Gabapentin (Neurontin) is an anticonvulsant medication in the GABA analog lass that was originally created to help manage epilepsy, but is also utilized to help individuals suffering from neuropathic pain. It has become a first-line treatment option for the relief of neuropathic pain from diabetic neuropathy, central neuropathic pain, as well as post-herpetic neuralgia. This medication also is popular for other, more off-label uses including: treating restless leg syndrome, insomnia, and in some cases, bipolar disorder.
Gabapentin was created with the intention of mimicking the GABA neurotransmitter (gamma-aminobutyric acid), but is not thought to act on the same brain receptors. The way the drug works isn’t well known. Some research suggests that it may interact with various voltage-dependent calcium channels in neurons. It is also thought to reduce the release of mono-amines and decrease the axon excitability in certain areas in the hippocampus.
The half life of Gabapentin is only 5 to 7 hours – meaning this medication has an extremely short time before it is cleared from the body. Half life is important to understand because medications with shorter half lives tend to yield the most severe withdrawal symptoms. This medication can be extremely difficult to withdraw from – so make sure you work with a professional when trying to stop taking it.
Factors that influence Gabapentin withdrawal include
There are various factors that influence withdrawal from any medication and/or powerful drug like Gabapentin. The factors that play the greatest role in determining how quick you recover are: time span (how long you took the drug), the dosage (how much you took), your physiology (some people recover quicker), and how you quit the drug (long taper vs. short taper vs. cold turkey).
1. Time Span
For what length of time were you taking this drug? Did you take it every day for years? Did you take it for just a few months? The shorter the duration of time that you were on this medication, the easier it should be for you to come off of it. The longer that you were taking Gabapentin, the more accustomed your brain and nervous system will become to receiving the drug to help with functioning. Therefore, it may be extremely difficult to withdraw from if you have been on this medication for an extended period of time.
2. Dosage (300 mg to 3000Â mg)
Most doctors start younger people at 300 mg to take 3x per day. So the starting dose is typically around 900 mg per day. The a young adult or teenager may work their way up to 1800 mg per day if that’s what is recommended by the doctor. In some cases, the drug is prescribed in regards to bodyweight. Some doctors will prescribe 10 mg to 15 mg per kilogram (kg) of bodyweight. Anyways, if you are on a higher dosage, it is thought that withdrawal is going to be a lot more difficult compared to someone on a low dose.
3. Physiology
This drug has a noticeable effect on nearly everyone that takes it. The majority of individuals are going to have withdrawal symptoms of some kind. However, your individual physiology will determine how severe these symptoms are. If you tend to not experience many withdrawal effects on medications, you may cope with the withdrawal process just fine. If you are someone who is ultra-sensitive to medications, you may have a very difficult time adjusting to life without Gabapentin.
4. Cold turkey vs. Tapering
It is strongly advised that you always work with your doctor and do a “gradual taper.” This involves slowly reducing your dosage over a period of weeks or months with the intention of finally quitting the drug. The higher the dose you have become accustomed to taking, the more gradual you will need to stop taking this medication. If you quit this medication “cold turkey” it may trigger very dangerous symptoms including seizures. Never quit anything this powerful without slowly tapering off of it.
Gabapentin Withdrawal Symptoms: List of Possibilities
Below are some withdrawal symptoms that you may experience when withdrawing from Gabapentin. Keep in mind that you may not experience everything on the list – everyone will have a different experience. These are a list of symptoms based on what individuals have reported during their withdrawal process.
- Anxiety: Some individuals report feelings of anxiety upon withdrawal. This anxiety may be subtle or severe. It has been documented that some people actually take this medication for treating anxiety. Therefore when coming off of this medication, it is common for people to feel especially anxious.
- Appetite changes: Some people may feel like not eating and will experience a noticeable loss of appetite when quitting Gabapentin. Others may experience an increased appetite – especially if while on the drug their appetite decreased.
- Crying spells: The emotions can run wild when coming off of this medication. You may find yourself crying for no reason or you may experience crying spells as a result of the depression you are experiencing. Just know that the excessive crying will eventually stop.
- Depression: Many people experience feelings of significant depression when they stop taking this medication. Even for people with no prior emotional problems may experience severe depression when they stop taking this drug. There have been cases where individuals take this medication recreationally and experience very tough depression when they have to stop taking it.
- Dizziness: One of the most common symptoms to experience during withdrawal from this medication is dizziness. You may feel so dizzy that you are unable to properly function throughout the day. Just know that this means your brain is trying to reset itself and it will eventually go away. If it doesn’t subside, you could try to taper even more slowly.
- Fatigue: Another common withdrawal symptom that you may experience is that of fatigue, lethargy, or tiredness. You may lack energy to get things done throughout the day. It is common to feel extremely fatigued while coming off of Gabapentin – do your best to cope with it.
- Headaches: Most people don’t talk about the fact that coming off of this medication can result in headaches. Â There have been cases of individuals that go on this medication, and during withdrawal experience migraine headaches. Â As time passes, these are thought to go away.
- Insomnia: Some people experience pretty severe insomnia when they first quit this medication. This may have a profound impact on your sleep patterns, so do your best to cope with the inability to fall asleep. Try to engage in some relaxation exercises if you are too anxious or agitated to fall asleep.
- Irritability: You may notice yourself becoming especially irritable during the acute phases of withdrawal from this drug. Â It may be difficult to cope with, but take a step back and realize that your neurotransmitter levels and brain activity has been temporarily altered. Â You may not be able to control feeling this way, but you can do your best to control how you react because of it.
- Itching: You may experience itching all over your body. This isn’t a very well documented or talked about symptom, but some people may feel as if they are going crazy because their body feels so itchy during the withdrawal process. Just know that if you are experiencing extreme itchiness, you are not alone.
- Muscle pain: If you were taking this medication to help manage symptoms of pain, it is no doubt that the pain is going to return. With that said, it is common to feel pain throughout the body and in various muscles when quitting this drug.
- Nausea: Some people become very nauseated during their withdrawal. This is not an easy symptom to cope with, but do your best to fight through it.
- Restlessness: It’s common to feel restless when coming off of Gabapentin. The restlessness may interfere with your ability to stay focused throughout the day on certain tasks. Take it for what it’s worth – try to push through it and know it will subside.
- Seizures: One of the biggest dangers associated with cold turkey or sudden discontinuation of Gabapentin is that of seizures. There have even been reports of people experiencing seizures from relatively low doses. Make sure that you take the time to taper off of this drug – regardless of your dose.
- Sleep disturbances: You may experience significant difficulties falling asleep, staying asleep, and getting a restful night’s sleep. These go hand-in-hand with insomnia, anxiety, and restlessness that you may be experiencing.
- Spasms: Many people experience muscle spasms when trying to quit. If the spasms become unbearable, you may need to conduct a slower taper. In most cases people can deal with an occasional spasm or two.
- Stomach pain: Some individuals have pain in their stomach and/or abdominal area during withdrawal.
- Suicidal thinking: If you are withdrawing from Gabapentin and notice that you are becoming extremely depressed and/or experiencing suicidal thoughts, be sure to get help. These will eventually subside as time passes.
- Sweating: Many people report horrible night sweats to the point that they wake up in the middle of their sleep with beads of sweat dripping off of their body. You may experience excessive sweating throughout the day, but it may be even worse at night.
Note: It is understood that Gabapentin stays in your system for 1-2 days after discontinuation. Â Once the drug has been fully excreted from your body, many of the withdrawal symptoms are likely to emerge.
Suggestion: Magnesium supplements to help ease withdrawal symptoms
Many people have had success easing withdrawal symptoms by supplementing magnesium. Â Gabapentin attaches to the same chemical receptor in your brain as calcium and magnesium. As you begin to taper off of Gabapentin, your body will make use of magnesium supplementation that you supply it, and you’ll have a much easier time coping with withdrawal symptoms. Some people experience very minimal to no withdrawal symptoms while supplementing magnesium during withdrawal.
Gabapentin Withdrawal Duration: How long does it last?
The withdrawal process affects everyone differently, so there is no exact science to say that withdrawal will take a specific amount of time. For some people the process will take a few weeks, for others the effects will linger for months. Many individuals that have withdrawn say that it took them over a year to fully recover once they took their last dose. Give your body and mind time to heal – after all, these medications have a significant impact on your brain chemistry when taken over an extended period of time.
Recognize that the most important thing you can do during any sort of withdrawal is to take good care of yourself. Make sure you are eating healthy foods, getting exercise, and allowing your body to make a full recovery. Talk to close family members and friends about your experience for added social support. If you are feeling especially down or having a difficult time, consider working with a therapist.
If you cannot afford a therapist, various online forums should be able to provide you with some good advice and support. Realize that you are not the only person that has experienced Gabapentin withdrawal – many people have made it through this experience. It does take time, but with good habits, social support, and advice, recovery will only be a matter of time.
I am 2 weeks and 2 days off 900mg of neurontin a day for 18 months. Had a neurologist appt (not who put me on the the neurontin) yesterday who told me “it is impossible to have withdrawals from neurontin, obviously what you are experiencing is from something else.” I looked at him like he was crazy. I know my body very well and I never had any of these problems before the neurontin nor on the neurontin but within 12 hours of taking my last one I was miserable, in absolute hell and still am. I’m starting to think Dr’s of all kinds are quacks and just tell you whatever so they don’t have to deal with you.
You are 100% right. You have to be careful because it is a very slow withdrawal process. I went of off Depakote after I was on it for two years and all it took was 3 weeks to come off of it, but I had a Neurologist take me off of it.
I’ve got gabapentin to help with my benzodiazepine withdrawal as well as my nerve pain after back surgery. The more I read about gabapentin withdrawal issues, the more I want to stop taking it as soon as possible, but of course not over night. *sigh*. I usually find the info I need about the medications I’m prescribed, but I’ll be a lot happier if the info would come from my doctor/s. I’ve noticed many of you didn’t get enough guidance from your MD’s as well which is really sad. Can we do something about it at all? I wish all best to all you and a fast recovery those suffering from withdrawal. And thank you GLOOM for this site, I’ve found many helpful information here.
I started taking gabapentin because my insurance company decided they didn’t want to pay for Savella, which was helping my fibromyalgia pain. I’m on 1,200mg three times a day since last November. I have not been tapering off it but missed a few doses because I couldn’t get to the pharmacy. I thought I was going to die, extreme fatigue and anxiety.
I even feel these effects even between doses when I do take them regularly. Also, the pain is almost unbearable! I would like to thank the damn insurance companies who dictate therapy based on cost versus what my Neurologist recommended. I want off this but am afraid to after reading this. If I’m having withdrawal symptoms between doses, I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like to try to get off this crap!
I had no idea of withdrawal effects of this hellish medicine. I quit cold turkey on a Sunday and by Tuesday afternoon I started feeling that there was something wrong. I was getting very irritable with my wife, lost my temper a couple of times. Started feeling a little anxiety coming on so I went to bed real early. While in bed my mind was all over the place. Getting angry at everybody until I finally went to sleep.
The next day all hell broke loose. Uncontrollable crying, anxiety, panic attacks, nausea, diarrhea, no appetite at all. To top it off I woke up so angry that I picked a fight with my wife. It was so bad she took off for a few hours on foot just to get away from me. I hurt her feelings big time. This whole time I knew what I was experiencing was not me. But I had no idea just what was happening. I finally looked on the internet and found out about the withdrawal potential of this terrible drug.
I had told my doctor that I was gong to stop taking it, and she made no mention of what could happen going cold turkey. I am into day 5 now without it and my stomach is still upset, and I have lost 6 pounds since Sunday. I am still mentally fighting the bad moods. This drug almost cost me my marriage. The only thing that is going for me is that this article showed my wife just what was happening. Her love for me is what is keeping us together. This is a devil’s drug. Stay away from it.
Just an update on my condition. I went to the E.R. today because I couldn’t deal with everything. They told me that there is no other drug that can stop my withdrawal symptoms except to go back on Gabapentin full strength and then when the symptoms go away titrate down very slowly. Don’t even try to cut the dose in half. Drop the dose by maybe 1/4 to 1/3. Then go for two weeks and cut that dose down in a similar way.
Consult your primary care Physician and follow his instruction. Drink Gatorade or some other sports drink that has lots of vitamins and magnesium. Also please eat and always, always remember that you can get through this, it will just take time. The E.R Doctor said that if I continue trying to go cold turkey the withdrawal symptoms can last for weeks to months. Do not make the same mistake I made.
Hi “Hater of Gabapentin” :-) I am repeating myself here, since I responded to an earlier post with this same type of information, but I also had a hard time getting off Gabapentin. I succeeded by tapering off gradually. Once I was down to just one capsule, I would open up the capsules and pour off some of the powder each night to reduce the dosage. I took quite a few months to taper off since I would get the withdrawal symptoms if I reduced too fast. The other thing I did, which was critical to getting off this drug, was to take the supplement L-theanine which really helped with the anxiety part.
I bought a bottle of 200 mg tablets and took 1 or 2 of them whenever I felt anxiety. At first, I took them every 1-2 hours. I took 10 tablets per day the first few weeks then went down to 4 tablets- no side effects from the tablets for me. And I normally have side effects from everything- I’ve never heard of anyone having bad side effects from L-theanine. It’s an amino acid derived from green tea. They sell it at Whole Foods, all my local vitamin stores, and online where you can get it for a big discount. I happen to use the Source Naturals brand. This might be helpful for you, you might try it and see.
I know no-one has commented on this post for almost a year, but I just wanted to thank everyone for their comments. I have been taking Gabapentin for almost 4 years and at my peak was taking 4800mg a day for chronic migraine. My neurologist decided that it wasn’t helping me enough so he told me to bring myself off with a taper of 600mg per week. It has been absolute hell. I have come off a lot of drugs and I couldn’t understand why this one was affecting me so badly.
I thought I was just being weak, but after I found this site I realized that I wasn’t alone in have such major problems. I have found keeping up with my job almost impossible, and I am so angry with my neurologist for not warning me that this was not an easy drug to get off of. Anyway, thank you all for letting me know that I’m not going insane and that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. (I am also really glad to find out that my short term memory issues are probably caused by the Gabapentin and not that I am going senile at the age of 25!)
Your post is very helpful and much needed. I only took gabapentin to prevent migraine, and I only took it for a few months but the side effects weren’t nice so I stopped it. I’ve been so poorly, I would rather suffer migraine any day. The worst thing has been anxiety coupled with insomnia, meaning I had anxiety during the day, and during the night too as I couldn’t even sleep to escape it.
I couldn’t conduct my life properly, even little tasks seemed like mountains to climb and I would put things off including socializing. Sweating, headaches, irritability. I felt like a total wreck. I lost so much weight. It’s been 4 months since I stopped it and I still get symptoms of withdrawal at varying rates of severity. From my point of view, and from what I’ve read in these comments, we should all try to avoid any medication that messes with our brain chemistry unless it’s vital that we take them, and then for the least amount of time possible.
I also had depression after losing two sons and had similarly nasty side effects withdrawing from antidepressants. Nobody knows the long term effects of these brain chemistry altering poisons have on any of us. The extent to which they are prescribed is truly staggering. Is it possible that these drugs could be contributing long term to the increase in the number of people developing dementia?
I doubt if anyone has the answer to that unless there has been sufficient clinical research. I can’t find any studies into this possibility, if anyone knows of any, I’d be very interested to read them. At least contributors to this page are aware of the nastiness of gabapentin and how difficult it can be to come off it. Stay strong everyone, you are much better off without it, what ever you experience and however long it takes.
I am so pleased that I have found this website, and been able to read all these comments. I will be back to share my story and hope that it will help others and also now know what I am going through is not me going insane. I know Gabapentin for some is a wonder cure, for me it has been total hell.
Don’t over-think getting off of this horrible drug, Was on 2700 mg a day for incredible mouth pain. Which it did absolutely nothing for at all! So I am getting off, been a week of weaning, not so bad at all. A little insomnia and that is about it! I guess I am fortunate after reading all the horror stories here! Just keep busy and don’t think about it! You will all be fine soon! Good luck to all of you!
Thank you so much for the confirmation of this hell of a withdrawal. I was doing 1800 mg for 5 years for fibromyalgia. I ran out and been playing phone tag with the doctor to renew the prescription. Within 12 hours after my last dose I was in so much pain, agitated, and nearly suicidal. I also have seizures which make me glad I have Lamictal on hand. I can’t even begin to describe how much it hurts, plus it is burning, aching and 10 on a scale of 10.
Question about Magnesium to help withdrawal: I’ve been on 2400 mg (4 x 600mg all at night) for sleep issues for almost 15 years. I seemed to do fine going down half a pill to 2100, then another 125mg (1/4 pill), but when I tried to step down again last night–along with 300mg Mag Citrate, I was awake most of the night. I may have stepped down again too soon (after only a week), but wanted to ask about the Mag. What is the best dose, and when should it be taken? Thanks!
Sylvia, taking magnesium decreases the amount of gabapentin that your body absorbs… Therefore you may want to avoid the magnesium until you are completely withdrawn from the gabapentin as it could [potentially] accelerate withdrawal. Best of luck.
Does this also go for Epsom salt baths and mouthwash? Thank you.
Hi, I’ve been on this horrid Gabapentin 400 mg 3x a day to help with my peripheral neuropathy for 5 years now. At first I didn’t have any issues with it but lately the last few months have been awful!!! I have been trying to taper off from it but every time I do I experience flu-like symptoms such as sweats, nausea and even a fever!!! I am finding it very hard to taper off this stuff so I am still up to the same 1200 mg a day.
Sometimes I am forgetful when it comes to taking my next dose which I hate because the flu-like symptoms come back again. Sometimes when I do take my Gabapentin on schedule I will awhile later start feeling like I have the flu again! I am afraid to go anywhere! One time I went to a movie with friends and I couldn’t see the entire movie because I felt sick so I ended up lying down on a bench in the movie lobby, it was so embarrassing!!
I felt terrible because my friends saw me and we ended up leaving before it was over. I am now starting to get the shakes and sometimes a headache. I am so glad I found this thread! I don’t feel like I am alone anymore. If anyone has any encouragement for me I’d so appreciate it! I hope everyone’s recovery will be quick and that you will be feeling much better soon! -Sally
I came off. Tired of feeling drugged up. Experienced heavy chest pressure, outbursts of crying, depression, yelling, inability to cope, leg Charley Horses, sweating, lack of appetite, and suicidal thoughts. Getting slightly better as time goes on. Eyes feel weird though. People at work probably thinking I’m a nut, especially since my freak out last week, but I’ll hang in there. I’m not sleeping much. So very tired, but determined. I’ll keep trying.
I was originally put on this drug 5 years ago from my psych doc after being weaned off Xanax. I believe it was to help me sleep. Then I went off it for a short time and my leg started bothering me (had broken my leg in 2009) and I get a lot of headaches so my primary put me back on (600 mg). I went off this drug 2 weeks ago cold turkey…that was extremely stupid. First of all I couldn’t stand up for long without feeling like passing out.
I called my doc after the first week and he said to just stay off it. I should be OK, but it continued to totally mess with me mental health wise. Anxiety and bad depression, cannot sleep and terrible night sweats, ringing in my ears, strange tingling in different parts of my body. I have missed work, etc. I called my doctor back and he now put me back on it; 300mg for a week, 200 for 2nd week, 100 third week then stopped.
Just started the 300 last night..but my leg is already starting to bother me! I made an apt to see my doctor on Monday (had talked to him on the phone and felt too rushed) because I hate to go through this terrible withdrawal and then have to go back on it for my leg, that’s where I am right now.
Hello Everyone, I’m so grateful that I found this page! Like most of you, my whole world changed in one moment and I was suddenly lost, confused, sick, and scared. I found this site and all of your comments, and I found a glimmer of hope. I read your stories and saw that this would pass. I was so deep into anxiety and depression that it sometimes still felt like it was permanent, that I would have to go live in a nut ward. But without your words, there would’ve been no hope. So thank you.
When I read these posts, I told myself that when I came through on the other side of this, I would come back here and write about my experience, strength and hope. I promised myself, and I promised all ths readers, on here still suffering, that I would contribute to that hope that faced my life. So that’s why I’m here; to fulfill a promise. Surely, you already realize that I wouldn’t be writing this if I hadn’t come out just fine on the other side. So breath a sigh of great relief. This too shall pass.
Now I’ve always been a very “normal” person, as far as physical and emotional health. Unfortunately though, I injured myself and ruptured a disc in my neck back in August of 2014. In October of that same year I was placed on our favorite drug, gabapentin. My doctor worked me up to the minimum dose of 900 mg a day, 300 mg 3 x a day. I continued taking it for the next several months, until it was decided that surgery was required. I had an ACDF procedure done in late January of 2015, and came out, more or less, fine.
While on the drug, I experienced double vision, mouth sores, weight gain, irritability, and mild anxiety. So I was very ready for surgery, so that I could get off the gabapentin, which through research, I realized was causing all of those side effects. The day of surgery, they didn’t give me my afternoon dose of gabapentin, though. By the next day I decided that I’d just take one in the morning and one in the evenng. My surgeon told me to ween off, one dose a week, until I was off for good. So I went ahead and took two a day the remaining 7 days, then moved to one day. No problems, really.
On the third day of “one pill a day”, that all changed. Big time. First, I started feeling very dark. Like hopeless, anxious, depressed… And it literally came out of nowhere. I suddenly exploded, with panic, and took my wife by great surprise. Scared her half to death. I couldn’t be soothed. I couldn’t calm down. I couldn’t sleep. This went on all night. The next day, I was so scared of how I was feeling, that I had her hide my gun, for fear of hurting myself.
I felt so hopeless that I just wanted it to end, but my mind convinced me it never would. Despite her words of reassurance, my mind continued to tell me lies about how screwed I was. We were about ready to drive me to the mental health hospital, but instead, decided to call my doctor. His office was no help. So we went to an urgent care. I just didn’t want to be away from my wife and kidaughter, you know? My wife was my last rock. In the waiting room of the urgent care,i found this page. It was my first feeling of relief. Others had been through this! Some even wrote about how it had finally passed. And a few even had advice!
The PA that I saw in the urgent care prescribed me Atarax. It’s like benadryl. Non-addictive, few side effects, worked for the anxiety a little. I will list my symptoms and treatment at the end of this, I promise. I tried taking some advice on here too, like magnesium supplements and epsom salt baths. Both seemed to help with the night time restless leg syndrome. The insomnia was still killing me Külling. So I went to an Eastern Medicine doctor. He gave me ear acupuncture, and some herbs to help with the detoxifying, along with some diet advice.
Now the herbs and diet stuff was prescribed for my body and what it was going through, so I won’t even begin to detail all of it. Though I will tell you that if you’re currently suffering from this, go to an Eastern Medicine doctor. Homeopathic medicine is where you will find some real relief. If you do one thing that I’ve recommended, do this. It can’t hurt. It saved me!
My last dose of gabapentin was February 4th. I began going crazy and suffering like nothing else that evening. Today is March 4th, and I feel like my old self. I still have an extremely vague, underlying sense of something, but it’s hard to even describe, and very easy to ignore. My sleep is way better. Way better! Way way way better!
So here are my symptoms:
Insomnia
Restless leg syndrome
Anxiety
Panic attacks
Depression
Uncontrollable crying
Leg Cramps
Headache
Nausea
Diarrhea
Suicidal ideation
Paranoia
I may have left something out, but that means I’ve come far enough along that I’m starting to forget. I’m fine with that.
Treatment:
Lots of water.
Atarax
Magnesium supplements
Epsom salt baths every night
All lights off at sundown. Maybe a reading light, but no phones computers or tablets.
Herbs, from the eastern medicine doctor, which happened to negate any need for further magnesium supplements.
Greens, preferably juiced, like cucumber and celerey, lettuce, etc. No Kale, unless cooked.
Ear acupuncture. I did this for two weeks, everyday, except weekends.
Prayer/meditation
Positive environment. Positive entertainment, music, people, etc… Love Love Love
Find a way to help others and get out of yourself. It really helps!
Friends, I made it. So will you. Do not let your mind tell you that you won’t. It doesn’t know. It is a scared child. Treat it as such. Reassure it that everything will be just fine, and give it’s fears no thought. Withdrawals from this medicine can have even more dangerous side effects, and you need to research those. If you aren’t sure, or are concerned, go to the ER. If you take just one thing away from this, let it be hope. Because you will get through this. It will get better. And you are loved. Please comeback after you’re all better and share your hope with others on here. Love, Tanner
Thank you so so much for the positive attitude!!! I try to stay positive everyday while dealing/coping with this.
Symptoms from my multiple autoimmune diseases include periferal neuropathy which manifests mostly in my feet and ankles. My neurologist started gabapentin at just 100 mg three times a day, next month 200 mg three times a day, finally 300 mg three times a day. Because I was experiencing almost all the side effects, I decided to taper by one dose a day. Even though this was a mild taper, I experienced withdrawal symptoms and went back to regular doses. At my last neurologist appointment I asked Dr Beltran if I wanted to stop the gabapentin did I need to taper or could I just stop.
He said there was no problem just stopping cold turkey. Thank goodness for the Internet. The various posts confirmed that taper is the only way to go off gabapentin no matter what dose you are on. Once again I tried to get off gabapentin and because my doctor said I could just stop it I believed him. WRONG! I started four days ago and on this my fourth day I was so ill with many of the listed side effects. The nausea and dry heaves were intense and intolerable.
I had phenagren to alleviate that problem and ice packs on my pounding headache. So I took one 300 mg gabapentin to see if that would help. It did; so tomorrow I will do the same for a month then try to go off that one 300 mg and then none. Moral of my story is always check online or with family and friends to verify something a doctor tells you. So glad to know I am not crazy. Thanks for the posts. :)
Thank you for sharing your experience with Gabapentin. It’s comforting to know I’m not alone in this struggle. I’ve had three spinal surgeries, the last two being the worst due to a surgeon’s ignoring my bone density results (from his office!) showing my spine could not bear the rods, screws and cages he ultimately installed from L-2 to L-5S1. Gabapentin did help some with the nerve pain, but wreaked havoc with my emotional health!
I decided to wean off it as fast as possible and caused extreme insomnia, depression and anxiety attacks. I’m actually better now, but wish I had known more about titrating down, I didn’t know there was a 100mg. dose to ease the pain. After a recent fall in our condo, I was given a shot of Toradol, an anti-inflammatory drug and was surprised to have total relief of pain! Who knew.
I too lean on God for guidance, but find myself trying to do it all on my own, often failing! Even though we live in Florida, the cold spells during winter cause me the most pain. Its been a long road and I’m always looking for relief that doesn’t come from narcotics. That’s no way to live and I want life worth living!
I’m glad to have found this discussion on Gabapentin withdrawal! I’ve been on 1800 mg @ 600 x 3 /day since Spring of 2014 for a severely ruptured disc at L5-S1 compressing the sciatic nerve root. I was throwing lots of stuff at the excruciating pain and finally it seemed like the gabapentin was the only thing coming close to it – not covering it completely, just taking the edge off, but it was something! I was told it was not addictive, too. But it helped.
And if I had it to do again, I would probably still use it, even knowing about the difficult withdrawal. I was advised to do a slow taper when I felt ready, as I had a discectomy (surgery) in December. I reduced by 300 mg a week at a time, noticing only after a few weeks that I was struggling with depression, anxiety, physical aches & pains, sleepless nights, hot flushes, fatigue…recognizing that as I reduced the dosage these symptoms worsened slightly. So this weekend I started looking online for possible withdrawal issues with gabapentin and here I am!
It’s good to know: I’m not going crazy, just out of my head :P. I only have the last 300 mg to go before I’m off completely, but thinking maybe to ask for lower dosages to taper slower (like 100mg @ 2 x day)? I am recovered enough from surgery that my husband and I are taking a winter holiday next week, but would hate this withdrawal to spoil our week away…I want to encourage anyone going through this to be strong, fight the effects of the withdrawal in natural & spiritual ways.
I am calling on my praying friends to cover me in prayer, reading the Bible for words of comfort and encouragement, taking vitamins and supplements that help replenish the nutrients your body needs or is using up to get through this. It helps to keep busy, even if you feel lousy. I am in aquacise 3x weekly, I enjoy walking outdoors, it’s good for the body and the soul!
Drink lots of water, go for a massage (if you can handle ‘touch’), sit in a sauna to sweat it out. I had to go through mild withdrawal when I quit morphine last summer, and while it was a little different symptoms, it still is a real battle in the mind. For me, trusting God to renew my mind, body and spirit is the only way to get over any of life’s struggles – He has not failed me yet!
I talked with my Dr. a couple of days ago, letting him know I had been tapering off of the gabapentin in recent weeks and suffering some withdrawal symptoms. He again said he was not aware of withdrawal issues with this drug, so hopefully now he is ;). He did prescribe me the lower dosage 100mg pills so that I could continue the slow taper through my upcoming holiday and hopefully in a month I am done…some of the symptoms have lessened, although ongoing headaches these past few days may also be attributed to the withdrawal, thankfully it’s not severe.
I’d like to choke my doctor for putting me on this medication for nerve pain without telling me how sick you feel getting off it. And she knew I struggled with depression and never told me that it could make you depressed or worse (severely depressed) when getting off it. You know, of all the nerve! Doctors are supposed to care about your well-being but that’s so not true.
They are supposed to know you and your history and heal not hurt you. I’ve never cried so much in all my years of being depressed. I was just coming out of it too, which really burns me up. The worst symptom I now have is severe constant, tormenting itching, all over my body. Even inside my friggin nose. This is what makes me want to choke the b*tch.
And the nerve pain in my foot that she gave it to me for…it’s so severe that I feel like I’m walking on my bone. I basically have to limp. I will not let this ruin me. I cry on the treadmill for an hour because it hurts so bad. I just started taking the magnesium today. I’m praying for some relief. And for all of you who are suffering as well, I pray this will pass speedily with less severity.
I have read all previous comments with interest. I was prescribed Gabapentin for neural pain in my leg, radiating from spondylothesis in my lower lumbar region. At first it seemed to dull my intense pain but then the night sweats started together with a feeling of extreme depression which led to perpetual crying and a fear of death. I have always been a happy, optimistic person and these feelings were completely alien to me so I just stopped taking this med. Three months later the depression has subsided but the night sweats continue. Dreadful drug – I would rather be in pain and have control of my mind.
Hi there, I just wanted to post in case it helps anyone else who experiences problems coming off of Gabapentin / Neurontin. I was only taking 300mg once per day. I wasn’t able to wean off since I was only taking one pill so I stopped completely. My worst side effect was itchy skin. I didn’t have a rash or anything causing the itching, it was just my brain reacting to being off the medication.
It was a nightmare, but the more symptoms I experienced, the more I realized how powerful the medication is which made we want to be off it all the more. It took about 3 1/2 weeks for the itching to stop and I was able to get through the night. I also think the withdrawal affected my sleep and moods but that has all normalized as well, it just takes time. Things that helped me – oatmeal bath followed by medicated lotion and body powder, they have menthol in them which helped to alleviate the itching so I could sleep.
I was also faithful with supplements and took Magnesium, Broccomax, Milk Thistle, Zinc and Biotin. These were recommended for detox and cell health. Not sure which if any helped so maybe talk to your doctor to ensure no issues, but if you are going through this, please know there is a light at the end of the tunnel and you will feel better with time. Hang in there, you can do it!
I was on Neurontin for several months. When first taking the medication everything seemed OK. Then I was at 3200 mg a day. I gained lots of weight from this medication and asked to get off of it due to my weight gain. My doctors tapered me off of it but the biggest symptom I had was massive itching and my skin felt like it was on fire. I experienced lots of tired spells and would get extremely dizzy.
I would say starting it wasn’t too bad but getting off of it was really bad. I was taking it for severe spinal pain but weight gain and spinal pain don’t mix. I have a surgery consult coming up and am hoping that resolves a lot. The difference in opinion to surgery is 50/50. Neurontin only worked for a short time for me then it quit working after I got used to it.
I was on 300 mg of Neurontin 3x’s/day for benzo detox and to treat Bipolar II. The medication put me in a fog and interfered with my ability to think clearly, understand concepts, and concentrate. The “brain fog” I was in caused my job performance to suffer significantly, so much so that I was afraid I might lose my job. Under the supervision of my psychiatrist, I slowly cut the dose of the medication down to where I’m not taking it at all.
The last dose being 300 mg. During the first few days after I stopped the Neurontin, I experienced insomnia, headache and anxiety. Uncomfortable, but manageable. Now I’m almost two weeks out and I’m a complete basket case. I been crying uncontrollably for the last three days, anxious, no appetite, headache, obsessive thinking. Help! Has anyone else experienced this? I would have thought that withdrawal symptoms would get better as more time passes, not worse.
I was on 2700mg per day for 2 years. With medical marijuana I was able to taper off and quit within 2 months. It wasn’t easy but, I knew what to expect as I had tried to quit cold turkey a few months prior. I did not expect the horrific withdrawals – crying fits and despair to the point of almost suicidal that I had. So this time planned it out. It took time but I’ve been off of gabapentin for 2 weeks now. Everyday has gotten better and better. I feel mostly normal.
I take a sativa marijuana strain to lighten depression and an indica strain for sleep, plus a strain high in CBD for nerve pain due to inflammation. I also take calcium/magnesium at night for sleep and to stop the muscle cramps. I take a vitamin B supplement to help with regulating the depression and irritability and B12 sublingually to improve energy. Gabapentin depletes your body of biotin (a B vitamin). Now, I’ve gained about 34 pounds since taking the gabapentin. I hope that this weight will finally come off once my body regains balance.
Oh my gosh, I’m so grateful to everyone for sharing. I started a taper of the Gab about a week ago. Went from 400 twice a day to just once a day. It has sucked. I withdrew from oxycodone July of 2014 and MS Contin in September and I’m here to tell you, this is just as bad. I have taken this stuff, including the oxycodone and the MS Contin for years due to some major autoimmune issues, when it stopped working, I stopped the meds having no idea what was about to happen. I always followed Dr. Instructions so thought I was safe…not so much! It sounds like this will follow the withdrawal path of the narcotics and it does get a lot better. It will probably take a couple of months, then I will go for the other 400mg.
This forum has helped incredibly, since I started to taper of my very meds. I have been taking gabapentin for 13 years, due to having my arm and my leg cut completely off, in a car accident when I was 15 years old. I take 1600 mg, three times a day, I have tried many times to stop taking gabapentin, but in the last 10 years, I have been through surgery 56 times, and every time the doctors put me back on this drug from hell. When I try stopping I feel like hell: itching, sweating and a severe case of restlessness and insomnia. And trying to stop taking it feels useless, since I know my doctors will start it up again the next time I have an operation. I hate this feeling of helplessness.
I am so sorry. I feel like crap since my last Gabapentin was 4 days ago. I want to go back on it to stop the itching, fidgeting, diarrhea and nausea. But I also want off of it. No doctor ever told me how bad this would be.
Hey, Barb, I went through hell when I withdrew from oxycodone and MS Contin and now I’m doing the Gab. It sucks, but you will make it. Hot baths are helpful with Epsom Salts and acupuncture has helped me. Hang in there, as awful as this has been, I’m so thankful to be off all this stuff, it really messes with you. -Ann
Pia, they may TRY and put you on it, but you do NOT have to take this. Wow, how many more surgeries are you going to need? That sounds like too many for me. Print this blog-show it to them (him, her) and ask: “How can you ask me to take this again?” Good luck.
I was put on Gabapentin 4 1/2 years ago after a double spine surgery and severe nerve damage. I was on 3,300 mg a day for 4 years. I started lowering my dose 6 months ago. In the last month, I have gone from 900 mg to 300 mg a day. This week I am totally off Gabapentin. In the last month, I have had sweats, diarrhea, nausea and can’t sleep very long (3 hours at a time). These last few days it has been worse. I can deal with the pain but these withdrawal symptoms are the worst. How much longer? Thank you for the magnesium suggestion. I will start that today.
I was prescribed clonazepam for sleep years ago. Benzos are said to have severe withdrawal symptoms but this is even worse. This is a very nasty drug and would encourage anyone to seek a different option. Thank God for marijuana to calm my anxiety in the evenings or this would be pure hell. I wish I would have tried marijuana for sleep many years ago and I wouldn’t be in this position.
I have been prescribed 600mg three times a day for just under a year for disc prolapse. I couldn’t take pregabalin as it made me unable to function at all. I have been haphazard with my tablets taking only one in the morning, and one at night for about 6 months. My moods are irrational and I’m a complete bitch and haven’t felt “well” in all that time. Recently the pain hasn’t been so bad, so have been taking just one at night. I have felt like crap ever since.
Decided last week to cut it out all together, as the penny had dropped that it is the gabapentin that’s causing me to feel ill. A bit of background here… I was a nurse specialist in pain management, and have an MSc in the subject. I left nursing at about the time these drugs were coming onto the market, so have little clinical experience of using them. The doc who prescribed them is a pain consultant, an old colleague.
I am also a recovering alcoholic, sober 7.5 years. The aim of my pain relief has been not to give me anything addictive or mood altering. I have to say that how I am feeling now, and have felt for the four days since quitting, is more horrendous than I ever felt quitting the booze. I feel like I have flu, but without the snot. I am freezing cold, then the sweat will pour off me. Everything aches, and I am sooooo tired.
I am sleeping courtesy of Amitriptyline, but wake often. I know I have to quit them now. There is no question about it. I can’t allow myself to become dependent on a substance. I do think though that more info needs to be out there about how it affects you, and weaning off. I have gone from 600mg, once or twice a day to zero. Looking at this board, it makes me realize that I’m not alone. I have told hubby (a doctor), what the reason for my being in bed for the last four days seems to be, not the flu, the bloody meds!
Hi everyone, I wanted to share my story with Gabapentin. About 6 months ago, I was going through withdrawals from a different medication and was put on 600mg Gabapentin, taken before bedtime to help with insomnia. I noticed very rapid weight gain with no change in diet and I started feeling very groggy and foggy in the mornings. One day I just decided to try and taper down and get off of it before I gained any more weight. I cut my dose in half and the anxiety and strange feelings started the very next day.
I took another 300mg the next night but my withdrawal symptoms were so strange that I decided I didn’t want to keep prolonging the withdrawal or experience the same thing once I tapered again so I quit cold turkey the next day. The worst day for me was day 2 where I experienced nausea, headaches, flu symptoms, and what can only be described as out of body experiences. The symptoms would come in waves where for a few hours I felt like crap and then felt completely normal for another few hours.
The following days really weren’t that bad for me (compared to my detox from my other medication, anyways) and the only symptoms that persisted for the next 4-5 days were restlessness, mild anxiety, and the occasional feeling that something was “off”. I wanted to post my experience because when I was searching the internet for answers as to what to expect during my detox, I only found extreme cases that scared me and contributed to my anxiety. I wholeheartedly believe those extreme cases are true since I had an extreme case of withdrawals from my last medication I got off of where the effects still persist 6 months later.
But in the case of Gabapentin, I was surprised that the detox actually wasn’t that bad for me personally. It really all comes down to your unique situation and not knowing what your symptoms will be until you actually try to get off of it. In my experience, keeping a positive attitude helped me significantly to get through it. I kept telling myself that I’ll feel better tomorrow, and each day did get slightly better.
And frankly, knowing that the withdrawals can’t be anywhere near as bad as my previous ones helped me a lot as well since I had a “well if I can survive THAT, then this should be a piece of cake” mentality. It’s been exactly a week since I made the decision to cut my dose/stop taking it and I feel 95% back to normal. On a side note, trazodone and valerian have helped quite a bit with keeping the insomnia and mild anxiety at bay.
I have been on gab for 5 yrs. At this time I take 5400mg. Daily, no one, including my doc. warned me of the withdrawl symtoms. I recently ran out for three days, felt like the worst flu symtoms ever recorded! It put me in bed for two days. The symtoms are marked and acute. I would like to know if there is an alternative to this medication?
I have talked to my neurologist, spinal doctor, pharmacist and family doctor, there is nothing else in this category that does not have side effects. Some of things I have tried are Tizandine to calm the nerves and muscles, vitamin d3 and magnesium. They seem to be helping me now. The Gabapentin has been causing lots of memory problems for me, that’s why I am weaning off of it. Look for alternatives like herbs and vitamins. I have had spinal problems and MANY surgeries for 39 years now.
I have just finished tapering down from 1200 mg. I was put on Gralise (time-release neurontin) for a herniated cervical disc with pinched nerve. This happened in August. Now I am off the meds a week and some burning, pins and needles, and numbness has returned to my arm and hand. I also feel pins and needles and restlessness in my other extremities as well inability to focus, restless legs and some depression. Yesterday all of my skin was crawling and I was unable to sit still to work. I find walking helps. I will try hot baths.
I have started magnesium. I started searching for answers to see how long I might be dealing with this. I am glad to see that withdrawal could be the cause of some of my issues, especially my low energy, restlessness, and trouble sleeping. I would not go on this medication again as I think the issues I am having outweigh any benefits!! I was not told that it could be so difficult or that there may be withdrawal symptoms. I am in recovery and although I have been sober many years, it seems to me that this has been reminiscent of the withdrawal I went through after 15 years of chronic alcoholism. I was not prepared for that at all!!
Hi guys. Just thought I’d throw in some input. I’ve been on 300mg 2x/day for about six weeks now. It worked great at first, but I’ve noticed in the past week I’ve been getting severe anxiety whenever it begins to kick in and take effect, which it never did before. I wake up almost in a withdrawal state but I’m not sure if this is worse than the sudden negative reactions to this stuff. Seems to be a no win situation and I plan to quit because it obviously no longer works.
It now affects me in the sense that my body/belly is constantly swollen, heart is racing, terrible anxiety/panic for no reason, along with feeling super sluggish and zombified at the same time. This is some nasty stuff y’all!!! Anyway, I am looking to do a water titration method if possible and just taper insanely slow as I have to be functional for work/school/kids. A lot of these posts are from people going through the hell and it’s a bit discouraging as it’s like watching someone get tortured and you’re just next in line.
No! We have more power over our minds than we can even fathom. Yes, we made a mistake and got hooked on this junk. But we also have to ability to get free again. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel. Just try to stay out of your head. I’ll return and keep y’all updated on my progress / experience / timeline and hope that it helps to inspire and instill hope. Godspeed
I only began taking the gabapentin one week ago at 100 mgs. once a day only at night for shingles pain. I then began two 100 mgs. at night only on Tuesday night. I seemed to feel fine this Wednesday and thought it might even be improving my mood with the escitalopram I take for depression as an added bonus : ). But yesterday and today I have had anxiety all day even with the clonazopam I take @ .25 mgs am and pm. I am thinking after reading these posts I should reduce back to the 100 mgs. at night immediately and then get off of these monsters ASAP! Any thoughts.
I have been taking Gabapentin for quite a while gradually increasing to 1800mg/d for back pain. I had a back surgery for restoring function of my left leg but the back pain got worse. From this dose onward I experienced blurred vision. Curiously, nobody mentioned about this well established side effect. I decreased it to 1200mg. The vision has improved.
However, I am experiencing profuse sweating and it is getting worse after I reduced further to 900mg. Sweating is most annoying while having a meal. I have chills also. I might want to stay with this dose as the pain is not controlled well with other medications and I do not want to increase my narcotic meds. If these are withdrawal symptoms this is a welcome news. Why? Because I am afraid that if there is nerve damage to the autonomic system for temperature regulation, then I’ll be in big trouble.
Hi everyone. I was prescribed gabapentin for anxiety about a year ago. I was an opiate addict before that and was prescribed this stupid stuff to help me with the anxiety. Well for the last year I have been up and down with the dosages bc I already know I have an addictive personality. I ran out a couple months ago and def felt some withdrawals and that made me very scared bc I already know how opiate withdrawl cold turkey is. Not fun! So now I’m terrified to get off this crap bc I don’t want to feel that way ever again!
I have been sober for a year and recently found out in September I’m pregnant and due in May. I’ve been trying ever since to taper down bc I do not want to be on the medication and more and was also told if I can get off of it for my baby to do so. I also don’t want my baby being born on this stupid medication anyway! I’ve been in and out of the doctors and they all tell my there is no withdrawl blah blah blah well let me tell you there is! I feel like my mind is absolutely going insane BC all I do with worry about how I’m going to suffer getting off of this.
I already battled opiates a year ago and why can’t I be strong? Enough to just give this up :( I seriously will never ever take another medication prescribed to me ever ever again. I feel like I will never be normal again. I hate this. I just needed to get that out and happy to see I’m not the only one battling this. It’s absolutely terrible. If anyone has any advice or experience while being on this pregnant would love to hear from you.
Oh my god I am happy I found this article. Firstly, I was prescribed this medication to help treat anxiety. I had heard that this medication wasn’t usually used for anxiety, but my psychiatrist was running low on options to try, because I had been on many of the more common anti-anxiety medications already, but they either ended up causing bad side effects or just not helping at all. I was never on a very high dose. Many of the comments I read on this post, people were on dosages such as 900 a day, or even up to 1200 a day.
Anyways, I never went above 400 mg a day (I don’t know the ages of anyone who has commented, but I have a feeling I’m one of the younger ones, I was 16 when started on this medication and a little over 17 now, so maybe the low dose was because of my age?? I don’t know, but that’s besides the point). I’ve been on this medication for a little over a year, but on September 4th of this year, I went into the hospital for having suicidal thoughts and severe anxiety. Well they didn’t change anything for the two weeks I was in there, they started me on Seroquel and they tried me on Prozac again.
But something happened with my insurance I had and I ended up having to change my therapist and psychiatrist. So the psychiatrist I am seeing now apparently is not such a big fan of using the neurontin on their patients. So he advised me to slowly decrease my dosage from 400 to 300 to 200 and so on. So I’ve been doing that and I’ve discovered that it might be helping me more than I thought. My anxiety is out the roof, even on 300, and that’s causing my OCD symptoms to kick in, which were actually decreased greatly up until last week when I started the decreased dose.
This is making it nearly impossible for me to get to sleep at night. My rituals I have because of the OCD are becoming so frequent that I actually can’t even sleep, and when I start to drift off it takes awhile for me to actually sleep. I’m sorry to leave this extremely long comment but I thought I should just share how helpful this article was for me. Thank you!!
Thank god I found this site and thank you all for sharing your experiences. I’ve recently been experiencing severe anxiety and depression. I found an old prescription I had for Gabapentin about two weeks and decided to take it in order to get some relief. I’ve been taking a very high dose, about 3000 mg. per day. I’m about to run out of them and now I’m panicking. Does anyone know if I’ll have extreme withdrawals after taking Gabapentin for 2 weeks? I would deeply apreciate some guidance anyone may be able to offer. -Bill
Gabapentin rescued me from terrible pain. I am greatful for that but want to be done with it. I don’t see the point in drawing it out, I cut down my dosage by half (from 600 mg 3x) for a day, then two doses, today is my fourth day without it at all. I expected some pain, but not the emotional mess. It was only today that I clued in that the gabapentin might be to blame. That’s why I’m here thank you all so much for taking the time to share. Things should go much better now that I have a better understanding of withdrawal symptoms.
I have been taking 2400 mg. gabapentin for close to three years now. I thought the drug worked marvelous for the fibro. And with very little side effects. I am not having many symptoms if any currently from the fibro so I want off the med. how else will I know if I need it or not. I started taking Magnesium 3 times daily for a couple of months one and swear it works very well.
I have weaned myself today down from 2400 to 1200 to 600 and now to 300 and hope to be done with the med by the end of the month. I am taking extreme precaution in doing this as I stopped Cymbalta cold turkey and thought I wanted to die. I think the saving grace for me is the Magnesium 3 times a day. If I have to back on the drug again one day than so be it but for now I need to give this a try. -Debbie
I’m currently typing this at 1am after trying desperately to get comfy and get some sleep. I was taking 3x600mg a day of Gabapentin and had tapered myself off tonight is the 2nd night of not taking the stuff at all. I have to say I’m glad I made the decision to come off the drug but it’s hell. Night and day sweats have been the worst thing, and the hideous itching all over my legs. I was taking them for the pain in my back caused by scoliosis but they never seemed to work and after feeling like a zombie constantly for the last 9 months.
And being told by my work colleague that my eyes were ‘going mental’ when I was chatting normally to him I thought they were probably doing more harm than good. Must admit I have felt more coherent in the last day than I have in a long time, but have been tempted to take pill because of the withdrawal. I feel like bursting into tears for no reason at all and have had really horrible stomach pain, but I have to keep telling myself it’s for the best. Just hope and pray symptoms go away soon.
Thank you so much for this website! I knew from the first pill that this was doing something wrong to my brain, and it was not touching the RA pain. After a month, I called my rheumatologist and told her that I needed to come off of it, so I stopped it two weeks ago.
Since then I have been out of control anxious, crying, ready to quit my job, etc. My GP told me that it should have been out of my system after one week, and that I just needed to see a psychiatrist. I have found more solace that perhaps I’m not going as far out of my mind as I feel since reading this. Treating pain with ibuprofen or Tylenol is much more preferred than this!
I have been on gabapentin for about 2 years. I was taking 1200 mg per day for a neuroma in my foot. It really did nothing for the foot pain. I tapered off but I think maybe not slow enough. My neurologist thinks this drug has no addictive qualities. It has been almost 5 weeks and still I have this tingling burning sensation all over at times and in my legs most of the time.
I have hot flashes and my legs ache. I have a back injury which occurred not long before I quit taking gabapentin. My back pain has increased so the drug may have been helping even though it was not prescribed for that problem. Have others had these withdrawal symptoms last over a month?
After taking this med for the last 15 years I was advised to slowly wean myself off. It was explained to me that after 15 years the drug wasn’t helping my neuropathic or chronic pain. I was originally put on it as part of a pain management cocktail. It worked great. But over the years my pain went from “remission” to “rolling flare up” one after another. My doctor kept increasing my dose until I was taking 1200 mg, 4 times a day-way over the recommended dose.
A new doctor recently told me that while still in drastic pain, my meds were not controlling my pain, only an addiction I wasn’t trying to chase. I wasn’t a junkie chasing a high but a woman in pain following the directions on the bottle of her pain meds. So it was time to go off these meds and see what symptoms remained after the painful withdrawals. He prepared me, weaning slowing but after so long my body was not happy. I’m grateful for this site because it made me feel like I wasn’t crazy feeling like I was a junkie even tho I was just following my doctors orders.
Some may ask if I have tried cymbalta, lyrica or savella and yes. My minds isn’t wired for them. They make me depressed and in a terrible state. I’m looking forward to being off these drugs and finding one that works. Gabapentin/Neurontin is great in the beginning but it’s not for long term. For those that recommended magnesium-I have been taking it twice a day for a hand tremor (now I realize it was caused by this drug) as I can see it hasn’t helped for pain. Maybe I need to take it three times a day lol. Thank you for your input.
I’ve been taken this for 3 years. I was up to 3600MG a day. I recently had to stop taking it because my husband’s insurance ran out. I had no idea the hell I would be facing. I’ve been off of it for 2 weeks and the withdrawals are not getting any better. I’m a wreck. I have every symptom from the migraine like headaches to the restlessness throughout my body. I can’t sleep. I find myself angry at hell one moment cryin the next. I’ve tried Xanax but no relief. I’m not sure how much more of this I can take. I was taking it for the nerve damage caused by shingles. I’m 36 years old and I’m hating life. I feel like giving up but I don’t because I have a family that needs me. This is not living though.
Hi Kim! I’m 36 as well and your story reads very parallel to mine. I’m on 3600mg a day and couldn’t find my 3rd bottle and had to stretch my meds and noticed symptoms. I will eventually come off the gabapentin in hopes a doctor can get to the underlying cause of my groin pain. I was told that possibly my pudendal nerve is trapped. I have had 2 illioinguinal nerve blocks and my pain went down significantly. I can’t wait to go to the neurosurgeon that specializes in operating on nerves in the pelvic region. I’m glad to have found this site and hear stories and know I’m not alone.
Hello, everyone – I came to this website because, starting about 2 weeks ago, I started ramping down from gabapentin. I was taking 600mg 4x daily for the last 18 months, prescribed for nerve pain from an adverse reaction to a surgical anesthetic – sciatic nerve was deadened for arch reconstruction on my foot. I’m gradually getting over sciatic nerve problem, but progress is slow.
About 2 1/2 weeks ago I ran out of gabapentin. I couldn’t get in touch with my doctor right away, so I went from 2400 mg/day to zero. The first 24 hours were really dreadful – insomnia, pain, nausea, diarrhea, depression, fatigue and lethargy, headache. Next day was better, but still very bad. The day after, some more improvement still. Then the doc phoned in the Rx refill. But by that time I had decided I wanted to quit taking the stuff and I asked the pharmacist what to do.
He recommended cutting the dose in half for 3-4 days, then half again, then quit. So that’s what I did. For the last 3 days I’ve been off it completely. The first day was rough, but each day since has been a little better. If things continue as they are (no guarantee of that, I realize), then I’ll be all right. I wasn’t sure I should even post, since my withdrawal (so far, at least) isn’t anywhere near as bad as what many of you folks are experiencing. My heart goes out to you all. But I want give some hope.
Something I haven’t seen in any of these entries is anything about gabapentin causing problems with sexual functioning. I’d never had any problems in that line, but started having some difficulty after I was started on 1200 mg/day gabapentin 18 months ago. Then I had a lot of difficulty with sex when I was put on 2400 mg/day. Final 3 months or so at that dose I pretty much shut down sexually. I asked the doctor if sexual problems were a side effect of gabapentin, and he said probably not.
So the good news, people, is that as soon as I started tapering – first to 1200 mg/day, then to 600, now to zero – the sex came back to normal. And this wasn’t something I read about, or was anywhere warned to expect – either that it would happen or that I would get over it. But there you are. This is some drug. If I had known this was what I’d be in for, I think I probably would have just put up with the nerve pain.
I had trouble with sexual function as well, but it is coming back now that I’m tapering off. I read somewhere online that sexual function is affected in about 60% of gabapentin users…It was a necessary evil for me, but hope I am going to be free of this stuff soon. All the best to you.
Thanks everyone for your comments. I was given this one week ago for neck and arm pain, and told to start with 300 at bedtime, then increase to 2, then 3 a day. I was waiting for the weekend to make sure I would not be a zombie. Glad I found this. I’ll be opening my capsule and reducing to 200 starting tonight. Hopefully I have been on this for short enough time that I won’t be too bad. I do see that some people have problems with even this low a dose – 300 mg 1x day at night – so will be careful.
I did sleep really well, but my pain has been worse than ever during the day. Last night I had a horrible nightmare last night, probably because I needed to wake to go to the bathroom, but couldn’t because of the drug. My daughter woke me because I was yelling loudly. At least I didn’t wet the bed!
This is scary – my daughter went through benzo withdrawal last year, another drug that gets way over-prescribed, and with post withdrawal symptoms for up to 2 years.
I was put on 300 MG 4x per day. I began July. In September I noticed extreme swelling in hands, feet, eyelids, lips and tongue. I also experienced severe heating of skin and horrid sweating. My digestive tract us inflamed and distended. I am deformed! Since all of these symptoms are considered life threatening I stopped the medication entirely. Two weeks later the symptoms persist! I am miserable! Death would be better than this. I went to the ER and was told I was mentally ill and referred to a mental health clinic.
This is not a mental health issue. There is 20-30 lbs of yuck hanging off the front of me. I was given this medication for complications from fibromyalgia including pain from my digestive system totally shutting down. It is November and I feel worse than I did in July when I started this medication. I am dying and nobody cares including my doctors and ED staff. I don’t know what to do but staff off the medication and pray I either power through or die.
I want to thank everyone that has posted. You helped me through some horrible weeks. I took my last dose abt the middle of September. I still have trouble sleeping and ringing in my ears. Like crickets chirping , louder at night. I’ll re read the posts, not sure if this is a symptom or nerves in my neck. The nerve pain I was taking it for is back in full force and the magnesium doesn’t seem to do anything. But I stay on it. I was on 2400 mg for four years. Blue Cross sent a letter in May that it would no longer cover gabapentin and Lyrica, saying there was a compound in it not approved by the FDA.
I took four months to ramp off, then the withdrawals hit. Every one listed! I took my iPad to my doctor of 23 years. She’s Internal Medicine and uses it a lot. I am the only one that has had this problem and thanks to you there was no question of belief. In fact, as she read your posts she was so moved and said she would research and be much more careful. She had told me to drop one every two days – I took two weeks. I went off it in that way in 1997, because I ramped up every two weeks – 4800mg without a hitch BUT – I was on Paxil, Valium and Klonopin. Klonopin this time quieted the crickets and I can get 4-5 hours sleep. Again, thank you so much. If anyone else has ringing I hope you’ll post. I’ll keep checking back. I’d like to be sure it’s not something else. Bless you.
I’m shocked to see all of these posts, but since you seem to be the only one that has a Dr that will listen to you I’m replying on yours. See if your Dr would know anything about all of a sudden becoming extremely skin sensitive to hair after getting off Neurontin. I was on it for a few years. I think I was taking 300mg 3x a day, then I went down to 100mg 3x a day, then completely tapered off. Immediately after the dogs hair was making my skin itch really bad.
Then I moved in with someone that had a cat (I’ve had cats my whole life so I thought maybe I just became allergic to dogs and didn’t notice because of all the psyche meds I was on) and the cat hair itched too. Then my own hair started irritating my skin. Now the only clothing I can wear comfortably is polyester or silky type materials because I can lint roll most hair off them. Now it’s been exactly 1 year 5 months and 1 day since I’ve dropped all psyche meds including Neurontin and I’m still in a torturous hell. It’s cold and I can’t wear anything warm or it will feel like I’ve got bugs crawling under my skin, itch, sting, or feel like I’ve got needles being stabbed into my skin.
Sometimes I can’t get the hair off even the silky clothes. I’ve had to buy new bedding over and over and as I lay here in bed I have all those itchy, burning, stinging ugly symptoms all over me. Most of the time my hair is in a tight bun, but the hairs that still come out of it are basically burning my neck. I was on Neurontin 2 or 3 years, I really don’t remember. Drs, friends, and family look at me like I’m talking to them in a foreign language when I try to explain why I’m constantly having to lint roll anything I sit on or am near. I feel like I’m in hell!
RaMona, I am sorry you are having so much trouble with your hair. I haven’t had that, except in the early years of fibromyalgia. I wear soft clothes, even turn under clothing inside out because the seams hurt. I was checking back because after five months I still have symptoms like itching, ears ringing especially at night, no motivation due to the increased pain in my back and the coldness.
Dropped 15 pounds and think I look like a skeleton. Apparently the withdrawals really do go on for a long time. Thank you for the post. I feel better knowing its not something new to deal with. As for the cold I purchased a ceramic tower heater for the bedroom and don’t have to be under covers. That’s helped a lot. I don’t need to know why you were taking it, but the skin sensitivity sure sounds like FMS. For itching my dermatologist recommended an anti-itching lotion for sensitive skin called Sarna.
It’s under $20 you use very little and it does help. Also TONS of water. Since I’m the only patient my Dr has that has gone through this she wouldn’t know. I didn’t look it up but I think our scalps have lots of nerves so I’m not surprised. I’ve only had that in my eyelashes. Never imagined an eyelash would hurt! I wish I had seen your response two months ago and hope its all over.
RaMona, your symptoms are valid (at least to me). I had these extreme sensitivities and itching only while ON gabapentin. Oh and my own hair started coming out like a boat load. Has ANYONE had this experience? Being female, it is bad enough that I am going gray, but to lose my hair as well? Did you RaMona?
I am experiencing hair loss (67 years old) and just thought it was old age…I am on G. For both insomnia and nerve pain in my feet. (1200 mg x day). Side effects have been hair/and scalp issues, gastrointestinal problems- without resolution of the insomnia and no better pain control than alpha lapoic acid plus B vitamins. Tapering off – one capsule down (300 mg reduction) from last week with only mininal nausea and loss of appetite- no worse than gastro symptoms on full dose. So far very mild-nothing like cold turkey when ER MD took me off of noritryptyline. Thanks for all your comments- will go slowly on taper. Good luck to all!
Sally, I’m responding to you since you are closest to my age. I’m turning 73 soon. I wonder about dosages for those of us over 65. I’ve undiagnosed hip and low back pain for over a year. My GP refers me to the strangest doctors. Anyway, one started me on Gabapentin in February. I never could take any during the day so took 300 mg at night. Over time, I realized I was feeling terrible and that my hair was falling out and the rest was getting curlier. I read all the signs and symptoms. No mention of this happening.
It wasn’t until this past week after searching for info on withdrawal that I find comments here and there and the terrible times that lies ahead. I’m down 100 this week and have periods of overwhelming tiredness and shortness of breath. My pain is much the same. I’m hoping that the lower dose and the 8 months I’ve been on this will give me an easier time but I am super sensitive to meds so only time will tell. I’m using everyone’s advice and going a slow taper. I don’t plan on dropping again for another two weeks. Hope you still are having light withdrawal. Let’s hope for new hair soon.
Hi Ramona, I am not sure that you are still checking this site but I am suffering very similarly to yourself amongst many other withdrawal symptoms from the god awful gabapentin. I started having anxiety and panic attacks in Feb of this year which was pretty debilitating and because I am very sensitive to medication my doctor perceived me gabapentin and told me emphatically that the side effect profile was very low and that if it didn’t suit me that I could come off it… over the first few weeks I wasn’t sure if it was my anxiety or if it was the drugs but went back to my doctor and told him of my fatigue disc ordination isolation weird detached feeling and basically feeling like I was on a class A drug of some kind.
He told me it was in my anxious head but to stop immediately. It was horrific went into complete and utter melt down and basically woke up in emergency with a seizure. The ER doctors told me to go back on and wind down over weeks which was hell in itself. I became debilitated unable to work unable to function and all in all not living. I was determined to come off and I have weaned off over weeks at a 100 at a time and I was only on 900 to start with and it has been hell.
I stopped 2 weeks ago and all the side effects I was experiencing on it have magnified. Hot sweats then cold, shaking, tremors, spaced out, nausea, acid reflux, depression never suffered that before, suicidal thoughts (desperation) not engaged in the world, can’t communicate, weird feelings of being spaced out and not on the planet… very scary… and the most awful at the moment which is why I wanted to contact yourself is the itchiness, burning and prickling… which I am frightened will never go away.
My left arm is discolored and has a rash which burns and prickles constantly, my hair and scalp burns and itches, I itch all over and am very sensitive to any clothing… it’s hell and I have searched for answers and when I saw your comment it was like me!!! I hope to god you are now over it and things are normal for you…I don’t want anyone to suffer in the way that I am it’s not living… This site has been great to validate I am not going mad in the way that my family and boyfriend think I am, and my sister is a GP and she thinks I am just anxious!!
And she prescribes it every day!!! This drug has ruined my life and many others as I read the comments on here and I feel for you all… I am just about hanging on in the hope that one day I will wake up and it was all just a bad dream… I wish everyone going through this all the love in the world and would appreciate any support you can give me as I feel very alone in what feels like a nightmare that never stops…
Sorry to go on! But this is for all the people who have commented on this site I want to know I appreciate you all, but I have noticed that few come back with the success of getting off and living a life… I am sure that once you are through its the last thing you want to do, but it would be nice to know there’s hope and this will go away especially the burning, it’s unbearable. Peace and love x
I have been on 600 Mg for 2 1/2 months. I have taken 2 at bedtime before but I felt sick the next day. Tried 900 mg about 2 weeks but too tired. I have been taking average of 600 mg for month. I cut (so I took 300 mg) in half last night at I feel so sick today. I would think that for the limited time and low dose I would not feel anything. I have shortness of breath and I feel hot and nauseous.
I was put on Neurontin 4 years ago for anxiety and help quitting drinking, and am just tapering off now. I became addicted to it and abused the CRAP put of it. I was supposed to take 4 600mg pills a day. I noticed it made me high early on when I would take all 3 or 4 at once in the morning, being too lazy to spread them out through the day. I loved the way it made me feel.
I was excited about everything. Tiny things. So easily amused by life. I began taking more than twice my recommended daily dose, many days, in order to keep up with the high, and to make up for lost pills, take only one or two other days. I would feel like hell those days; out of it, tired, groggy, severely depressed and cloudy. Now that I’ve been tapering off them I’m feeling terrible bone/joint or muscle pains so bad, bending and twisting and reaching etc. is a chore.
I cannot stand this feeling, but I have to do it because the medication was making me live in a fantasy world and it’s just not real life. I fear for long term effects which is why I’m coming off it now. I am wondering: Is Neurontin the cause of this wretched joint stiffness I keep experiencing?
Yes, I am back to stiff painful muscles and joints. Feels like I break my legs to get out of bed. Try a very warm Epsom salt bath at night and anytime it’s unbearable. I hope it goes away soon, for all of us.
I hope that you are doing better now. I wanted to mention the joint stiffness you are having now. It could be Osteoarthritis or possibly Rheumatoid Arthritis. Have you been checked for those? -Jodi