Has anyone tried getting off Gabapentin/neurontin ?
 

Hi everyone, :confused:

Has anyone tried getting off Gabapentin/ neurontin and lowering the dose to taper it off and finally being able to leave it?
I was on 1800 mg a day and I started lowering it gradually over a couple months, but the minute I lowered my dose to 400 mg, it has been really hard.
I am having withdrawal symptoms like severe itching specially arms and legs and I can't resist scratching and digging my nails in and hitting lows in my mood till I take the next dose and symptoms dissappear for a a few hours. (I had the same problem when I was trying to get off lyrica since it didn't suit me and things improved when they put me back on neurontin.)
I think the nerves are so used to the high dose of gaba, they don't want to let go. Does that make sense??
I have tried all forms of topical creams and prescription cortisone applications but nothing seems to help.
Any suggestions would greatly help. Any natural remedies? Anything that has helped you ? Tia

We have a Medications forum that might have more info on it -http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum72.html

or use the search link in my siggy - other posts about withdrawing from Gabapentin/neurontin might be found faster as they can be scattered on may of our forums.

I successfully got off of Neurontin a few months prior to surgery but I was on 600 mg and I went cold turkey. I don't recall having any withdrawal symptoms but everyone's body is different. My body had just become so used to it that it wasn't even helping me at that point. Now I am on it again but again on 600 mg. Maybe you should try to speak with your doctor about this?

1800mg of Gabapentin roughly equals 300mg of Lyrica. When I decided to decrease my Lyrica, which I ultimately could not do because of an injury, I talked to my pain specialist and read quite a bit online. My plan was to decrease by 10% over the course of many months. I think the lowest dose pill of Lyrica manufactured is 25mg, so this meant I was going to have to make a tincture with a water solution once I dipped below 200mg. If I recall, Gapapentin comes in small doses, hence the need to take 12 pills in one sitting :).

You answered my mystery question though. I'd say somewhere in the move from 250mg to 200mg I broke out in hives on my legs and rash on my stomach and arms. I applied all kinds of topical ointments and it drove me crazy! When I ended up having to go back-up to 300mg, the rash disappeared.

Talk to your doctor, but knowing what I know now, I'd probably tough it out at 400mg for awhile and see if the rash calms down or go back-up 10% or so and see if that helps. Once it all went away then I'd start dropping at a much lower rate. You are well below 100mg of a Lyrica equivalent and for some, it's much harder to taper once you get down to the lower doses of a medicine.

Even though you are suffering with a rash, congratulations! 1800mg to 400mg is quite an accomplishment on the road to feeling to better.

Doctor's advice sadly is to get back on it. At this point I must share that I don't really need the gabapentin for nerve pain or fibromylgia kind of symptoms anymore.
i just dropped the dose to 300 mg yesterday. I will have to go cold turkey only because i have become addicted to it and that really bothers me, specially when I don't need it. Brave the itching and get help with the moods and sleep I guess. The itching has to go one day.

I go into severe depression, sleeplessness, severe itching and nausea kind of symptoms. I didn't have any of these prior to starting gabapentin, I am a very positive and determined person usually.

Went to the health food store and got L-Tryptophan and vitamin B6. It helped with my mood for sure but not my sleeplessness. maybe i will increase the dose to 1gm at bedtime instead of 500mg and see if that works. I am also looking into natural sources of L-Tryphtophan like almonds, dry dates, whole wheat, oats, halibut, turkey, etc and up my intake. Lets see where that takes me..

Thanks to all of you to take the time to reply, it means a lot to me...as always you all are truly a blessing for me. I am getting better only because of all of you on the forum who have guided me and helped me more than the doctors and surgeons ever could have.

Hi Tia, I have gotten some good suggestions of the Lyrica support board on Facebook. The drugs are basically all the same as far as side effects and it seems tapering off slowly is best but the no energy, nausea, etc. are very difficult. I takes a lot of patience and determination.