Sudden Withdrawal From Neurontin (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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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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I also quit this drug cold turkey w/out and I'll effects either. It's only been a week, but I feel fine...I was taking 300 mg 3x a day. Do you think I'm clear by now?

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I took a very low dose of Fabapintin for about a month for anxiety. I noticed that I was getting very agitated send I couldn't understand why. I looked up all side effects send read that it is VERY hard to get off this med. The only thing it helped was my restless legs, but that's not why I was taking it. It's a couple of weeks since I quit and now I'm having feelings of a heavy dark cloud being over me and I'm very ready and going on crying jags that I is hard for me to tolerate. I don't think this med is good for anyone for anything, period.

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A Google search of gabapentin withdrawal also reported nausea, somatic pain, respiratory infections in one elderly patient, and in other rare cases epilepsis in patients who didn't have a syndrome before.

This unnerves me. I was taking gabapentin for rehabilitiation after surgery for carpal tunnel release. My doctor gave no warning about cutting gabapentin, so when the refills ran out, I didn't bother refilling.

Now I've been in extreme, unexplained nerve pain up and down my spine for four days, and I just now dredged up the reason why, along with the fact that I could've had a seizure any of the times I've been driving.

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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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I am having a nightmare reducing my dose. I was on 600mg and ran out and only had enough for 400mg for two days. At this point because it did not appear to be helping my severe neuropathic pain I thought I would just continue on the 400mg dose. On the 5th day I was a total mess suffering with suicidal depression and catatonic to boot - Nightmare !! I could not keep my eyes open. I went back up to 600mg to try and solve the withdrawal problem. Then I tried 100mg reduction but could not tolerate the withdrawals. Anyway I went to GP and asked for liquid solution gabapentin which means you can use a syringe and reduce by as little as 10mg. I tried 480mg for five days then reduced to 460mg. I felt horrible wired hyper couldn't get to sleep and manic then the awful depression. So after 6 days I had to go back up to 500mg. I am suffering greatly both mentally and physically. My legs ache on walking and I have a horrible depression that will not lift. I feel run down and about 90 years old. I have suffered the awful withdrawal symptoms of the anti depressant Effexor/ Venlafaxine really nasty but nothing compared to this gabapentin nightmare. I would never have taken it if I had known that it caused such awful withdrawal symptoms. What makes me really angry is the ignorance of the medical community regarding gabapentin withdrawals and the drugs companies and regulating bodies that keep such information in the wings. Obviously honesty / transparency is not good for the drugs companies sales. I have read many blogs from people who are suffering greatly and having extreme difficulties coming off this drug. Some people talk about it taking months to feel 'normal' and some have returned to taking the drug because months into discontinuation they have still been suffering discontinuation syndrome.

A possible option for those of you who are struggling ;-Try the liquid form of gabapentin. My chemist told me it is £200 a bottle and said that they only gave liquid form in exceptional circumstances ie people with swallowing difficulties. My GP didn't hesitate to give me the liquid form because I have sensitivity to medication that effects the brain. You must insist that your GP provides you with the liquid form if you can not cope with drops of 100mg at a time. I appreciate that for some this medication is helpful but never in my wildest dreams did I think withdrawal would be so awful. I feel so awful mentally that I keep contemplating increasing my dose but I am going to try a little longer and just pray this horrible depression eases off. Sorry for rambling on and good luck.

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I'm starting to feel less symptoms, the magnesium supplements and Epsom baths are helping. I continue to have nausea, chills, sweating and some tinnitus, but it's not at the degree it has been the past six weeks. I am able to shop and even go out to dinner. I am seeing light at the end of the tunnel, but I still feel like I have a way to go.

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A good natural way to appease the panic attacks, extreme fear/dread, and anxiety is using Kava Kava supplements. I had extreme anxiety from stopping gabapentin—600x5/day cold turkey and took Kava Kava, which almost completely relieved my symptoms. You still sweat from the gabapentin withdrawal, but the Kava Kava helped tremendously. Also, try Valerian Root, a natural supplement that helped relieve the anxiety and aided sleep.

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I would never stop taking this all at once! Just try a little at a time! I fdo not know how much you are taking but I would do one pill at a time for two weeks and if that's goes well then gradually stop taking each pill at two weeks intervals! If that doesn't work then try stopping at 3 week intervals per pill! You may experience some tremors and they won't last but they are scary to experience! Just make sure that the people around you know what you are doing and what they need to be aware of for both your sakes! Good luck and great job for quitting these as they are so bad for you!

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I've been on 100mg of Neurontin- lowest dose once a day for 5 weeks and hate it. I'm so tired- my eyes hurt and I have a hard time keeping them open! Obviously sensitive. For this low dose which is a capsule, do you all think I can just stop it? I had pain, but had surgery 3 weeks ago and it's much better. Should I go to every other day? I just want to stop. No history of seizures- generally healthy otherwise.

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Thank you for your post. this drug has been totally ineffective for my nerve pain, but I have experienced about half the side effects. My Dr wants me to increase the dose , that's out of the question. My wife said if I get any worse, I would wind up in divorce court. I'm going to try cold turkey, hope for the best.

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Almost any med, or substance, even you morning coffee, will cause some withdrawal symptoms when you have been used to having it in your body for awhile, and suddenly stop taking it. Did it ease when you finally started taking it again? If you have any concerns or problems, you should speak with your doctor.

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I have been going through neurontin withdrawals, usually I do not experience side effects from meds but they were obviously resulting from the meds I have been taking for chronic pain. I was taking four 600 mg tablets of Neurontin a day, and I was wondering why I always felt so uninhibited and mentally clouded while taking the medicine, but I had always assumed it was the tramadol I have been taking as well. Well I stopped the med suddenly and have experienced extreme fatigue and muscle weakness, profuse sweating, shakes, racing thoughts and bad anxiety, and the worst part, definitely the worst part is the hypersensitivity and pain I have had, I would get an itch and it would be feel like someone just slashed me with a sharp object, so any minor stimulation feels excruciating. I am 7 days through the withdrawals, I just hope they end soon, I am tired of being so fatigued and weak, but my head is so much clearer that I don't want to sacrifice it and refill the script. Also my stomach has been extremely ill, meds that used to never bother me before now make me feel like I am about to vomit. Whoever withdraws from the medicine or begins it is going to be going on a wild ride, and by no means am I implying that its fun, but I read the FDA report on neurontin and it seemed to do well in its trials, and had demonstrated some efficacy compared to the placebo, but it wasn't that significant in my opinion. I lowered people's pain levels about 2 levels I think on the 1-10 scale at about 1200 and 2400 titrations. And plus I talked to a doctor at my clinic and he said that I should not have done that due to the seizure risks, but I already knew it was an anti-epileptic and that I am taking other medicines and stimulants that increase my risk of having a seizure on top of that, and he said I should restart it and reduce it slowly, but I don't think I am going to still.

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im so tired of people trying to downplay what is quite obviously true WITHDRAWAL by calling it a discontinuation syndrome. This drug has absolutely ruined my life, I have developed a series of debilitating and painful side effects from taking high doses of Neurontin. I have tried to quit on numerous occasions but the withdrawal is worse than anything you can possibly imagine, its almost like SSRI withdrawal and heroin withdrawal at the same time. I tapered from 2400mg to 100mg and was not able to quit. Clonazepam withdrawal was a breeze compared to this. I wish I had never taken it.

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Stay away from Neurontin. It is a wicked drug. Came off in Oct 2012 and as of Feb 2013 am still suffering withdrawal. Came off too quick and suffered from protracted withdrawals and when this happens it can last for months. Right now am left with neuropathy pain in ribs and back. Coming off was more than horror. Thought one day I was having a heart attack. Maker of this drug was sued for over $400 million and pled quilty to its off label use. Drug reps were paid to lie to Drs. about its safety. Drs don't believe it is addictive or can cause withdrawals. They should listen to people who are trying to come off it. I had all kinds of horrible withdrawals. Neurontin is wicked. My advise to people STAY AWAY

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the withdrawal I was talking about was Gabapentin (Neurontin) that was so difficult, that is the subject of this forum.
Wikipedia states: Gabapentin (Neurontin) is a pharmaceutical drug, specifically a GABA analog.
So it is not an opioid derivative.
Born with spinal defects that began causing chronic pain (constant pain from that point on) in 1989, Doctors began to give me various opioid derivatives around 1992 or 1993 off and on, starting with milder ones like tylenol #3 -Codeine and Soma (before it fell out of favor, it was commonly prescribed.
I nicknamed it Coma because the first time I took it as prescribed I tried to wake up for about 36 hours, and didn't feel somewhat normal for another day or so during which it caused a hangover type # 9 headache.
So I nicknamed it Coma.
But later because of really severe painful muscle spasms I took 1/4 of a tablet, perhaps it was smaller than that. And I found that it helped the painful muscle spasm without the side effects. And after I would have to because of painful muscle spasms take it every day, I worked my way up to one whole table.
But If I went a while, perhaps a month, or especially if two - six months or longer, I would have to start with the very very small dose.
I could always take a tiny bit more if need be, but if I took too much, then I'd suffer side effects.

Many years later doctors began to tell me it was a drug that drug addicts like, the doctor said, "it gives a buzz"
But it never gave me a buzz, it knocked me out, it gave me a horrible headache, but never a buzz.
But I was never fond of it. I have a large quantity of it that I probably need to flush because it's probably expired now. Now they give me Tizanidine (Zanaflex) It causes problems, dizziness, blurred vision, and I read that it's important that your Doctor check your liver for the first 6 months because it can caused damage. I don't remember if my Doctor checked my liver. I know he ran tests, but I think they were regular tests, and it was my GP, not my pain doctor who ran the tests. So I probably need to ask to be tested? I better write it down, because I forget.
Later after the pain became much much worse, the put me M.S. Contin, time release Morphine. It was so much easier on the gut, helped control the pain, it seemed to be the answer, (whenever any drug or medicines for pain seems to be the answer, watch out. I just remembered, during the time I was quitting MS Contin, tey put me on Amitriptyline (Elavil) I was able to sleep at night the next day my pain level was lower, and it was a non-narcotic, again I thought it was a wonder drug. I took it for about 3 years, it had a side effect -dry mouth. I thought it was only a minor discomfort. Then I learned too late that our Salivary Glands protect our teeth from decay by washing bacteria off of them constantly. If a medicine turns off that protection, bacteria and eat your teeth up, which is what happened. I just had to spend $40,000 for implants, I have prosthetic teeth, that is to say, I lost all of my teeth. And prosthetic teeth as any prosthetic limb are no replacement for your real leg, real arm.
Back to the MS. Contin Pretty soon, after about two years, I couldn't remember, so I quit, too rapidly on my own, and one day was paralyzed, with no telephone, and no one would check on me, I was going to die there, but like picking up a red hot piece of iron, I was able to move, except it was like picking up and carrying a red hot piece of iron about 10 feet to the medicine, and the telephone. I told my Doctor and got chewed out by my "Never!!! do this on your own!"
So after I was off of Morphine, which took two years, with the Doctors help.
I was back on Tylenol #4, and as always I wanted to quit,
my Doctor put me on Neurontin. It seemed to help, I was able to quit T#4,
I still had a lot of pain, but I could tolerate it. and I began to think I had found the answer.
But soon I could not remember, and significantly worse than the memory loss that I had experienced on M.S. Contin. So I broke rule number one again, because I didn't realize it was a strong strong drug, I quit on my own. I feel bad and in pain anyway all day long every day, so it took a while to realize this was different.
But I had gone through painful withdrawals before, so I thought I could handle it, after about the third or fourth day. Then it was way beyond anything I'd ever experienced before, and I had been through very horrible withdrawals before but Neurontin was so far beyond anything I'd ever been through, Elavil withdrawal was horrible and I had to be extremely careful, but I didn't wait 3 almost 4 days before I realized I needed to take one, but it is extremely dangerous to withdraw from too.
It's been about two years since I stopped Neurontin and my memory is still continuing to get better, even though I have to take Tylenol #4 and Tizanidine and occasional Valium, I'm able to remember so much better.

with Neurontin I was (no exaggeration) turning me into a vegetable. and I was taking 400 3x daily. Possibly because my health was so poor after all the years of all the medicine. And possibly just me, not every medicine affects everyone the same, Doctors have told me that a dozen times. when I told the Doctor my incredibly horrible experience he simply said "not all patients can tolerate Neurontin. But from what I read here. it seems a lot of patients don't tolerate it!
I think the perfect medicine is to take no medicine at all, it's the "medicine" I want to take- none, but unfortunatly the pain is too horrible. My doctor tried to get me approved for the spinal simulator- the electrical device that helped Jerry Lewis get off Narcotics. But the insurance would not approve it. They said the doctor had not tried enough, even though I've had open back surgery, L4-T5 Fusion. My Doctor says they just turn some people down, he says he does not know why.

maybe some people can tolerate Neurontin, but not me, and if you try to quit and begin having withdraws, or your pharmacy doesn't deliver it on time, get your doctor on the phone or go to the ER if it's night time, it's not something you can do on your own. That's just a patient talking who has suffered, and as you can read from many many others here, I think they would say the same thing. You don't want to quit this medicine too fast, extremely slowly, as slowly as possible. Get the 50 mg so you can drop the level 50 mg a day and hold that level for 4 weeks, but do what your Doctor advises, that is how I had to do it. But every patient is different, take care :) sorry I wrote so much, I haven't been able to sleep for over 36 hours. Life is worth living no matter how terrible it gets! Don't give up! Get help!!! I did :)

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I have been on Gabapentin for a total of 4 almost 5 years although I didn't realize I was on it that long when I started writing on this blog! I was taking 1800mg a day and Dr wanted to put me up on 2400mg which is the highest dose! I can say that I went off 900mg which is 1/2 of what I was taking and thought I had something horribly wrong with me and all it was , was the withdrawal from it but even my EM didn't know what was wrong with me and you are so right that the doctors don't know anything about the drugs they give you! I am having a hard time going off the last 600mg a day and I am on a super vacation discovering America and have decided to wait till I get back home in September to get off these last two doses a day! I have gone totally off my morphine ER this trip and think I have done a super job but SOME DAYS were a challenge! I am thrilled that another patient has gone off this cruel horrible medication that should be banned and used only for people who have seizures which is what is was originally for! I am almost back to my old self and have hurt some feelings of both family and friends saying mean and angry things which I don't remember and had no idea I was doing or did it! GREAT JOB !

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I took 600mg a day for at least four months, ran out, and had no issues whatsoever. Zero ill effects as a result of stopping the medication suddenly, but I guess I'm an unusual case? I was warned, but I couldn't afford to refill at the time...and nothing happened. Guess I'm lucky!

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Can someone please help, or give some advice or maybe knowledge with Gapapentin? I was put on it for a very short while, a little over 3 weeks after a spinal tap. A very small dose of 300 mg a day max.

I stopped taking it cold turkey last Sunday, so almost one week ago, per the advice of my neurologist, and things are awful. I could no longer take it because it was making my spinal headaches worse!

Since I've been off, I have horrible anxiety, complete loss of appetite, panic attacks, feelings of desperation and loss, crying fits. I feel as if I will never be happy again. The worse thing is that I have two small children to care for and my husband is just sick about this!

The good news is that my headache and neck pain has lessened, but I cannot handle the thoughts and feelings I am having!

I know it's the meds, because last Sunday I came home after feeling so panicky, I took one pill, and after one hour my head started to kill again, but all the other horrible symptoms went away!

I decided at that point that this medicine is indeed the devil and I will be done with it! My neurologist agreed, but wanted me to take 100mg for 3 more days...I didn't. I just stopped. I threw all meds away. I didn't want anymore in my body!!! The withdrawl symptoms started on Monday eve. So this has been going on for 6 days now!!!

Can anyone tell me how long the anxiety will go one? I can't handle this! I've been taking extra magnesium, espsom salt baths, vitamin b to help. I also started to take Passion flower to help a bit with the panic attacks. I hope this info can help someone else in need. It seems to take the edge off!

Thank you so much!!!

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I am so very glad they helped. You will even come across some websites that have a page or a pop-up that asks if you are medical professional and if you say no, they will not let you access the info, saying it is only available to professionals, so you have to do some clever searching to find what you are seeking.

If you search, using an engine such as google, make sure to always include the words full prescribing information and then the name of the drug, or physician's prescribing information with the drug name. That is the only way to find out all the real information that is out there.

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