So I weaned off my ropinerole about 2 weeks ago and started gabapentin for my RLS. I also weaned off my Prozac last month and started buspar 10 mg in the morning and 10 mg at night for my anxiety . I’m also taking 65 mg of iron I. The morning and at night with vit c to help it absorb better. With the gabapentin I’m up to 1200 mg. Last night was my first try at that dose and I did split the dose and take 1/2 of it earlier (about 5 hours earlier)
here are my questions
the buspar makes me super loopy after I take it which is not great for my respiratory therapist job in the hospital that starts at 6am. It’s hard to remember things and fiduciary and sometimes I get off balance. It’s fine at night since I can just go to bed but I struggle with the morning dose.
Without anxiety meds I become not a nice person. I tend to yell at my kids a lot more, be snippy with my husband and cry a lot at everything. So I really do need anxiety meds right now.
The gabapentin seems to be making me super hungry and my weight jumped up like 5 pounds. This seemed to also happen before when I tried gabapentin. That year I gained 50 lbs in 6 months.
It also makes me super tired even into the next day.
I kind of feel like I can’t think straight and I can’t remember things. Not sure if it is both meds or just the buspar.
Plus I still have restless leg symptoms in the morning and through the day. So even though I’m super tired I can never take a daytime nap because my legs are so jumpy
Any ideas or thoughts on these specific issues.
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On the iron, take it only once a day at night. Taking it more often reduces its effectiveness. You can double up on what you take at night if you want to. Be sure you take it at least than 24 hours apart. Second you should not be up to 1200 mg of gabapentin yet. It takes 3 weeks to be fully effective. If you increased recently, ie the last few days, I would reduce it until 3 weeks have passed and also until you have been off ropinirole for more than 2 weeks. If you stay with gabapentin, take the 600 mg 1 to 2 hours before bedtime and the additional amount up to 600 mg 4 hours before bedtime, not 5 hours apart. Third Since you had problems with weight gain, you might want to switch to pregabalin. Although they are basically the same drug except you don't need to divide the doses, and the side effects are basically the same, some people find that the side effects that bother them on one don't bother them on the other. Divide the gabapentin amount by 6 to get the correct dose. Fourth If both give you weight gain and you want to come off them, do so very slowly to avoid withdrawal effects. If you do so slowly you will have none. Then your option would be low dose opioids. Fifth, since buspar makes you loopy, you might want to try trazodone. Also Some OTC supplements that help anxiety are Ashwagandha, L-theanine and Honokiol.
Thanks, Right now I don’t have insurance and my previous insurance wouldn’t cover pregabalin. But maybe my next insurance will. It hasn’t started yet due to it being a new job. I will follow your advice and take the iron just at night. I will back down to 900 mg of gabapentin and wait before uping it again. I had been up to 600 mg of gabapentin before without it being effective so that is why my doctor was willing to go up a little faster.
You can use Goodrx to get a much lower price. For example Pregabalin at retail is anywhere from $319 to $440 but with Goodrx which is free it is as low as $13.54 at Food Lon or Wegmans for 60 capsules of 75 mg. I often find medicines cheaper using Goodrx than with my insurance.
As you only stopped Ropinirole 2 weeks ago you are still in withdrawal. Experts recommend taking at least 2 weeks off work to handle the severe sleep deprivation, exhaustion and trauma.
You only reached the full 1200mg dose of gabapentin last night so it won't be effective for 3 weeks. Can you take time off work to allow your body to handle the traumatic withdrawal and allow the gabapentin to be fully effective? Gabapentin causes weight gain through increasing your appetite so try to watch what you eat. It also causes extreme dizziness and loss of balance but this settles after around 6 to 8 weeks. I think the 'loopy ' symptoms are probably due to the gabapentin and they should settle in the next few weeks.
No wonder you're anxious, stressed and snapping at everyone
You're still in withdrawal, so allow the gabapentin 3 weeks to be effective
If it doesn't work in a month, you may need to switch to a low dose opioid.
In the meantime make sure your serum ferritin is above 100.
That makes total sense about gabapentin making me hungry. I’ve been ravenous lately. But I started a new eating plan today so hopefully that helps. I had been only up to 0.5mg of ropinerole at my highest before I found this site and discovered that I was augmenting so hopefully the withdrawal passes soon. Luckily we moved recently and. I haven’t started my new job yet. I am able to put off the start date by several weeks so I think I will do that. As for being snappish due to withdrawal that might be a bit of the reason, but I am that way normally without anxiety meds so it might have just been worse with the withdrawal. Also our life has been very stressful this spring and summer with a job ending, selling our house, moving into an RV fulltimewith our 5 kids and struggling for my husband to get a new job. Lots of things to create a need for anxiety meds. Thanks for your input. I really appreciate it.
I would second Sue's suggestion of only taking iron at night. I take 56mg about half an hour before I go to bed.
And her suggestion of taking Pregabalin instead of Gabapentin. It is a lot easier to take ... I take 300mg at 6.00pm every night, and that is it. I also find that it "works better", although there will always be a bit of brain fog the next morning.
I gained weight not because of the Pregabalin, but because I was on Citalopram (for HRT) ... so have now come off of that. Weight gain in a woman that is unexplained is like the final nail in the coffin, isn't it.
Good luck, and if you get down, just repost - we are all here for you. x
Memory lapses (forgetting things and having trouble remembering simple words to use in a conversation) and constant hunger pains (like a yawning empty pit in my stomach that could only be very temporarily filled by something sugary) were my two biggest problems with gabapentin.
Insurance wouldn't cover pregabalin, so I've never tried it.
So I looked into Sue Johnsons recommendation to use GoodRX. when I look it up on their website you can get it at most major pharmacies (with their program) like walgreens, walmart etc for only $17. That's worth it for me. Although online it does say that pregabalin still causes weight gain. and that you have to closely watch your diet.
Pregabalin is basically the same drug except you don't need to divide the doses, and the side effects are basically the same, however some people find that the side effects that bother them on one don't bother them on the other.
switching off both your anti depression medication & a DA at the same time is a big ask. Your body will be having problems coping with so much change. I understand why you’ve done it but I would make sure you do it very slowly. Gabapentin is a challenging med which I personally couldn’t tolerate. An opioid might be an option at least for a few weeks while you are recovering from the DA. Take care as it sounds like a tough time.
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