Sudden Withdrawal From Neurontin
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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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This is gabapentin, right? Yeah wicked withdrawals that were more uncomfortable than when I came off opiates. They lasted about two weeks. Magnesium helped a bit.

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Re: Cheryl (# 272)

Does any passion flower do the trick?

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Re: Mamaw G (# 269)

I just discovered this today and couldn’t wait to help someone with my discovery! I’ve been having hell-ish anxiety, panic attacks, morning hot waves like my head and arms and hands are on fire, ER trips where tests were run and all was fine besides being malnourished and dehydrated, waking up and not able to leave the toilet the first few hours of every day..missed work. Only thing it seemed to coincide with was the Gabapentin I was told to wean off (it wasn’t working for my panic) and that the month I took to do it was more than enough. I happened to take some Passionflower! INSTANTLY I felt as though I had taken a benzodiazepine. No stomach cramps/back ache/constant nausea/diarrhea/constipation that was plaguing me for days. Nothing else has helped much, actual benzodiazepines, marijuana, Imodium, etc. When I googled it, guess what Passionflower does! Increases GABA in your brain! And I hadn’t had gabapentin in 2 days. Doctors and the pharmacist have never heard of anyone having gabapentin withdrawals. HOW??

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Gabapentin - Neurontin Taper Suggestions

I have tapered from 1200mg/day to now 280mg/day (90mg- 90mg-100mg).

It has taken me 15 months, and I have a ways to go but I now know I can do it. I am 75 and have children 20 and 17. They, along with my wife, quite younger than I, have given me the desire to keep at it.

1. I have searched many University Medical School sites for Taper Schedules and the one that works for me is to reduce the Gabapentin dose by 10% of the preceding month's dosage every 15-20 days. Some people can go a bit faster but if you push it too much you could experience terrible pains and significant mental turmoil.

2. AND BE EXTRA CAREFUL if you are also taking any opiate type medications. You can confuse Gabapentin taper pain with 'muscle and joint body pain' and this can lead to overdose.

3. Gabapentin attacks nerve synapses and the pain reduction nature of Gabapentin is due to the nerve synapses being 'killed'/prevented from being repaired/nourished and Gaba blocks chemical workings of memory and thinking. For instance, Research 'Gabapentin and Brain Neuron Death' You can repair much of the Gabapentin caused Brain damage by taking Neuron Growth enhancing supplements to help repair damage done by Gabapentin.

Look up Brain Plasticity supplements such as:

4. Uridine -- Uridine Monophosphate, (300mg x 60 ct) by Element Nutraceuticals - Choline Enhancer, Supports Brain Health and Function

5. Fish and/or Krill Oil

6. Phosphatidylserine or Alpha GPC, Centrophenoxine: Centrophenoxine is known for improving memory, mood and rational thinking on its own. It is a synthetic compound derived from DMAE that results in higher levels of Acetylcholine in the brain due to phospholipid transformation. Alpha GPC: A synthetic highly concentrated version of soy lecithin that is an Acetylcholine precursor. What this means is that when Alpha GPC is metabolized in the body, Acetylcholine is naturally produced as one of the Alpha GPC by-products.
Citicoline (CDP Choline): Considered to be one of the most effective choline sources, this supplement actually converts into Choline in the GI tract and then back into Citicoline in the brain. It is an intermediate of phosphatidylcholine and makes it easier for your body to synthesize Acetylcholine.

7. Vitamin B Hi-Potency Stress Support Complex

8. Wide Spectrum Multi Vitamin Complex

9. 10 mg L-Methylfolate

10. B-12

11. Vitamin D3

12. Vitamin C

13. Magnesium, BUT take two hours before or after dose of Gabapentin as Mag, significantly lowers Gabapentin absorption. Studies have found that magnesium in the aspartate, citrate, lactate, and chloride forms is absorbed more completely and is more bioavailable.

14. I also take, about every 3d day or so, For Sure EARLY in the mornings since they can affect sleep, half capsule of N-Acetyl L-Cysteine, half capsule Acetyl-L-Carnitine, and half capsule Alpha Lipoic Acid.

15. Every other day I also take 1/2 tsp "Lion's Mane Mushroom Extract 10:1 Concentrated Powder, Hericium Fruiting Body by Wild Foods for Concentration, Mood", (2 ounce) FROM Amazon. "Neurological Activity of Lion’s Mane (Hericium erinaceus )" --- restorativemedicine.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/lions-mane.pdf -- AND "Chemistry, Nutrition, and Health-Promoting Properties of Hericium erinaceus (Lion’s Mane) Mushroom Fruiting Bodies and Mycelia and Their Bioactive Compounds" (pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jafc.5b02914). Be selective and get the Fruiting Bodies as most of the Brain Growth Active Boosters are in the fruiting body and not the Mycelia.

16. I also, every other day, take a 1/3 to 1/2 dose of Huperzine A with the same proportions of Noopert. Be careful with these supplements as I have read they can be habit forming and please look up the side effects.

17. To lessen Suicidal Ideation and decrease levels of pain I have started to use Ketamine and Oxytocin. Pain doctors can prescribe these two and I get them from a compounding pharmacy. They seem to work for me. Do some internet research on these two. I also think my low dose use of Huperzine A and Noopert help me with positive good thoughts, focus and energy. I have not tried Low Dose Naltrexone but it is said to reduce perception of pain and despite with most doctors say about Gabapentin, you will experience pain and mental turmoil during Gaba Detox.

18. For Sleep, I take 5mg of Indica Cannabis at night. It is habit forming but sleep is so important. A psychiatrist has prescribed me low dose Seroquel (quetiapine) 25mg at night. It is an old line SRI, and I have tried it. It works, but likely is addictive. But then so is Cannabis.

Good luck, it takes a 'longish time' but the above substances have helped me greatly. AND, Remember, suicidal thinking is due to the Drug and NOT YOU. You can get your brain back. Think the long term. You can get past the horrors of Gabapentin but take it slow and remember the pain is worth it because you can restore your brain's health. Hope you saw the just few days ago medical research report about, "Older adults can grow just as many new brain cells as young people."

Gabapentin [Neurontin] was only approved through fraud of the company that created and marketed it. Read "The Neurontin Legacy — Marketing through Misinformation and Manipulation": pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e0fb/ec0888db52a8d90eb8776d32bbe9003b234c.pdf

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Gabapentin is a very dangerous drug with very serious and alarming side effects and withdrawal symptoms. My doctor did not warn me about a single side effect a whole slew of which I experienced. Nor did she tell me what a nightmare gabapentin is to stop due to the horrific withdrawal symptoms everybody will experienced even after weaning. This drug WILL make you “crazy” over time if for nothing else due to the side effects. All you have to do is Google gabapentin and discover for yourself the well-known and widespread problems with this drug and I was told nothing. Do not take this medication for any off label use. None. There are a lot of other options. I was on gabapentin for 1-1/2 years for anxiety. Due to the efficacy decreasing over time my dose increased to 2400mg a day (600mg 4x) and I still found myself wanting a higher dose for it to be effective like when I first took it. After weaning down it took about a week for the major withdrawal symptoms to subside enough so I did not feel like I was crawling out of my skin. Stick to it. You will get through the nightmare withdrawal.

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Re: ydoowmai (# 257)

I am on day #8 COLD TURKEY from 800 mg 4x a day, for 3-4 years! I was in horrible pain, and it 'collided' with Lidocaine, Baclofen, and an opiate pain med. I have a skin disease called Pyoderma Gangrenous, with Fibromyalgia, and Arthritis in my lower R back and neck. My husband came home and found me incoherent, after I had 'heard voices' telling me I was being shocked through our electrical outlets since midnight, and it would last all day because I am a smoker, or if I used medical supplies (Instead of being seen in ER), and I have loss of some memory from that first day. If my husband would not have called 911, I would have died. I wasn't given ANYTHING in the hospital, but Ativan every 8 hours, 1 10 mg Percocet every 8 hours, Extra Strength Tylenol, and Ibuprofen. I was discharged with orders to stop ALL medications, except my Immune Suppressant, which I am on for the skin disease. I can have Extra Strength Tylenol every 4 hours, and a stool softener. No Ibuprofen anymore, either. I do not have any options, but to go 'Cold Turkey'. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can help ease these withdrawal symptoms? The insomnia, anxiety, and panic are the worst. The pain has been tolerable.

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Re: ydoowmai (# 257)

Picked up a prescription today to start taking it for my back.... ain't no way I'll start this medication. Sounds like it's more trouble than it's worth! Thanks.

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From what my Dr said if u miss doses you can have life threatening seizures if this happens again call Dr asap.....I decided to shrug off her warning as a liability crap its not you can die ...I take 600 mg a day for spinal injury and deterioration ...I never would've started had I known but it helps me stand and walk I'm a lifer.sadly I've only taken it three month and it seems less and less effective.... Is that normal?

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Stop...you must gradually decrease dosage by 100ml at a time. Like each week or so. Take some and keep taking less over time. That drug has side effects going cold turkey!

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How did you get off it me just trying to cut it in half has made me suicidal

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I am so glad I went back and read this!! I am completely fine now, but I have told my knee surgeon that I will not take it when I have the other one done!! Severe, almost palpable depression, rapid heart beat and horrible nausea. My anesthesiologist told me to take Lyrica next time!

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I have been on it for already 7 years for mainly anxiety and I'm trying to come off cause it has completely stopped working I cut my dose in half was on 800 4 times a day cut to 400 4 times a day a week ago and now on 400 3 times a day I feel so bad mentally and physically daily I can't tell if I'm my normal self or not I don't feel any worse than on the highest dose

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I have been taking over 3600mg of gabupentin for a year. I stopped abruptly Saturday the 20th. I am experiencing terrible anxiety and joint pain. Can anyone relate and let me know how long this will go on?

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I take 3200mgs a day, I ran out and some of my friends gave me some of their 100 mgs of gabapentine. Will it help w the withdrawals for me to atlas have some in my body till Sunday when it gets refilled.

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I took Gabapentin( Neurotin) because I had a triple spinal fusion that didn't go well and had severe nerve pain from the surgery. I ran out because I took an extra one during the day, which I didn't normally do. OMG! I had the worse withdrawal symptoms. I thought I was dying. I woke up in a cold sweat. As the day progressed my heart rate increased, I had palpitations like I was on a roller coaster, diarrhea, anxiety from hell, could not eat, crying spells, increased blood pressure 174/110. I was just about to call an ambulance when my husband said try taking a Gabapentin. He gave me one, as he takes them too for nerve pain from Gillian Barre, and within 20-30 minutes, everything settled down. You must taper these down over many months, do not suddenly stop taking them if you have been taking them for a long time and or, on a high dose.

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Yes! I was on it for 5 weeks for knee replacement. I took 2 a day at 300mg each. I am having a very difficult time going off of it! Anxiety, rapid pulse and nausea. How long does this last?

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Neurontin is satans drug!! I took it for 8 years and went to jail and had to stop taking it cold turkey. I woke up a week later in the icu bc I had went into kidney failure and pancreatitis. I had to be put on dialysis it took weeks to even be able to speak. You sweat so much you feel like your melting! It's the worst feeling ever! Good luck!

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I've just done the same. Was on x6 100mg a day. (x2 tablets, 3 times a day). Was on them from beginning of August to about 4 days ago when I stopped cold turkey. Tbh, as silly as this sounds, I didn't realise the possible effects. But then, tbh, I didn't realise/know the type of tablets I was on. You just do what you're told by the specialists don't we? I/they think I've got Fibromyalgia. I go back to Rheumo end of Feb. The reason I stopped the tablets is due not knowing what was 'my condition' and what were side effects. I had bowel probs, anxiety, aches and pains, numbness (to name but a few) prior to taking them and also whilst on them. Having read the possible sides effects which are same as above and more, you have to question why take them. I have to say, 4-5 days into cold turkey and I've experienced bad headaches (which I didn't use to get), and slightly more intense pains. Since stopping the meds I've decided to take Ibuprofen (when needed) with a top up of Paracetamol if needed.

I really didn't realise this cold turkey malarkey would happen until I researched it today. :-(

I'm hoping (obvs) the headaches will pass asap. I know the Fibromyalgia pains won't. I wish!

Hope you feel a bit better soon. HNY2017

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I have just started taking Grapentin after reading all the comments I think I had just as soon have the pain. I am taking it for Fibermyalgia. I have been feeling a little depressed and I am on Paxal also.

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I took Gabapentin for only 17 days at 1 x 300mg capsule. Stopped taking them 6 days ago with no taper. I can't believe how bad I've been feeling with coming off such a small dosage and taken for a very short period!! Anxious, emotional, periods of significant depression, muscle twitching, tinnitus and last but by no means least, an array of stomach problems. Has anyone else experienced a withdrawal from small short term dosage?
Best wishes to all who are struggling with this med and trying to get off it.

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