Coming of Gabapentin.

[donna19]

Hi everyone after seeing the post about gabapentin the other day and the amount of us that had gained weight has anybody tried to come of them without going the GP. If so did you suffer in other ways for trying. Xx

[Madlegs1]

First off- the weight gain is mostly fluids- not fat. But uncomfortable nevertheless - though may not be a health issue.

Second- you are taking it for a medical reason- so should see your doctor before coming off.

Third- if and when you come off - taper down slowly. Take magnesium to lessen the effect of the gabapentin and lower the dose by 100 every few days- depending on where you are starting from- again - consult your doctor.

Fourthly - what will you go on to next?

Good luck. Sometimes , what we wish for , may not be what we want.😱😎

[donna19 in reply to Madlegs1]

Thank you for your reply . I have made a appointment with the Dr for next week I told him I was worried about putting more weight on before I started them as the same happened with pregabilin. I'm on morphine patches as well so may not win either way lol. X

[Madlegs1 in reply to donna19]

Good move- let us know how you get on. It's not easy to get the right medication all the time.

Some of them really mess one up.

Keep the faith - breathe every now and again- and don't forget to smile. People will think you are mental- but you'll have the last laugh.😆

[Taliswood]

Hi Donna I came off Gabpentin with the help of my GP and I wouldn't recommend you try to do it without their help. It was a very painful process even reducing by 100 mg as Madlegs has said was agony, the withdrawal symptoms were dreadful. Having gone through the process I feel so much better without all the awful side effects it caused and so it was worth it but I must admit I was naive and didn't realise I would experience such withdrawal symptoms !!

I was on Gaba for just 5 months, it wasn't really doing anything for my neuropathic pain, slightly helped my legs but did nothing for the nerve pain and shocks in my back. I just couldn't stand the awful side effects plus in this short time I gained a stone and a half even with eating very sensibly but unfortunately because of my lack of mobility I am struggling to lose it even on only 1200 calories a day 🙁 . I've lost 9lbs and will keep on trying. Please speak to your GP before doing anything, they will help you and you do need them on your side 😃😃

[Grizzly7168 in reply to Taliswood]

Taliswood could you please tell me what the symptoms were when you came off Gabapentin . Like you Donna19 I would love to come off this drug. Thankyou

[Taliswood in reply to Grizzly7168]

Sorry for the delay Grizzly 😃

My GP said to reduce slowly by 100mg every 3 days he was very prescriptive and gave me a little note of how and when to do it. I will see if I can find it and let you know later. I think I took my last full dose of 1200mg on the Tuesday and took my first dose of 1100mg (had to get some 100mg capsules as mine were 300mg) on the Wednesday. I was ok until early evening on Friday when it started to hit my body. First I had a raging nerve pain in one of my back teeth that had been perfectly fine and never had trouble with before. By later in the evening my neck, shoulders and arms started to feel really achey progressing to being so painful that my head felt too heavy to hold up the pain was so bad. We decided it would be best for me to go to lay on bed in case I got worse and thank god I did. The heavy ache and raging nerve pains then proceeded to go all through my body which was so scary! After a little bit of sleep I then couldn't get myself out of bed on the Saturday morning I felt so bad. I was getting palpitations and my heart was racing, was very anxious and a bit panicky too. My partner was due to go out for the day but at 8am he called it off I was so bad he didn't want to leave me. He got our next door neighbour who is a senior nurse to come and see me and she confirmed it was definitely withdrawal symptoms from the Gabapentin. I was supposed to have another drop that day but she said to wait and see if I felt any better the following day and to do it then. My neck, shoulder and back muscles were all in spasm so she kindly gave me a gentle massage which really helped me. I did start to feel a bit better later that day and got up about 7pm. I did the next 100mg drop on Sunday. Each time after a drop the above symptoms started 😟 a couple of days after but each time they were a little less severe until the last 3 or 4 drops I think, when I had no more. Phew.....brought me out in a cold sweat just thinking about it all lol.

Please do chat with your GP about reducing them before you do. The other thing is we are all different and are probably taking Gabapentin for different reasons so others may not experience the same as I did, could be worse or could be better 😃😃 . Let us know how you get on.

[Grizzly7168 in reply to Taliswood]

Wow thank you for the great information. I do remember my GP mentioning that I would have to come off gradually. I will be going for a facet injections at the end of Sept. If that does not work the next step Ryzotomy ( wrong spelling ) then they may start to gradually take me off some of my meds. Thank you again hope you have a pain free day.

Janice

[Taliswood in reply to Grizzly7168]

Would absolutely love one of them Janice 😃😃😍😃😃

Have replied to another one of your posts about facet joint cysts too xx

[Oma3]

I was taking Gabapentin then Lyrica then Amytriptyline and all I got was a 40 lb. weight gain. I had no withdrawals. My GP just told me to just stop each one and then she put me on a new one. I kept telling her that I did not have nerve pain and I was just gaining weight. I could not move much because of chronic back pain. I told her if I could move more I would not gain weight and could even lose weight. She had taken away the opiates so my pain level increased. She finally let me have tramadol. This helped more than the nerve pain med and i have lost 10 lbs in a month from just being able to move more. She also wants to put me on Nucynta. Every heard of it ? Good luck with your progress.

[Grizzly7168 in reply to Oma3]

Thank you for your reply . Yes I have also have had a weight gain and even when I try to loose it , my weight just won't change. I had a specialist at least 13yrs ago who said that I had to move more and to not be a couch potatoe. I guess Aqua fit and going for long walk didn't count. My GP referred me to a different specialist. Thank god she did. I have not heard of Nucyta before , some of the medications we cannot get here. If you dont mind could you let me know how it works for you? Thanks again have a wonderful day 😃

[Oma3 in reply to Grizzly7168]

Thanks for ur reply. I was able to lose 15 lbs in the first two months after getting off all the nerve pain meds. I was able to move more due to the tramadol. I have not been able to get the Nucynta yet. The insurance co denied the request and then the GP appealed then they ok'd it. Then went to fill the script and the nurse wrote the script wrong. The insurance approved Nucynta but the GP only wants me to take Nucynta ER. StartIng all over again. Just got denied for the ER. Now the GP needs to appeal again. As u can see this is such bullshit. While they r fooling around Now 2 months I have to keep dealing with the #10 pain when I get it. If I ever get the Nucynta ER I'll let u know if it helps. Nucynta ER is the only pain pill the GP will let me try. I was taking Vicodin and it worked. However in Vermont USA they r stopping people from having Opioids. If I was a drug addict I could just go down the block and get heroin. But, because I am legitimately in chronic pain I have to keep jumping hoops.

[Yorkie02]

I came off that and went onto pregabalin, so was just replacing it but they are very similar, I asked the doctor about coming off pregabalin and he said 'thats up to you' I asked if I could just stop and he just said yes! Anyway, I was taking two per night so reduced to one, then started every other day then just stopped. It wasn't that easy but after a couple of weeks or so I'd stopped but I'd replaced them with herbal sleeping tablets, as they'd helped me sleep. I suffered with more nerve pain after, but tried more natural ways to help with that. Good luck!

[Rinoman1]

I have been taking for many months .I too feel it raises BP and n I think sure about enough pain relief. Take minimal pain meds.probably need stronger d I see or different med. I'm concerned about withdrawal from stopping .my surgeons nurse said to take it every day or withdrawal can occur. Great .idea said. Lol. Good luck. I'm debating S1 disc surgery. Injections have not helped enough. 16 Injections I've had and 2 surgeries .one fusion one microdiscectomy. At a crossroads right now. Still working but not enjoying life at all.