Horizant side effects

[Barb574]

I’m currently taking 7.5mg of Methadone and 1 300mg Horizant pill.

I have been thru augmentation, & this is my current regime.....I’m still up 3-4 times a night w RLS and am tired all the time. My Dr. wants me to take another 300 mg Horizant pill. It just makes me so dizzy & nauseous I’m reluctant to continue.....does anyone have the experience of the side effects going away over time?

[Hidden]

Hi,

There may be some folk on this site with experience of Horizant. Unfortunately since this is a UK web site and most folks live in the UK where Horizant, I believe, isn't available, there may be a limited number.

However, my experience is of using Gabapentin and I did experience some side effects when I first started taking it and they did fade, (OR I just stopped noticing them.)

I'm not sure how the dosages of Horizant and Gabapentin (Neurontin) compare. Perhaps others with experience can say, but 300mg sounds reasonable to start and certainly, it could, I suppose, be increased, but the higher the dose, the greater the side effects. As, I guess, you know.

The speed at which you build up to the full dose can also affect side effects. Your body can get used more easily if you build it up in stages rather than just suddenly go for it.

Medications are always a balancing act between how big a dose is enough to work effectively and how big a dose is enough to cause side effects. If the latter is lower than the former then you're snookered!

It depends how long you've been on the Horizant. a) it might not have been long enough for side effects to subside b) it might not have been long enough for it to start working.

The other thing is, nausea is also a side effect of Methadone, so which of the two is the culprit, or is it the combination.

I have definitely no experience of Methadone, maybe it's the dose of that which needs adjusting.

I augmented on Pramipexole, so I weaned off that and now take Gabapentin ONLY. No opioid. I was taking Gabapentin over a year before stopping the Pramipexole and would have considered an opiate, temporarily, to get past withdrawal symptoms. But it wasn' t necessary.

If you did augment and it was due to a Dopamine Agonist (DA) and you stopped suddenly a short time ago, you may be having withdrawal symptoms which the Methadone isn't controlling.

It's possible that Methadone which some folk on here take on a permanent low dose basis, might not be as effective as other opiates for DA withdrawals.

Finally, if you've been prescribed Methadone long term, I'm not 100% sure why you're on both Horizant AND Methadone. I'd rather be on one medication than 2, as long as it works. If you take two, and one.of them works better than the other, which one?

[Joolsg]

Hi Barb,

How long ago did you take your last dose of a dopamine agonist? As Manerva suggests, you may still be in withdrawal and the methadone hasn't kicked in fully yet.

As he also mentions, this is a UK site and we can't get Horizant here, or methadone.

I was on Gabapentin for 3 months and suffered nausea, dizziness, double vision and severe diarrhoea. I switched to pregabalin ( a similar drug to gabapentin and Horizant) and still had side effects but not as badly as when on Gabapentin. They all disappeared after 3/4 months.

I am not familiar with methadone side effects but like Manerva, wonder why you are on both Horizant and methadone.

I am sorry it doesn't seem to have worked for you- I know the people from the US who are on methadone on this site seem to have very good results, but you may need to take it for a longer period for it to become fully effective.

[Parminter]

This sounds a bit crazy. Here is an article that says the dosage of Horizant for RLS should be 600mg, and that doubling the dose shows no appreciable benefit but certainly increases the harms.

Perhaps the methadone dose should increase

I would write to Doctor Buchfuhrer at rlshelp.org to ask his opinion.

All the gabapentin drugs have a scary side-effect list as long as a very long arm, two arms and two legs

drugs.com/sfx/horizant-side...

Just a thought - when I took both a dopamine agonist and methadone, the methadone did not function perfectly. When I dropped the DA, the methadone alone worked brilliantly.

[BeachGolfer]

I had to stop Horizant due to insomnia which is one of the side effects. Maybe that’s why you’re not sleeping.

[Sara_2611]

Hello

So sorry youre still suffering , Ive never taken this medication so wont have had any experience . Hope you manage to keep positive & find a solution soon

[Artjr102]

I am also on 7.5 mg of methadone. That’s enough to take the edge off but I also have problems RL sometimes and insomnia a good bit. Marijuana is legal in Maryland where I live so I use that and it definitely helps.

Every night at bedtime I eat one marijuana brownie that has 15 mg of THC in. Then if needed For Restless leg I Vape Moondog.

For insomnia I use gorilla glue gelato or junior mint.

Hopefully this helps you