Gabapentin yes or no?

I just started tapering off clonazepam and before I started taper psychiatrist put me on propranolol, well today she added gabapentin and I also take mirtazapine which does absolutely nothing so she wants me taking all this and it just seems like to much. I guess I'm wondering to choose between propranolol or gabapentin? Not sure I want to take both. I do have side effects pretty bad from propranolol but it does ease the anxiety symptoms. Never tried gabapentin so I don't know which would be best. She said gabapentin would help with sleep too.

Why does she want you to add gabapentin?  Nerve pain?  All it does is add another drug to taper.  It may mask the sx from your benzo. It’s hard to come off of but nothing like the benzo. Are you sleeping okay?  Are you having any symptoms?

Why does she want you to add gabapentin?  Nerve pain?  All it does is add another drug to taper.  It may mask the sx from your benzo. It’s hard to come off of but nothing like the benzo. Are you sleeping okay?  Are you having any symptoms?

 

She said it would help with anxiety. I am still suffering debilitating anxiety. I have what they said is neuropathy in my feet but the neurologist can't say what is causing it. I am not sleeping even with clonazepam, total tolerance to it and the mirtazapine is total tolerance and door nothing at all. I am very underweight and no appetite at all. Can't stabilize

First of all don’t tell her you read in BB your psych does not know or care what this place is.  But you can ask her if she knows who Dr Ashton is or if she knows what the Ashton Manual is.  Or refer her to the Benzo Information Coalition.  It is a site to educate doctors.  Second gabapentin does not treat anxiety it is a pain killer for nerve pain. I know people say it can help with the physical sx but never heard of it helping the mental.  I lost weight not just a little after my ct and did not gain anything back until much further in recovery. At 18 months I weighed 92 lbs I am now back to my normal weight and I took my benzo for 15 years.  It does not matter if you feel nausea as long as your not vomiting you eat.  I got so thin I just had to start eating or be hospitalized for mal nutrition.  Even bone broth, is a good start.  Trust me I force fed myself for 18 months.  I was pretty bad off and wore a heart monitor for a month because of my palpitations.  You have to remember this is not going to kill you.  It is withdrawal. They are just symptoms.  You will heal.  There is no medication or pill to fix this.  If you keep going to psychiatrist for relief you will end up on more meds.  Distract eat hydrate and get up and move your body.  Stay off the internet and don’t Google your sx.  If you get scared go to primary care doc and get checked out.    There is a thread on Gabapentin withdrawal on here if you search for it you can post there or read through it.

First of all don’t tell her you read in BB your psych does not know or care what this place is.  But you can ask her if she knows who Dr Ashton is or if she knows what the Ashton Manual is.  Or refer her to the Benzo Information Coalition.  It is a site to educate doctors.  Second gabapentin does not treat anxiety it is a pain killer for nerve pain. I know people say it can help with the physical sx but never heard of it helping the mental.  I lost weight not just a little after my ct and did not gain anything back until much further in recovery. At 18 months I weighed 92 lbs I am now back to my normal weight and I took my benzo for 15 years.  It does not matter if you feel nausea as long as your not vomiting you eat.  I got so thin I just had to start eating or be hospitalized for mal nutrition.  Even bone broth, is a good start.  Trust me I force fed myself for 18 months.  I was pretty bad off and wore a heart monitor for a month because of my palpitations.  You have to remember this is not going to kill you.  It is withdrawal. They are just symptoms.  You will heal.  There is no medication or pill to fix this.  If you keep going to psychiatrist for relief you will end up on more meds.  Distract eat hydrate and get up and move your body.  Stay off the internet and don’t Google your sx.  If you get scared go to primary care doc and get checked out.    There is a thread on Gabapentin withdrawal on here if you search for it you can post there or read through it.

 

Tried telling my psych  a couple months ago about the Ashton manual and discuss crossing over to Valium and she wanted to hear nothing about the manual and refused a cross over saying she could not prescribe me two benzo. You are so right about not mentioning BB to your psych, had video appointment with her yesterday and mentioned BB and her reply was well maybe one of your buddies on there can recommend a new provider, lol.

Her and I haven't seen eye to eye since I started with her in September. She gets mad when I refuse the drugs she keeps wanting me to take, like antipsychotics. I had a bad experience with a couple ssris and they don't seem to be for me, 60 years old but highly sensitive to medication and unfortunately I metabolize  med quickly which is why I think I hit tolerance so quick.

The eating scares me since I've had problems with under eating for years and since I hit tolerance last year while still on benzo I went down to 96 pounds, struggled for the last 7 months to get up to 107 some days almost vomiting from trying to get food down me. A lot of liquid calories. I have been seeing a gastronologist and just had endoscopy done. Found a few masses in stomach but nothing I guess to worry about. I also have early saiety getting full after a few bites and slow emptying. Been suffering chronic nausea for months and tried putting me on PPI but gave me terrible anxiety. Since starting taper my appetite is non existent and I've already lost 2 pounds in a few weeks.

I still suffer with severe anxiety and agoraphobia which is why I'm thinking of helper pills but I'd rather not if I just knew I was strong enough to handle the anxiety. I have been non functional for over a year while on benzo, like something snapped in my brain and I'm just a shell of who I use to be. I have spent a lot I mean a lot of time in bed in the dark just trying to sleep over the past year and a half making me lose a lot of muscle mass and get very weak. Some days I don't get up until dinner time. Every night I day I'm getting up and staying up but nope I get up take mess, smoke a cigarette and seems like I go right back to bed because I just don't know how to do this new life I'm living if you want to call it that.

Sorry for rambling!

 

Hi nanaquits, do you have any family support? You need to try and stay out of bed and build your muscles up slowly. This happened to me over the last six months, I had no appetite and lost a lot of weight, just sat around until I realised that this was a downward spiral. I started to make myself eat and made myself move more and started slowly building up to walking every day. I stll dont feel like eating sometimes but sometkmes a I do enjoy my food now. I have gained 7lbs in the last few months and feel much more alive than I did. Still have pain and dont sleep.

My provider tried to put me on gabapentin as well. I refused. I was on triliptal for the first few weeks off klonipin. I believe they are honestly trying to help. But new meds don't help, or at least not me. I am too sensitive to meds anyway and I always get the unwanted side effects.

 

I also tried to show her the Ashton Manual and she poo-poo'd it. In retrospect, she might have been right to keep me on Klonopin. It is a slower acting Benzo and she said we don't know how you will do on valium. She had a valid point. I hear Valium can cause severe depression in some people. Anyway...... just remember that these people went to school to learn how to treat symptoms with pharmacology, so that is where they are going to go.

 

You WILL RECOVER. I agree with a lot of the success stories who talked about just giving my brain a rest from all meds and let it heal itself.  Try to push yourself a little each day if you can. Even if you just walk around the house. and stretch.

 

I lost weight after I jumped and then gained it back and now have to be careful with what I eat again. My point is- this is a process. A healing process. And it is slow but it is happening. You will heal.

My Dr. had given me a prescription for Gabapentin but I refused to take it. One night my withdrawals were so bad that I gave in and tried a small amount. It had the opposite effect on me.... My withdrawals became worse and I became very shaky. I didn't know but Gabapentin actually increases seratonin levels and I think most of us in withdrawal already  have too high levels of seratonin..  It did not work for me and I am actually glad because it would have just been another drug to taper...

Hi would like to know if anyone here has recovered from benzo withdrawals from being on gabapentine?  Currently on 500 mg.

Tulip

As someone suffering trying to get off the shit I say hell no.. you're just adding something that's just about as bad as benzos to get off of..

That's just my opinion.

Get off the Gabapentin.  It is harder to get off of than benzos.  Try Clonodine or Vistarel for anxiety.  Exercise.  Stay away from Sugar.

 

I took pregabalin at the same time as Xanax and it made the withdrawal a lot worse. Gabapentoids have some similar effects to benzos but work through a different mechanism. So similar effects/withdrawals caused by different mechanisms, meaning double the rebound in two different parts of your system.

 

Some people seem to like it but idk if it is ideal. I'm pretty sure gabapentoids do not cause any setbacks, so that being said I don't see why you shouldn't be able to take it as needed. Don't get physically dependant to it and you should be good. Just use it when you really need relief.

My provider tried to put me on gabapentin as well. I refused. I was on triliptal for the first few weeks off klonipin.

Hi HOldingontohope, my doc wants to put me on Trileptal and take me off my remaining Valium

Did it work for you? Should I try it?

My provider tried to put me on gabapentin as well. I refused. I was on triliptal for the first few weeks off klonipin. I believe they are honestly trying to help. But new meds don't help, or at least not me. I am too sensitive to meds anyway and I always get the unwanted side effects.

 

I also tried to show her the Ashton Manual and she poo-poo'd it. In retrospect, she might have been right to keep me on Klonopin. It is a slower acting Benzo and she said we don't know how you will do on valium. She had a valid point. I hear Valium can cause severe depression in some people. Anyway...... just remember that these people went to school to learn how to treat symptoms with pharmacology, so that is where they are going to go.

 

You WILL RECOVER. I agree with a lot of the success stories who talked about just giving my brain a rest from all meds and let it heal itself.  Try to push yourself a little each day if you can. Even if you just walk around the house. and stretch.

 

I lost weight after I jumped and then gained it back and now have to be careful with what I eat again. My point is- this is a process. A healing process. And it is slow but it is happening. You will heal.

 

I see in your signature that you went child turkey on your k how bad was it?  I am at 1mg and seriously thinking about just stopping!  I can't eat or sleep and spend all day in bed so I feel like I just want to get done with them and let the healing begin. Psychiatrist just keeps putting me on more mess saying I'm not stable enough to get off the benzo because I am underweight with absolutely no appetite.

Hi would like to know if anyone here has recovered from benzo withdrawals from being on gabapentine?  Currently on 500 mg.

Tulip

 

I have used it since I began my taper and I'm 6 years out. But it's a very small amount used at night and lately in the morning. at most 200 per day. Everybody has their own definition of success and what works. I'm on it now. With a polydrug experience it's hard to say if you healed or you're out of it. I have found it to be a good tool, but I haven't tried to come off of it.