Alprazolam, gabapentin, lamotrigine

Hi folks.

I just started tapering of 2mg alprazolam(xanax) for tolerance and dependency reasons. I've been on it for 20+ years (started at 0.25mgs), but I'm also on gabapentin and lamictal which also directly hit gaba receptors. I feel like it it a MUST to get rid of the alprazolam first, but I'm trying not to freak out because I'm on these two other meds (which I plan to come off of eventually), which are going to give me hellish side-effects in and of themselves.  I don't want to be in withdrawal for the next 15 years of my life!  I'm just afraid and trying to no feel hopeless.  I've gotten off adderall and Geodon in the past year, so I give myself credit for that.  It just freaks me out to think about how these meds have injured my brain and caused my CNS to be maladjusted for so long.  I do believe the brain is capable of healing beyond our comprehension but I guess I'm having a fear-based thinking, benzo withdrawal day, and that is why I feel so afraid of being on these other meds and what they've done/are doing to my brain.  My thoughts are scattered, I feel like I haven't made much sense in this post.

Makes sense to me. I'm sorry you're dealing with all of that. I'd say don't look it at like you HAVE to get off all of them and even if you do feel you have to or want to, it will be one at a time.

 

I think there are two schools of thought here, one being getting off the worst poison which is probably Xanax, or starting on easier ones and ramping up. For me I did everything else first which increased my confidence. You already have tapered off Adderall and Geodon and should be very proud of that.

 

Just don't go for all 3 at once, and I believe you will be ok!

Those are the exact same three medications I have been on the longest! I think sometimes your brain might surprise itself, I got off lamictal and xanax in 2 months the first time, reaching 0 of all medications by April 2020, and by the summer I was just like any normal person, able to sleep at night and walk with no symptoms whatsoever as if I never took any drugs at all. The next time, though, the taper was a rockier road and it took me 7 months to get off xanax (I never got on the lamictal again) and I'm working on getting off the gabapentin now. I haven't had lamictal in wow 16 months? I used to be so attached to lamictal thinking it was saving me from dizziness and panic attacks that I'd carry the bottle with me everywhere I go in case I got lost somewhere. The advice I heard was to get off the hardest one last, which is why I got off lamictal first which seemed "nicer" compared to the more addictive and shorter half life of xanax HOWEVER, this time I also stayed on the gabapentin (for xanax withdrawals) while getting off the xanax first, since xanax seemed more dangerous.

I've heard that it takes 2 weeks for the brain to start forming new neurons, so maybe it won't take as long as you think for you to heal, there's no sense worrying about that now. Babies create 80% of their total neurons in the first 2 years of their lives, so it might be faster than you think to replace all the damaged parts or rewrite them. I think anticipating withdrawals can sometimes create them, because i miss the summer of 2020 when I was a free person, and didn't know I was supposed to have withdrawals. But I think that rapid taper lead to PAWS so in the end its still better to taper.

You can do this! Strongly encourage you to get switched over to Valium first, as it's hard to finesse a smooth taper off of a short acting benzo.  That you've gotten off of two other meds is HUGE!  Personally, ridding myself of an AE (had been on lamictal a long time, then Tegretol) was a walk in the park next to weaning off of benzos.  Neurontin will likely be another challenge, but once you've had a couple of major successes with med weaning, there's no stopping you!  Forge on....

Since I've already started tapering off Xanax, I won't stop that process and do the lamictal or gabapentin first.  I tried to come off gabapentin last year before and clue that I was going to reach a xanax tolerance this year and have no choice but to come off xanax right then and there.  I tried to get off gabapentin and the insomnia was HORRIFIC!  It has since become a controlled substance in my state. It's addictive and you can become dependent on it.  I also tried to come off lamictal at the end of last year...bad depression after about three weeks of coming off 25mg from a 250mg dose.

I could get super freaked out about the whole future medication w/d, so I have to think I'm doing things in the right order.

None of this is easy!  Trying to be grateful for what I do have that is a blessing.