Four months ago I was diagnosed with Valley Fever. The stress of being very ill and the fear of possible chronic illness cascaded me into an agitated depressed state. I mostly over the Valley Fever (I think?) but I was prescribed Neurontin/Gabapentin for my mental state — now at 2400mg/day for almost a month. Needless to say, this has worsened my depression and made me addicted to the drug. Every time I try to withdraw by 300-400mg the very next day I am in agonizing convulsions: chest pain, panic, double vision, nausea, etc. I am feeling so **** hopeless. I want so desperately off of this drug but my doctor just says take off 400 every few days and you will not experience any withdrawal. He's kidding, right? Is there anyone who can suggest what to do? Am I doomed to 6-10 months of slow withdrawal off this drug just because I have taken it for only a month?! I have all the ReMag. Epsom salts, NeuroEndure, JNK but nothing seems to work. Is it possible to withdraw from this *****? Please help.

Adamo,

It is great to have you come and be with us. You will fine a great number of dear friends to listen when you are in need of ears. Please, just let us know how we can help you out. You will find out we are supportive and relaxing place.

Please keep us up to date on your situation. Again welcome, looking forward to seeing you around. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Thanks for your warm welcome. I need all the advice I can get. I have never been addicted to anything nor have I used any drugs. I also do not drink. I am at a total loss when it comes to this gabapentin drug. I even went to a Narcotics Anonymous meeting but the few people I talked to said this is not a narcotic nor an addiction. Is it just that I'm nuts or does anyone have problems with this stuff?!

--seems to have that degree of difficulty coming off Gabapentin; you seem to be especially sensitive.

As with all anti-seizure drugs, one must come off Gabapentin very, very slowly, as the central nervous system upregulation that occurs while taking the drug will no longer be masked if the drug is titrated down too quickly, and then unsuppressed upregulation can certainly produce symptoms of agitation and possible susceptibility to seizures.

I was on 2700mg of Gabapentin at my highest dose; when I began to taper I went down 100mg every WEEK. There were some some effects each time I did this; when the effects were bad I sometimes went a few weeks before going down again, to give my body time to adjust. It took me more than 8 months to completely come off the drug, though in my case I was trying to avoid bounceback neuropathic pain more than the effects you are describing.

Gosh, I do feel for you. I came off of Oxycodone the other year, and instead of filtering it to lower doses, I went Cold Turkey. It was horrific .. I had to sleep in the spare room as my legs kept jerking .. I couldn't close my eyes .. I'd probably doze for 10 minutes then wake in a sweat.

This was the Wednesday .. at midnight on Wednesday I took a half spponful of Oxynorm (the liquid equivalent of Oxycodone) as I was in such a state.

I threw all my tablets out .. (husband took them to the pharmacy to be disposed of) and on the Saturday, I lay in bed looking at the bottle of Oxynorm thinking: "Just one spoonful and I will feel better" ... that's when I knew I was in trouble. So I tipped it down the toilet.

My family were fantastic .. I was unable to eat as I felt sick ALL the time. I couldn't even watch my favourite cookery programmes. I forced myself to eat lightly buttered toast as I knew I had to keep my energy up to fight this.

My husband bought me smoothies, vitamins and when I started with the Anxiety Attacks, some herbal remedies for calming you.

At one point I even phoned my Doctor to ask if Panic Attacks could kill you as I was having wave after wave .. it was like riding a huge storm.

I did it though .. a bit drastic, but I did it.

I found that by talking to people on forums such as this, a great help, as there is always someone that has been in the same position.

Try NOT to read the forums where people use these drugs recreationally, as they abuse the drug so much that they are on extremely high doses and my mistake was reading comments on there are frightening myself half to death.

Talk again to your Doctor .. ask if you can speak to them on the phone if you need to. My Doctor was fully supportive and rang me every day to see how I was getting on.

It terrified me that she said that the only thing she could give me for withdrawal of this drug was METHADONE !

Stay strong ... get in touch with the Doctor and tell them that you need support. Remember also, WE are here if you need to talk.

xx Thinking of you.

To my understanding, that's not entirely accurate. Buprenorphine, Clonazepam, and Methocarbamol to name just a few, but that's a medical judgment, and still needs to be done under the supervision of a doctor, as there is some risk of substituting one dependence for another.

Tapering down with OTC meds to help alleviate symptoms might have been easier, but that's a personal choice, and moot at this point. What's important is that you succeeded. (Thumbs Up) Hopefully you've found other ways of managing pain.

Doc

Umm yes, more drugs. Lol. However, I feel they are under MY control whereas before, they were ruling me.

Still a lot ..

Zomorph 30mg twice a day
Tramadol or Oramorph for breakthrough pain. (I switch between the two)
Diazepam for back spasm
Tamazepam IF I have a few nights without sleep
20mg Amitryptilline at night
Paracetamol every 6 hours if pain is in flare up
Fluoxetine 40mg per day
Omeprazole 40mg twice a day
Lazido .. Powder to keep your gut moving
Biaocodyl .. Tablet to keep bowel moving
Micralax .. The big guns, if bowel NOT moving. Lol

That explains why your doctor was reluctant to prescribe anything more.

Doc

the Zomorph is instead of thenoxcodone and Oramorph instead of the Oxynorm .. Does that make sense?

I have been on oxy for two years now I hope I dont have that when its time to get off of it. I have had 3 back operation and still have no relife from pain. All I do is stay home most of time in bed.