Getting Off Gabapentine

My husband started Oxcarbazapine in 2010 for his worsening peripheral neuropathy pain caused by chemotherapy. My husband drinks light beer, usually 3-5 drinks in the evening, more if he is with friends on a Saturday night. After 2 weeks, the oxcarbazapine helped with the pain in his feet. However, after 4 years, he decided to check into a rehab to quit drinking after several bad falls. He blamed the blurred vision/chattering eyes, lack of balance, mood swings all on the beer. While in rehab he was put in touch with a neurologist who knew that many of his "symptoms" were side effects of the drug and switched him from Oxcarbazapine to gabapentine. His worse side effects vanished, he could walk straight, see clearly, the mood swings were in check and the foot pain was manageable. That was 2014, and now after 3 years on Gabapentine (300 mg 3x/day) the side effects are worse than the Oxcarbazapine. Not only is he off balance, he is lethargic, has no incentive to do anything, drinks much more than is safe, cannot see due to chattering eyes, has terrible bouts of nausea and diahrea, and has terrible mood swings. His mood swings manage to make it into his dreams which he says are quite real and has accused me of cheating on him, and worse. This is unbearable. We both agree that the Gabapentine + alcohol is a toxic mix for him. At first we tried to cut back on the beer, but without incentive, he failed at his multiple attempts. Now we are going to try to get off the Gabapentine, and hopefully that will allow him to cut back on the beer. All of the above is to ask this forum what is a safe way to get off of the Gabapentine? My thoughts were to go from 3 x/d to 2x/d for a week, then down to 1x/day for a week, then every other day for 6 days before stopping. My husband wants to stop cold turkey.

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No, he should definitely not stop cold turkey, because that could create the risk of him experiencing seizures. Stopping this medication will require a slow taper under doctor's supervision, according to FDA warnings.

Though, the issues could be compounded by the fact that he has been drinking, while taking it. Alcohol is known to worsen the side effects of most medications. Thus, he may be better served to stop the beer, rather than stopping the medications.

Has his doctor given any other advice?

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