Gabapentin increase

[Maximus01]

I am currently on 900 mg Gabapentin (300 at 6:00 pm) and 600 1 hr before bed. (The Gabapentin comes in 300 mg capsules) I also take 1 mg of Lorazepam. I still have difficulty falling asleep, or wake up after a few hours. My duvet is still hanging down to the floor when I get up in the morning, telling me that I am still running marathons during the night. After a couple of bad nights, I allow myself to take an additional 300 mg Gapapentin and another 1 mg Lorazepam, around 1:00 pm or so. I will see my General Practitioner tomorrow and ask her if she can up my dose to 1200 Gabapentin. So my question is whether this is a reasonable request. (Another doctor I saw 2 yrs ago (for help as I was then totally depleted and sick from continued sleep deprivation) was willing to prescribe the Lorazepam which was a relief, since most doctors here in the U.S. are very strict about it and make a big fuzz. To make a long story short, he allows me to take 2 mg Lorazepam, but most of the time I only take 1 mg. The other question I have is: I have almost a full bottle (90 Pregabalin) sitting in my cabinet and I wonder if Pregabalin can be taken if I were to run out of Gabapentin. I switched to Gabapentin because it seemed more helpful, but now I am not sure what the difference is. The big issue for me is sleep and I really suffer, physically and emotionally, when I only get 3 hrs or so. I don't think doctors realize how much a person suffers. It is a good thing I am retired or I would not be able to work. The other issue is (not a PLMD related issue) that I lost my kitty a few weeks ago and pets are such love, comfort and company, I do miss her a lot and am going through grieving process. It is hard.

[SueJohnson]

Ask for 100 mg capsules and increase every couple days until you find the dose that is right for you. As to the pregabalin yes you can substitute it if you run out of gabapentin. Use a 6 to 1 ratio. Eg if you were taking 900 mg gabapentin, take 150 mg of pregabalin.

[Maximus01 in reply to SueJohnson]

Thank you, SueJohnson, you are so knowlegable. I appreciate.

[Tanker1]

Its reasonable to increase your gabapentin dose. I take 600 mg at 6:00 pm, 600 mg @ 8:00 pm and 600 @ 10:00 pm. The maximum dose is something like 3600 mg.

Sorry to hear you lost your kitty. We've lost 7 over the years and it never gets easier. I know the accepted advice is to wait a few months before getting another one but we've generally adopted a replacement within weeks. This has been a nice distraction from our pain.

[Snowdrop1947]

Hi, living in the U.K. so I’m not familiar with the drug lorazepam.I’m currently taking 1200 gabapentin, 2 mg Rotigotine patch and 1mg targinact.

At the moment the RLS is fairly well controlled but unfortunately I have become addicted to nitrazepan which I started taking when RLS was at its worse. I have had the condition or 35 years affecting both arms and legs.. I was unable to sit down in the evening and would have to go out walking with head torch on taking a safe route around the neighbourhood and then going to bed the RLS would continue.

I realise Rotigotine is also a dopamine agonists but at the moment augmentation occurs infrequently.

I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful.

[Maximus01 in reply to Snowdrop1947]

Hi, Lorazepam is the general of Ativan. It is a benzodiazepine.

[Snowdrop1947]

Possibly in the generic group as nitrazepan ?

[Maximus01 in reply to Snowdrop1947]

" Nitrazepam is used for short-term relief from severe insomnia or anxiety. It’s also used to treat epilepsy when other medications become ineffective. Lorazepam is a drug used in the treatment of anxiety disorders." Copied this for you from the internet. Lorazepam---generic for Ativan--helps with anxiety. They seem to be in the same benzo family.