Hi,

I have been taking 100 mg Gabapentin for the past month or so. Pdoc said I could raise the Gabapentin to 400 mgs whenever I wanted.

Monday night I decided to ramp up the dose to about one and one thirds capsule -- perhaps 130 mgs. I fell asleep before I could go to bed. . . . .I took a nap while sitting at the computer and now I am awake again.

This is so weird.
I have to come up with a way to deal with how I handle raising the dose.

M

UGH

After that one hour and fifteen minute little sleep I had around two o'clock I have not been able to get to bed.

So frustrating. My whole night / day is a mess and I am doing the best I can not to be depressed about this.

M

Is that neurontin? is it halping with your depression? is that why you are trying it?
bizi

Hi, Bizi,

I have been on the Gabapentin / Neurontin for a year. It helps with anxiety. I try to raise the dose but the sleepy side effects are difficult.

Twice I have tried to raise the dose. This is my third time.

M

good luck and I am glad it helps with your anxiety, wish it would help more.
bizi

It's very difficult to figure out how to take these powerful medications. I take seroquel,and have sleepy side affects with it also. It takes affect immediately. It's very difficult to know what to do. It does help me with my condition though. BF

Hi,

This is such a mess. My sleep gets worse as the dose goes up.
I am so frustrated, depressed, and very sleep deprived.


M

I am sorry....(((((HUGS))))
bizi
maybe this will level out with time...neurontin does have some mood stabilizing effect for some folks. sorry that you are so sleep deprived.

Mari i can think of 2 things to try:

1. you could try splitting the dose, initially till you get used to it. take the 100 mg when you normally would. then take the "extra" 30ish mg at least 8 hours away from it. i figure even in the morning if you're used to 100 and that doesn't make you real sleepy, then 30mg alone should not make you sleepy.

---- OR ----

2. since you KNOW it's going to knock you out for now, you could try setting up for it. go to bed, take drug, put on cpap and lie down. you may find you sleep a little longer than you do slumped at a desk. and it will be better sleep with the cpap.

-------------------------

whatever you do, if the problem with the deprivation hits the week mark i'd call pdoc, tell him what you are doing and ask him for advice.

you don't want to insist on something needlessly when he might have some good ideas on how to help you manage the titration. on the other hand, he may tell you mission abort before you hurt yourself too much. either way, i'd not wait past 7 days to call him, barring a dramatic improvement.

good luck. i'm real sorry you're having such a hard time.

sending lots of hugs

~ waves ~

Hi,
This is what I am taking

July 15 Sunday 100 mgs (1 capsule)
July 16 Monday 130 mgs approx (1 1/3 capsule)
July 17 Tuesday 130 mgs approx (1 1/3 capsule)
July 18 Wednesday 175 mgs approx (one capsule and most of a second)
July 19 Thursday 200 mgs (two capsules)

The med is not really knocking me out. It makes me fall asleep for a short time. Wednesday night I fell asleep early for about 15 mins while watching tv around midnight and did not get back to sleep until 7:30 am with the help of some Klonopin.


I suppose that this is good news that Thursday I did not feel groggy or brainfogged -- mostly tired perhaps from not sleeping. . . also maybe a little sleepy.

->I need enough days at a decent dose to help with anxiety. --- not sure what the decent dose is.
->I would welcome some relief of depression and nerve pain too but those might require higher doses than I am willing to deal with.


M