilepsis in patients who didn't have a syndrome before , and I just now dredged up the reason why, along with the fact that He had 2 grand mal seizures after bypass surgery and we were not sure if he was throwing a clot or stroking from the surgery. He finally free of pain and calmer but still has periods of agitation but nothing like the last few weeks.

Just pored over pfizer's documentation. If you read the medication pamplets that are provided with the prescription, in the side effects that are listed with the prescription it lists that it is important to take as prescribed and not miss a dose. Additionally there is information regarding Sudden WITHDRAWAL FROM THE DRUG CAN CAUSE SEIZURES. This was never told to us. In warning (Never handle withdrawal on your own, but contact your doctor. )

Look up defective drugs and find the danger in this drug.

God willing we are over all the worst part and heading for normalcy.

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I have veen in 2,700mg's a day fir a few years the only side effect i have is feeling like i drank 1 beer. I take it for nerve pain. I have a disc that is almost cuttibg off my nevre. I would say the pain is a 9 -9.5
Just had back surgery 2 days ago. So now i can get off it. I dropped to 1,800 and will stay here till the surgey pain gets lower. Tgen get off it all the way. Withdrawl can also be in your head. So just lower it and keep notes

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-I am on 2400 mg for about 10 years and looking to go off it. From the research I was doing online those are very common symptoms. All articles said you wean yourself very slowly with advice of a doctor and can take about to a year for complete and total withdrawal. Now I am too anxious to start the process.

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Haven't talked to my psychiatrist yet. With my Fibro and chemical sensitivity withdrawal is always harsh for me.

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