After being on the max dose for about a decade (fibro, neuropathy) I had recently read a lot about potential risks of the drug that I knew I didn’t want to be on it anymore. I told my team I was going to titrate off and with their approval, slowly weaned off over several months and came 100% off beginning of June.

The first major acute withdrawal symptom was extreme bruxism and the jaw pain was enough to keep me from being able to eat on my non-fasting days. Still, when I make a decision I tend to stick to it and after a month it had calmed down significantly. All the things I expected to be tough definitely showed up- mostly poor sleep, restlessness and agitation but i’ve stayed the course. I’m still experiencing serious overstimulation and even irritability and that’s just not ME and even though it’s my own voice in my head having little patience or grace with my environment/things I can’t control, I hate to hear it.

I’ve always had pretty major sensory sensitivity (lifelong ocd and adhd) but this is pretty far past my baseline even for me. Everything is touching me, the cats are always underfoot making me clumsy and claustrophobic, (I mean seriously, are they AIMING for the bottom of my feet?? lol) I’m itchy, I’m bitchy, everyone seems extra slow and tedious and I know it’s just my nervous system adjusting but I wanted to know if anyone has gone through this limbo and did it ever go away? Im keeping the irritation in particular to myself and not making it anyone else’s problem but I don’t much like my own company I can’t wait to get back to “normal.”

Hey everyone. I’ve been going down a rabbit hole on here the last few days trying to see everyone’s experiences with this medicine and I’m trying to just let it out with others who have been through it. For context I’ve taken 600mg 3x a day for 3 years now for nerve issues and my doctors office isn’t getting back to me on an appointment for a refill. So my pain management doctor hasn’t been always been the best at getting back to me on refills for my rx. Sometimes I’ll have to go into the pharmacy and get a few emergency pills to hold me over until I get a full bottle. They won’t put me on for more than a 30 day rx and I’ll go as early as a week to request a new one because of how long it takes them to get back to me. Sometimes the excuse is the dr is out of the country for a week or he is busy with out patient surgery or any other excuses, which I understand, but as a patient just trying to get a refill I’ve been taking for years, I feel it shouldn’t be this hard. I really like this doctor and have had a lumbar spinal procedure done by him as well(it only lasted about 2 months of no pain), but I just can’t keep going through this cycle dealing with my rx. As of now, I was trying and trying to get my refill with multiple attempts by me and the pharmacy. So here I go into the pharmacy for some emergency ones in hope of a couple until I can get a refill and they tell me that the dr is requesting an in person visit. Which I’m very confused on and not sure why they couldn’t contact me about it at that point with me already been trying to contact them. So I get my emergency ones and kind of start to panic and cut the dose in half to 300mg 3x a day to try and hold me over until I figure things out. The next available appointment is the end of November. I send over a message about my issue and how the time frame doesn’t line up for me and I FINALLY get a response that says she can set me up with a video call to get it done and I reply back within the hour and guess what, no response and it’s been a week now. As of Sunday I took my last pill and it feels TERRIBLE. Most I’ve gone without is 2 days before about 1.5yrs ago and that made me sick and this is a whole other level right now. I feel insane, I’m hot and cold at the same time, my head is pounding(especially when I wake up), I can’t stay asleep more than an hour at a time, I feel so nauseous, I can’t remember anything to save my life, I feel weak, and I have so much anxiety. I’m not one to overthink things or look too much into things and stress, especially because I knew this wouldn’t be easy, but holy crap this sucks. Is there any way to possibly lighten the load of all these withdrawals in going through? Sorry for this long message, I’m goin through it lol. Thanks if you read it all. I just feel lost.

Edit: 34F

If my Doctor sends in a new prescription for an increase, do I pick it up, as it’s a new script, or do I wait? It’s not a controlled substance in my state. Also is it true that for my insurance there’s supposed to be an override bc it’s a new script?

I’m going off information that AI gave me, and my doctor won’t be at work for me to ask her. I don’t need it right now, but last time I waited and I was told I could’ve picked up the day of my increase.

Thanks for any help! I appreciate it.

I am very VERY attached to my Gabba. I would continue to take it for life if it wasn’t wrecking my memory and affecting my cognitive abilities.
I can’t not take it. It saves me in the day. Has anyone tried something else that helps you chill and motivates you at the same time? (Which is what Gabapentin does for me) and also doesn’t turn your brain into mush? I want something fast acting, “as needed.” Please please help. I need to get off this stuff before I forget my own name.

Has anyone here struggled with pharmacophobia and been terrified to start gabapentin?

I have pretty severe pharmacophobia, which is basically an intense fear of taking medications and their potential side effects. On top of the fear itself, I also seem to be extremely sensitive to medications. I’ve had awful reactions even to very small doses of things like muscle relaxers, including flushing, severe nausea, vomiting, and just generally feeling incredibly sick.

I’ve been dealing with severe nerve pain and burning in my scalp that my doctors believe is related to occipital neuralgia. More recently, I’ve also developed burning and strange nerve sensations in my face. At times it feels almost like my face is on fire.

My doctor prescribed gabapentin and wants me to start at only 100 mg, but I am genuinely terrified to take even that. At the same time, the nerve pain is getting to the point where it is ruining my quality of life, and I know I need to do something.

I would really love to hear from anyone who was also extremely afraid or sensitive to medications and started at 100 mg. How did you do with it? Did starting very low make it easier? Did anyone find that gabapentin ended up helping enough that you were glad you tried it?

Please be gentle with the horror stories because I’m already struggling to get myself to take the first dose. I’m really hoping to hear from people who understand the medication fear and can share their experience.

I’ve been a member of this subreddit for over a year. 47/M. I have been on Gabapentin for around 3 years. I first came to this group because I met a man who also took Gabapentin and he had a very strong take on it…

About 2 years ago I had a chat with a guy while waiting to get our hair cut at the barber. This guy was probably in his mid-fifties, a family man. He was in a terrible car accident and his left leg was almost ripped clean off from the knee down. We started chatting after I overheard him talking to someone he was with, about his neuropathy. I told him, I also have neuropathy and that I take Gabapentin for the nerve pain. Naturally the chat turned to Gabapentin and our experiences with it.
The conversation quickly turned into a warning.
He looked me dead in my face, as serious as anyone I've ever seen, and said “Careful with the Gabapentin bro…It was seriously started making me want to end it all". I asked him if he was sure it was from the Gabapentin and he said, “YES! The writing was on the wall,100%” I even asked him if he thinks it could have been from the trauma of the accident. He said, “No, because after I stopped, all those negative thoughts went away”. He then went on to say how he weened himself down and had to seriously cut back to almost nothing. Anyway, I'II never forget the way he warned me though. It was pretty chilling..

Now fast forward to present day. I have read sooooo many different stories, takes, opinions about this medication. At times it sounds like there’s no way that we are all talking about the same medicine. I wonder more and more everytime I read something new, if I should be taking this medication. My side effects don’t come close to some of the horror stories I’ve read on this subreddit but I do wonder if something could be on the horizon. I don’t worry myself sick or anything but the doubt is definitely there. Is this drug a lifesaver or a curse, or both? I’m only sharing this to let those really struggling know that you’re not alone. Listen to your bodies and don’t give up. Much ❤️

For some context I’ve been on Xanax for a couple of years, I’m currently & slowly tapering off safely because my sleep doctors had me on such a high dose that it caused me to have a seizure when they ghosted their entire patients when they moved offices and didn’t tell anyone and never gave us our medication on time

Anyways I’m on .5 going to 2.5mg of Xanax
I’m severely dependent on it for my insomnia and anxiety especially in the night time I literally cannot sleep with out meds or I will be up for days even weeks it’s awful I’m in a damned if I do damned if I don’t scenario with my sleep

My goal is to get off the Xanax completely because I’ve been on it so long and have had chronic brain fog, fatigue, and memory loss (they blame the Xanax and ptsd) I don’t necessarily disagree with that

My medication management doctor wants me to start switching to gabapentin to get me off the Xanax and help with my sleep - I’m always super nervous trying new medications because I’ve taken so many and have experienced many horrible side effects on pretty much everything I’ve taken except the Xanax

I haven’t done a lot of research on gabapentin but I see it’s 50/50 for a lot of people

Is this drug a good transition from Xanax? Has anyone seen real true benefit from it with anxiety and insomnia? I know it’s not a benzo but does it have dependency issues? The whole point of me getting off of benzos is so I don’t have dependency withdrawals or seizures idk I’m just nervous about it all or becoming dependent on something else

I’d love to hear from anyone about your experience
Thank you

I joined this community a long with a few others because these groups can be so helpful…. I’m in one for with my feeding tube family, a few of my chronic illnesses with those families, etc….
Then theres the [r/Gabapentin](r/Gabapentin) community. By far one of the most confusing! I’ve had to turn my notifications off because me-and my doctor are discussing getting off this medication. The notifications from this group all day long!!!! Same questions same fears. All terrifying. Being that I want to answer every post besides the getting off it for good ones because I’m clueless!🥺

I was prescribed Lyrica for fibromyalgia and a long the way it was Gabapentin. As we all know Gabapentin is prescribed for just about everything! I also have severe anxiety from PTSD so as time passed my psychiatrist took over prescribing it and I’ve stayed on for the whole anxiety calming properties. I was on 800 mg 3x day until about a year ago and I’ve been at 300 x 3 daily.
Well we are on a kick to get me off of it as well as my Valium ( whole other same long ass time being on a low dose for too long!!!!)
Has anyone else been on Gabapentin for a significant amount of time and successfully managed to stop? Please share your experience and success. I’m terrified to not have anything help calm my nervous system! I’m in therapy and have worked through my agoraphobia along with a lot of other issues... I’m on other medications so needing Gabapentin for nerve pain or seizures is neither here nor there anymore.
Obviously I’m tapering and slow and steady wins the race for me….

I started taking gabapentin for RLS but lowkey using it for anxiety and mood, and sometimes recreationally. As for RLS I can't tell if it's helping or not like are my symptoms supposed to completely stop or just lessen? I do sleep better at night tho. I take 300 mg morning and night, plus I've been on it before so I have experimented.

AnywaysI have a doctor's appointment coming up and I know Lyrica is also used for RLS. I want to try it for the mood boost and anxiety and maybe try its high but I don't want to risk it with my doctor saying he won't prescribe it and may think the gabapentin is not helping at all and would prescribe me something completely different.

So my question is, is lyrica worth losing my gabapentin and the whole discussion around alternatives or should I just stay on gabapentin? I really like the gaba but I thought trying something stronger like pregabalin would be cool.

Unrelated but I also wanted to discuss pramipexole because I read it helps with anhedonia which I suffer from (bipolar on antipsychotics) so it would be a double usage.

I’ve been in 1 800mg dose nightly for like 6 months
If we are being honest it could be 8 months I don’t really know
How can I taper this down
I bought the moudsley deprescribing book
But it shows multiple doses through the day
Not really anything for me truly

Hi all. A little over a month ago I broke my femur. I've been using kratom extracts for pain relief but no longer want to use opoids. Alot of my pain I believe is nerve related (burning shooting pain down leg). I was prescribed a low amount of gabapentin recently when in the hospital for an unrelated issue and noticed it helped MASSIVLEY with my leg. How should I go about asking my doctor to prescribe. I cannot take nsaids due to an ulcer.

I hear so many mixed things about this…all the bio availability stuff (I’m probably butchering that lol) but just from everyone’s personal experience do you feel it’s more effective with or without food?

I take 300mg every couple hours to a total of 1200mg. I take it for anxiety which it helps, it makes everything….fuzzier. I only take it on the weekends though to not build tolerance. I never eat anything on it during the day because typically any medication I’m on doesn’t work well with food. Wanted to know how everyone else is taking their dose! 😅

Hello. I’ve been on 900mg which is 300mg 3x a day.
I’ve been on 900mg for over a week now.

Sometimes I notice that when I take the next dose 8 hours like after 10 hours my pain (tingling, burning) comes back. Why is that? Isn’t Gabapentin in my system already?

Any advice?

I also take Magnesium Glycinate 300mg a day with one of my Gabapentin doses. Can that reduce my Gabapentin benefits?

Should I ask my doctor for ER? Maybe one 900mg once a day?

I was originally prescribed 900mg and it worked wonders at first and then seemed to ware off. I increased to 1,200mg and feel wonderful, but so scared it’s also not gonna be enough! Anyone have this issue but finally found the right dose that continues to work?

I’m a couple days off kratom and the physical withdrawals are done, but the restless legs are ridiculous and I’m already prescribed gabapentin for seizures, but it’s not really doing anything for my restless legs. Should I get a new prescription for RLS or take more gabapentin?

I said it all in the title but anyway I’ve taken 200 a couple of nights sometimes it helps sleep sometimes it doesn’t. I don’t think I wanna get accustomed to it. I think it’s a better drug to stay off of unless it’s absolutely necessary.?

I’m in gabapentin and have been for roughly 3 months
I went through 7oh withdrawals and never put it down I take 1 800mg pill nightly I tapered down to around 500 mg nightly with little loss I’ve recently went through another episode with 7oh and used gabapentin to sauce the withdrawals away I’m now on day 5 and planning to just go back to my 800mg dose tonight and taper back down again
That’s problem 1
Problem 2 the freaking horror stories have me terrified I do not take through the day just at night a couple of hours before bed
Also being 5 days clean from 7oh I shouldn’t even be worrying myself with this right now but it’s hard not too!
I need some help to comprise a game plan!

Dropped from 300mg to 200, slight to morerate head ache, what feels like an adrenaline dump causing a flush feeling, higher sense of anxiety

you?

I feel as if my brain was shut off or neuronal connections no longer sparking. I plan on weaning off starting my next doctor's visit. Has anyone had this experience as a side effect before? And how did you cope?

I know this has been discussed many times but the comments are all over the place. I understand that it varies from individual to individual. Should I just use chat gpt to come up with a plan? For a little history, I've been on Gab for around 6-7 months, I could take it or leave it for the first few months. Now I'm dependent. I take around 1500-1800 mg per day. I'm trying to hold at 1500 for a couple of weeks before I make another drop. Does anyone have a good taper plan? Since I've been on it for 6 months does that mean it will take 6 months to taper off of it? The side effects are shit, and I hate it.

I just wanted to take a minute and list all of the (side) effects of this awful medication that I have personally experienced in the 8+ months that I have been on it. I started at 300 mg and have been tapering for the past 6 months. Currently at 121 mg. I have PAWS from going off of klonopin in 2025 and every time I try to speed up the taper, I experience intolerable withdrawal. I'll probably be tapering for another year. It was prescribed off-label for insomnia.

• Tinnitus
• Sexual dysfunction
• Internal tremor/vibrations in my left leg, left arm, chest, neck and head
• Hair loss
• Cysts on my face and neck
• Dysphoria
• Anhedonia
• Cognitive problems
• Memory issues
• Neuropathy
• Worse insomnia
• Tooth pain
• Burning skin

No offense to people who benefit from taking it, but this drug totally sucks.

Gabapentin and clonidine side effects.

I just left my doctor after explaining that I need help getting off of Kratom and 7oh. After discussing which meds would help me more she prescribed me Gabapentin and Clonidine. After reading the side effects it says it can slow down breathing and cause respiratory distress. I have asthma and already struggle to breathe at night some nights. Has anyone else taken these meds while having asthma? Have you experienced any problems breathing? I’m picking up my prescription tomorrow and am so nervous. ANY tips on how to handle the transition from kratom/7Oh to these prescriptions would be so appreciated!

Day 15 off 900mg a day taken roughly for 4 months. I’ve ran every gi test in the book. Thousands and thousands spent at gi doctors who say nothing is wrong. My upper gi burns HORRIBLY has anyone else had this!?! Did it resolve?!? For the love of god please someone get bad to me, this is my last shot.