Gabapentin issue

[dbar126]

Hi all,

I am currently taking gabapentin for nerve pain (prescribed by my pain management Dr) but it does not seem to be helping as much lately. My Dr. said I could go up on my dose but I'm a little nervous about it as I hear that gabapentin has terrible withdrawal symptoms and to stay away from it. Has anyone else heard this or had issues with it?

[Mic67]

Hiya, I am not on it myself but was a drug worker for years. It is soon to become a controlled drug after the rates of misuse have shot up. I have seen documentaries on it and yes, the withdrawal looks like it could be nasty. Like anything, this would be dependent on the dose and length of time taken. Good luck with your decision. Mic

[dbar126 in reply to Mic67]

Hi and thanks for responding and for the information you provided I am trying to work with my doctor on reducing my meds while keeping my pain managed. I asked her about the withdrawals and she agreed that yes it does have some nasty withdrawals in some people but she works with her patients on a taper down on dose which she monitors to ease any withdrawal symptoms. Guess I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best!

[Green_panda]

I currently am taking gabapentin as well at 900 mg, which apparently isn’t a lot. My doctor says if I needed to up my dose to do by 300 mg, and it normally takes about 3 days to feel the effects

[dbar126 in reply to Green_panda]

Hi Green_panda, I take a total of 2800mg daily which seems high to me but my pain management doctor says its not high for pain management. I wont take any higher dose and am trying to cut down on my meds but have to keep my pain managed.

[Green_panda]

Oh wow I’m surprised your doctor said it wasn’t a high dose. The highest I’ve heard was 2700mg

[Restingwitchface]

Hi I have taken gabapentin 3600mg a day for quite a while and recently gone down to 1800mg. I was like you and didn't feel much different so I went up and up and up. It's hard for me to tell about how the withdrawal effected me, mostly because my condition is painful and makes me sick anyway. That is until I tried to cut the 1800mg in half, I have non epileptic seizures and they tripled so this is where I stay for now... I'm on so much medication sometimes it's hard knowing what is doing what

[Bailey09]

I had it , came off it with out any problem ,

[Borrow]

Hi,

I have been on Gabapentin for several years!

I was told many years ago that when ever taking any medication you have to use the scales! Benefits virus side effects...…...

How much pain are you really in? against any medication side effects/problems.

Only you know if it is worth it- for me it was! so that I can have some form of (family) life and it has really worked for me!

[Justdrea81]

Hi,

I was on Gabapentin already for my migraines when all this other nerve pain started. It took a little bit to play with the dose, but 1600 mg keeps the pain bearable without bad cognitive side effects. I was up to 2400 mg and the cognitive side effects were too much. Also, I split my dose in 4 doses of 400 mg instead of 2 at 800 mg. Doing that reduced the cognitive issues that I was having to almost non-existent.