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Colobri: Gabapentin tapering


Colobri

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I am going through an absolute nightmare with gabapentin withdrawal. I had taken it for many years at 400 mg a night. I withdrew too quickly. I tried to reinstate using 100 mg. Way too strong. I got the liquid form and have found that because of my sensitive nervous system, I can only tolerate 12.5 mg of the liquid 3 times a day without really feeling dizzy and out of it. I am struggling with sleeplessness and nausea and lack of appetite.

None of the doctors understand and my psychiatrist wants me to go on Luvox right now. No way do I want to do that, knowing how sensitive I am.

It's been about three weeks that I have been reinstating. Today was a better day, but I would appreciate any comments/help anyone can give me.

 

Thank you,

Colobri

Prozac 80 mgs. Tapered off and discontinued January, 2016

Gabapentin 400 1X a day for sleep. Tapered in September 2016. Reinstated at 100 mgs a day October 24, 2016

Currently using 12.5 mgs in divided dosages, 3 X a day.

11/21 started Luvox, 50 mgs

 

 

Withdrawal symptoms: parasthesias, itching, sleeplessness, anxiety, intrusive thoughts, dizziness, headache.

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Colobri,

 

Sorry for what your going through. A staff member will help you soon.

 

What are your withdrawal symptoms? Is anxiety one of them?

Been taking paroxetine 20 mg for 20+ years for depression. Taking 300 mg of wellbutrin since October 2015 for adhd and depression. Take fish oil, calcium, and a multivitamin. Started taking risperidone late January 2015 3mg for a misdiagnoses of bipolar. Started tapering risperidone late July 2016. As of late September tapered down to 2mg at 5% a week off current dose. Oct 21/2016 1.58 mg Nov 21/2016 1.26mg No withdrawals so far.

 

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Yes. Anxiety too.

 

I had gotten off of Prozac in January of 2016. No problem. The only drug I was using was Gabapentin 400 mg sleep. My anxiety was pretty well managed with meditation, 12 step groups, exercise, diet. Then I went through a rough patch in July with couples therapy with my husband and started using the Gabapentin 400 mg pills for anxiety during the day, as prescribed by my psychiatrist. Some days I took 400 mgs 3 times a day.

 

In a very short period of time, like 3 weeks or something after starting to use the neurontin during the day, intrusive thoughts, OCD started. I thought this was because of the stress at first, not the Neurontin.

 

Around the 2nd week of September, I began to suspect that perhaps the increased Neurontin was triggering the OCD. So I started to taper it. I took 400mg for a week, then 300 one week, 200 one week and 100 one week. I started experiencing nausea, parasthesias, itching, lack of appetite, decreased ability to concentrate, worry, sadness, and anxiety. Instead of getting better over a period of 4 weeks, it got worse.

 

The third week in October my psychiatrist advised that I reinstate the Neurontin at 100 mg at night. The 100 mg dose all at once knocked me out. I was heavily sedated and had a very heavy feeling in my head. The parasthesias continued. I talked to a friend who is an endocrinologist and he suggested I try 100 mgs during the day. I was having parasthesias and itching and I could feel them go away, but the 100 mgs was way too strong. I complained to my psychiatrist and she said, "you're just overly anxious about it, it's only a small dosage, if you want the parasthesias to stop, you are going to have to put up with it." With taking the 100 mgs at night, I COULDN'T SLEEP!!! I COULDN'T FALL ASLEEP AND couldn't stay asleep.

 

Last week I got some of the liquid Gabapentin. I started with 50 mgs. With that dosage the parasthesias and itching went away, but it was still wreaking havoc with my sensitized brain, So currently I'm down to 12.5 mgs. In the morning, 12.5 in the afternoon, and 12.5 in the early evening. The parasthesias are gone.

 

Night before last I tried 2 mg melatonin to sleep. Too strong. Last night I took 50 in the early evening and then 75 before getting into bed. I slept well for the first time in two weeks, but this morning I think I had some hangover from the melatonin. I went to Trader Joe's and got the 50 mg pills. So tonight I will see what taking half of one (25 mgs.) does if I take it at 6:00 PM, then follow up with the other half right before I go to bed.

 

I've been doing exposure response prevention for my OCD since September and it seems to be helping and I thought that would do the trick for me. The psychiatrist prescribed Luvox last week. No way I'm going there.

Prozac 80 mgs. Tapered off and discontinued January, 2016

Gabapentin 400 1X a day for sleep. Tapered in September 2016. Reinstated at 100 mgs a day October 24, 2016

Currently using 12.5 mgs in divided dosages, 3 X a day.

11/21 started Luvox, 50 mgs

 

 

Withdrawal symptoms: parasthesias, itching, sleeplessness, anxiety, intrusive thoughts, dizziness, headache.

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Colobri -- Welcome to Surviving Antidepressants (SA)
 
I'm sorry to hear that you are dealing with symptoms as a result of your fast taper off Neurontin (gabapentin). 

A request: Would you summarize your history in a signature -- drugs, doses, dates, and discontinuations & reinstatements, in the last 12-18 months particularly?

  • Please use actual dates or approximate dates (mid-June, Late October) rather than relative time frames (last week, 3 months ago)
  • Any drugs prior to 18 months ago can just be listed with start and stop years.
  • You don't need to include symptoms or diagnoses other than the initial condition that led to prescribing the first drug.
  • We ask for this information in your signature so that we can see it at a glance. A list is easier to understand than one or multiple paragraphs.
  • You can find instructions in this topic: Please put your withdrawal history in signature
  • If you are using a phone or mobile device, you need to switch to the "full" or desktop version of the site. Instructions are in Post {#}8 andPost {#}9

Please read the topics at the following links:
Before you begin tapering -- what you need to know
What is withdrawal syndrome

It may take some weeks for your symptoms to settle down. The lowest risk and most likely way to get that result is to keep your doses consistent -- same amount, same time EVERY day. Here's a link that may be informative:
How long to stabilize after reinstating or updosing

Please keep notes on paper of your symptoms and the times of your dose(s). This data can be helpful if you ever need to troubleshoot. This post has a useful format for a daily log:
Take notes of doses and symptoms

Keeping your dose steady is likely to stabilize your CNS (central nervous system) symptoms. After your symptoms have diminished or any wild day-to-day or hour-to-hour swings in symptom intensity have ceased, it would be a good idea to hold for 2-3 more weeks. Then from that foundation of stability, you could gradually taper your gabapentin dose by making small dose reductions, 10% or less.
Why taper by 10% of my dosage?
Tips for tapering off Neurontin (gabapentin)

You are wise to avoid starting up with Luvox. It's extremely unfortunate that the only solution some doctors and psychiatrists seem to know is more or different medication.

I hope you'll find the information in the SA forums helpful for your situation. I'm sorry that you are in the position that you need the information, but am glad that you found us.

 

Please read the topics at the links I've posted. If you have questions about how to apply the information to your situation, please return to this thread to post your questions; that way all your information will be in one place. 

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.
1997-1999 Effexor; 2002-2005 Effexor XR 37.5 mg linear taper, dropping same #beads/week with bad results

Cymbalta 60 mg 2012 - 2015; 2016: 20 mg to 7 mg exact doses and dates in this post; 2017: 6.3 mg to  0.0 mg  Aug. 12; details here


scallywag's Introduction
Online spreadsheet for dose taper calculations and nz11's THE WORKS spreadsheet

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Just thought I would post here about some little improvements I've made in the last few days.  My anxiety is still there, but I think it is improving.  I actually slept some hours last night.  I was able to get the chewable melatonin from Trader Joe's and it is making a difference.  I got a massage yesterday and it really helped too.

How about you?  Can you share some of the ways you've improved in the last while?  

 

Let's all get better together.

 

 

 

Prozac 80 mgs. Tapered off and discontinued January, 2016

Gabapentin 400 1X a day for sleep. Tapered in September 2016. Reinstated at 100 mgs a day October 24, 2016

Currently using 12.5 mgs in divided dosages, 3 X a day.

11/21 started Luvox, 50 mgs

 

 

Withdrawal symptoms: parasthesias, itching, sleeplessness, anxiety, intrusive thoughts, dizziness, headache.

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  • Moderator Emeritus

If your question is for me, I experienced insomnia, late onset of sleep type, as a result of the skipping-doses taper that my doctor advised.  I was also getting nausea on the days I took the capsule. The nausea stopped once I started taking daily doses again and the insomnia settled within a month or so.  I did use melatonin twice, each time for a few days, to reset the onset of feeling sleepy. It's a good tool to have in my kit; I've had that sleep onset issue before and may again. Since i started tapering, I've had few issues.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.
1997-1999 Effexor; 2002-2005 Effexor XR 37.5 mg linear taper, dropping same #beads/week with bad results

Cymbalta 60 mg 2012 - 2015; 2016: 20 mg to 7 mg exact doses and dates in this post; 2017: 6.3 mg to  0.0 mg  Aug. 12; details here


scallywag's Introduction
Online spreadsheet for dose taper calculations and nz11's THE WORKS spreadsheet

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Help!

I took 75 mg of melatonin last night and I had severe dizziness. I took it at 8:00 PM and it hit about 10:00 PM. I have been trying not to use caffeinated tea, but I had some just now this morning and the dizziness has subsided.

 

I was so frightened.

 

Are there any doctors that I can consult now???

 

I can't do this anymore!!!

Prozac 80 mgs. Tapered off and discontinued January, 2016

Gabapentin 400 1X a day for sleep. Tapered in September 2016. Reinstated at 100 mgs a day October 24, 2016

Currently using 12.5 mgs in divided dosages, 3 X a day.

11/21 started Luvox, 50 mgs

 

 

Withdrawal symptoms: parasthesias, itching, sleeplessness, anxiety, intrusive thoughts, dizziness, headache.

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  • Moderator Emeritus

75 (seventy-five) mg of melatonin is a mega-mega dose. I'm sorry you're feeling the effects of that. You may want to let your body settle down by not taking any melatonin for the next few days and by making sure that you take any other medications at the same time each day.

Please keep notes on paper of your symptoms and the times of your dose(s). This post has a useful format for a daily log:
Take notes of doses and symptoms
 
If you are going to take melatonin we suggest starting with an amount below 1 (one) mg. Please read the information at this link:
Melatonin for sleep

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.
1997-1999 Effexor; 2002-2005 Effexor XR 37.5 mg linear taper, dropping same #beads/week with bad results

Cymbalta 60 mg 2012 - 2015; 2016: 20 mg to 7 mg exact doses and dates in this post; 2017: 6.3 mg to  0.0 mg  Aug. 12; details here


scallywag's Introduction
Online spreadsheet for dose taper calculations and nz11's THE WORKS spreadsheet

Link to comment
  • Moderator Emeritus

Colobri, how are you doing today?

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.
1997-1999 Effexor; 2002-2005 Effexor XR 37.5 mg linear taper, dropping same #beads/week with bad results

Cymbalta 60 mg 2012 - 2015; 2016: 20 mg to 7 mg exact doses and dates in this post; 2017: 6.3 mg to  0.0 mg  Aug. 12; details here


scallywag's Introduction
Online spreadsheet for dose taper calculations and nz11's THE WORKS spreadsheet

Link to comment

After the melatonin fiasco, I went to see my psychiatrist. I was very anxious and couldn't cope at all, and, at his and my husband's urging, I decided to take Luvox 50 mg last night. It really helped! I slept better last night than I had in two weeks. I have felt much less anxious today.

Prozac 80 mgs. Tapered off and discontinued January, 2016

Gabapentin 400 1X a day for sleep. Tapered in September 2016. Reinstated at 100 mgs a day October 24, 2016

Currently using 12.5 mgs in divided dosages, 3 X a day.

11/21 started Luvox, 50 mgs

 

 

Withdrawal symptoms: parasthesias, itching, sleeplessness, anxiety, intrusive thoughts, dizziness, headache.

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Thanks for letting us know that you've decided to add Luvox 50 mg to your medications. I'm glad you got some relief, i.e. sleep, last night and hope that continues for you.

 

Please add that you started taking 50 mg Luvox on Nov. 22, 2016 to your signature.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.
1997-1999 Effexor; 2002-2005 Effexor XR 37.5 mg linear taper, dropping same #beads/week with bad results

Cymbalta 60 mg 2012 - 2015; 2016: 20 mg to 7 mg exact doses and dates in this post; 2017: 6.3 mg to  0.0 mg  Aug. 12; details here


scallywag's Introduction
Online spreadsheet for dose taper calculations and nz11's THE WORKS spreadsheet

Link to comment

I am really struggling right now. Help!!! My psychiatrist prescribed Bellsomra and I tried that Tuesday night. Way awful drug!! I really couldn't sleep on it, but I slept Wednesday night. Then last night I tried taking progesterone and it really had a terrible effect. Then this morning I had a cup of caffeinated tea and it wired me so much that I can't even believe it. Turns out the Luvox and caffeine are a bad combination.

I don't think I can do this anymore!!!! I want my life back!!!!!

Should I go to the hospital???

Prozac 80 mgs. Tapered off and discontinued January, 2016

Gabapentin 400 1X a day for sleep. Tapered in September 2016. Reinstated at 100 mgs a day October 24, 2016

Currently using 12.5 mgs in divided dosages, 3 X a day.

11/21 started Luvox, 50 mgs

 

 

Withdrawal symptoms: parasthesias, itching, sleeplessness, anxiety, intrusive thoughts, dizziness, headache.

Link to comment

About an hour to two hours after I take the liquid 12.5 mg, which I take 3X a day, I get extreme pressure headache and dizziness. It's really debilitating. I;m thinking about keeping the total daily dosage the same, but taking it 4 or 5 times a day. Would that work? What do you think?

Prozac 80 mgs. Tapered off and discontinued January, 2016

Gabapentin 400 1X a day for sleep. Tapered in September 2016. Reinstated at 100 mgs a day October 24, 2016

Currently using 12.5 mgs in divided dosages, 3 X a day.

11/21 started Luvox, 50 mgs

 

 

Withdrawal symptoms: parasthesias, itching, sleeplessness, anxiety, intrusive thoughts, dizziness, headache.

Link to comment
  • Moderator Emeritus

Please add Belsomra to your signature with the dose you take/took, the date you started taking it, and the date you stopped (if applicable).
 
We all have thoughts along the line of "I want my life back." "I can't take this much longer" "WHEN. WILL. THIS. STOP.?" It's frustrating and heart-breaking to have symptoms of withdrawal from neuroactive prescription medications. It's awful when doctors who have freely prescribed these medications know nothing to relieve the symptoms, worse still when they don't believe us and dismiss/invalidate our experience.
 
You have reinstated gabapentin, the first thing to do after a discontinuation. Aside from reinstatement the best remedy for all of us in this situation is time and patience.

 

You need to give your CNS (central nervous system) time to recover from the shock of the fast 4-week taper off in September.

 

We suggest that people taper 10% or less per month to minimize the risk of w/d symptoms; your taper was 100% in a month.  This is not to make you wrong or to make you feel bad; you didn't know what you didn't know and were probably following your doctor's advice.  My point in highlighting the speed of your taper is to suggest the probable cause for the severity of your symptoms.

 

Symptoms of withdrawal can take many weeks, if not months, to settle down after a fast taper and reinstatement.  

Please read what people have posted about their experiences in the discussion, "How long to stabilize ..."

 
Our CNSs (central nervous systems) like stability; the symptoms result from your CNS's efforts to stabilize after the discontinuation and subsequent reinstatement.of gabapentin.
 

You've been taking 12.5 mg 3x/day since Oct. 24, a little more than 4 weeks.

You added Zoloft 5 days ago. 

You started (and discontinued?) Belsomra

It would probably be best off to keep everything the same for at least another 2 months.

Messing around with doses and/or timings may not ease your symptoms.

 
The best way to discern what might work as a next step is a daily symptom pattern. Please keep notes on paper of your symptoms and the times of your dose(s). This post has a useful format for a daily log:
Take notes of doses and symptoms
 

If you would like assistance troubleshooting, please post a few days from your symptoms log here in your introduction topic.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.
1997-1999 Effexor; 2002-2005 Effexor XR 37.5 mg linear taper, dropping same #beads/week with bad results

Cymbalta 60 mg 2012 - 2015; 2016: 20 mg to 7 mg exact doses and dates in this post; 2017: 6.3 mg to  0.0 mg  Aug. 12; details here


scallywag's Introduction
Online spreadsheet for dose taper calculations and nz11's THE WORKS spreadsheet

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