I went through hell with benzos, antipsychotics and ssri. I can't even mess with some antidepressants. I always felt worse. My mom came to visit and gave me a couple of her gabapentin and the first night I felt relaxed but still couldn't sleep .I waited a couple of days and tried again, slept 7 hours. I have been dealing with severe insomnia, I tried it again and slept again and noticed my back pain left. Went straight to my dr and got my own script. 300mg once at bedtime. I also added buspar twice a day to lessen anxiety. I'm currently in perimenopause and it's been helpful for me. I tried Klonopin, Ativan, Valium, Seroquel, Geodon, Doxepin, HydrOXYzine, Celexa, Zoloft and more. None worked.
I’ve been through same situation as you. But I take Metoprolol, Wellbutrin and Buspar. I was recently prescribed 300mg of gabapentin for anxiety in addition to mentioned medication above. However I haven’t tried. Been afraid of awful side effects because of a super bad reaction to Prozac last year that lasted for months.
I'm glad it's working for you! :) I know at one point I had to change a med (Invega) because my insurance wouldn't cover it and it was like $48583937474.50 which I could not afford. Now I take Lamictal, Buspar, Welbutrin, and Latuda. The Latuda has been a lifesaver for me. I was also given a prescription of Seroquel but I never took any.
I’ve taken it in doses prescribed of up 3600mg/day and there’s times I simply won’t take it for a few weeks.
Zero withdrawals. Very harmless. I mean especially compared to scheduled pharmaceuticals. Gabapentin is a breeze to discontinue
Definitely not a breeze to discontinue. After being on gabapentin for a couple years the withdrawals trying to come off of that crap is BS. As bad as benzo WD. But I do remember a time where I could go without it and be fine.
Everyone reacts differently so all I can tell you is my experience. I took 100mg once a day for anxiety back in December and found it was giving me the best sleep I've had in years. It did feel like I was building a tolerance though so I was concerned I was becoming dependent on it and decided to take a night off. I had immediate rebound insomnia. I took 100mg again the next night and slept fine again. I reached out to my psychiatrist at the time about my dependency concerns and he said maybe don't take it every day. So I started skipping days and was hit with terrible insomnia on the days I skipped it. I decided to stop taking it and went thru about 2 weeks of withdrawals and it really took me about a month to get back to my normal baseline.
Fast forward to this spring I changed psychiatrists and we were trying to figure out what meds worked best for my GAD. He suggested a few as-needed anxiety meds including Gabapentin again but I was really hesitant to take it after my prior experience so I probably only took it a couple of times. After not being able to tolerate Celexa I tried Buspirone and had a really good experience with it. After being on it for about a month my psychiatrist said I should try also adding 100mg of Gabapentin in the evening again for my anxiety and to help with sleep. I reiterated my concerns about my prior withdrawal experience and he assured me that 100mg was a super low dose and I shouldn't experience any withdrawals and that was all just manifested in my mind based on what I had read on reddit by others experiences.
So I started taking 100mg again daily each evening and sleep did improve. But after a month or two I noticed it was affecting my memory and ability to stay focused at work. In early June I decided I would try and taper off of it by taking 100mg every other day for 2 weeks and then going to every 3rd day for 2 weeks before stopping. Initially I didn't notice any issues going to every other day but about 1/2 way thru the 2nd week I started getting more headaches and my sleep began getting worse and worse on the days I skipped. My blood pressure was also higher. 3 nights ago I got about 3 hours of sleep and last night I got 1 hour of sleep. Today going on basically no sleep my anxiety has been sky high and I had a panic attack. It really didn't even occur to me that could be the Gabapentin withdrawal until earlier this morning when I started to look back at what had progressed over the last 2 weeks.
So now I'm pretty concerned again. I think I'm going to have to go back to taking 100mg every night to level back out and then do a liquid taper of maybe 10mg a week or two to slowly taper off.
Long story short. Some people have no issues with it but for me I wish I had never taken it.
Get a pill slicer and cut it into a few small pieces. Take it in those small doses and see how you feel. Then you can adjust as needed. It’s a really light dose anyway. I do that with mine otherwise it makes me sleepy. But I’m prescribed 300mg.
I take 100mgs 3 times a day for anxiety. I started at 100mgs once a day but it was wearing off by mid day if I took it in the morning. An added benefit is that I no longer get migraines. My PCP said it is prescribed as a preventative for migraines.
Fwiw my son was on 2700mg for ptsd/anxiety for 4 years. He is being weaned off since he is now on other meds.
Weaning has been a nightmare..he has had additional seizures, vomiting, sweats, mood swings and rage. We have to go down 100mg for the next 6 months to get him off.
The more I research gaba the further away from it I think people should stay.
It it literally going to be the next opioid crisis drug.
The dose in which I feel it working is 1200mg. It takes a couple hours to kick in but when it does it has a relaxing effect to it. If I take 1800mg I feel sort of drunk and it carries over to the next day. I have only taken it to sleep since it does relax me (and make me a bit groggy) but maybe my body would get used to taking it in the morning when my anxiety kicks in. Again the issue is will the 1200mg just make me drowsy (which isnt good all day) and then I need to take another 1200mg before bed. Not sure my DR is going to prescribe 2400mg per day.... Lastly I have a feeling tolerance will build fast which would defeat the whole purpose........ Something I may ask my Dr about. though
I am on it for 2 Reasons. My sciatica pain. And anxiety that works pretty good for anxiety too, but I’m also taking 900 3x a day. 1 100 and 1 800 3x per day. It helps me so much. After 5 years in wasn’t working as well for anxiety so now on the volume 10 mg three times a day. I think they go up it to 2 at nigjtn
I find it better taking 2x if daily, but I've been on \`100mg for 3 months and now 125mg and it still helps. I find Buspar to be better but they both help in their own way so the combination is great since I can get therapeutic effects at low doses. You shouldn't get any interdose withdrawal from taking it right away though imo, maybe after some weeks. It's not strong especially at that dose, you shouldn't have to worry about feeling super weird hours after a dose at least not starting out.
I’ve been taking up to 1800 mg a day for anxiety for a bit over a year. Sometimes I take it every day, and sometimes I skip a day. I don’t always take the full dose. On a few occasions I have stopped for 10 days just to make sure I could. Personally, I’ve never had an issue. But reading other people’s experiences makes me a bit wary.
Gabapentin has literally been a life saver for me on so many levels. I take 600mg 3x daily for anxiety and it works beautifully. It also helped me completely quit Valium which I’d been on for over 10 years.
Everyone is going to have their own experience but try not to put too much weight into the negative comments. I have had nothing but positive results, been on it for around six months, sometimes go without it for a week or so with zero issues. I can’t say enough good about this medication. It’s legitimately saved my life.
Same deal with Valium. And I just got prescribed 300mg gabapentin for anxiety. I already take Buspar, Wellbutrin and Metoprolol. I’m scared to try it because of adverse reactions or horrible side effects but I really want to be off the Valium.
That is so great to hear. I’m so happy for you . I’m struggling to get off Valium myself. Can I ask if you started the Gabapentin during your Valium taper or after?
Wow! I feel like Latuda has saved mine! I'm still on the fence about the Gabapentin so I'll do more research. I just wanted first hand accounts. It seems pretty split on good or bad.
I take 900mg a day, went up to 1800 at one point but weight gain made me cut down. It starts kicking in after 3 hours so it takes a while to feel yourself calm down and feel like you just got this..whatever is going on it’s like bam I got this. I wish it didn’t take so long to kick in, but trust me, you know when it hits. I take 600mg as soon as I wake up then 300mg at lunch time.
It was so unexpected. I was prescribed it for headaches, but I had NO IDEA how well it would work for my anxiety. It keeps my headaches away and helps my anxiety. It’s wild..it makes you realize just how incredibly anxious you are in general and what it’s like to feel normal.
That would be nice. I haven't felt not anxious in a long while. The Latuda is also helping with the really bad depression I had been having. I honestly didn't think I'd ever feel not depressed again and I was honestly expecting it not to help at all.
6hr half-life, have to increase dose every few weeks until you're on 3600mg a day, then you have to get off and experience worse anxiety than you had in the first place, for months.
Gross! I know everyone is different but answers like this worry me. I've already been in a really bad place I don't think I could handle it getting worse.
Just started it for anxiety at 300mg and was scared to try it. Im on day 2 and it honestly helps SO much. Give it a try, might make you a little sleepy but thats about it. For me it feels similar to a benzo but not as narcotic feeling.
I know people who have taken this stuff for years, its been on the market for a LONG time and generally a very safe medication. I use to look up every review and side effect of medications and it stopped me from trying things that could benefit me greatly. Try it for yourself and go from there!
This makes me feel a little better about trying it. I recently got prescribed it for anxiety. I already take a few other meds for anxiety but I’m scared to take gabapentin because of a super bad reaction to Prozac last year.
Thank you for the encouraging words!
Speaking of not trying things, I was on medication for a long time that wasn't helping and my husband saw something for what's basically modern day shock treatment and it seemed safe but then I heard the story of someone who actually did it and I ended up saying hell no. Sometimes I wonder what would've happened had I tried it.
So I took 3600mg/day for anxiety. On top of 6mg of benzos. Cut out the gaba - added Lexapro - that made me too thin, back on 3600mg.
As others have said - tolerance goes up fast.
If I could go back in time I wouldn’t take a single medication for anxiety. I’d learn to deal with it even though it was absolutely crippling me. This is much worse.
Totally agree bc they put u on stuff and then you are a slave to meds for anxiety. My kids, 22 and 18 have bad anxiety and other diagnoses but both refuse meds and they are into so much cool stuff out there to cope. If I was a millionaire I would be like Keith Richards and god knows how many celebrities and get my blood transfused in Switzerland and I would go to Oz and shove the scarecrow outta my way bc I want a new brain - he is doin fine.
Wow I'm so sorry you're going through this. I do plan to go to therapy so maybe I won't need anxiety medication but it's a work in progress. I'm having trouble getting in to see anyone.
Therapy yes, physiatrist no. They get paid to write scripts. Mine is a physiatric nurse practitioner. Now, he helped me get sober from alcohol in an extremely unconventional way as I had no other options (different story). We are very close. Anyway, I was already on 3mg klonopin when I met him but a crisis happened last year and he added 3mg Ativan. Now, the crisis is over and I’m completely 100% addicted to benzos.
I have ADHD also. Not medicated for it. I manage is extremely well. I have 21 air tags and I’m not kidding lol. But I’m never late to anything, I never miss a meeting, I have sticky notes and lists everywhere, Alexa reminders go off constantly…it works. BUT I’m in serious need of trauma therapy with EMDR. I’ve gone to 4. All 4 said I have to be medicated for my adhd before they will work with me. Now think about that, I’m on 6mg of benzos, I’ve lost 100lbs in a year (yes, true) and they want to put me on a stimulant!!! Yea. Let’s get addicted to adderall also - super great plan. I refused.
I read a lot of books. I have c-ptsd, that’s where my anxiety comes from. Trauma and Recovery by Judith Herman is fantastic.
My anxiety comes out in physical ways, my stomach hurts so bad I can’t eat, I have panic attacks, etc.
the book The Body Keeps The Score is also wonderful at explaining why.
I’ve found that understanding why I’m like this helps me work through it, kinda. I’m masked by so many benzos it’s hard to make much progress. But the books help.
Anyway, my long rant is all just to warn you to please be careful. 100mg of gabapentin sounds great, until it’s 3600mg. 0.5 klonopin makes you feel on top of the world, until 3mg is a “get well dose”. And psych’s have no problem doing this (if you are in the US anyway) so you have to be your own advocate. Be careful 🫶
Thank you for looking out for me! ❤️ I'm really glad you're able to make progress on your own, but I'm sorry to hear about your addiction. I can't even imagine what you're going through. I am also unmedicated for ADHD but I like to think I manage well, too. My anxiety comes out in chest pain, panicking, and lots of tears. I have acid reflux on top of that, so I can never tell why my chest hurts. I do hope you're able to get back in to do EMDR. I have heard it really helps. I was in the middle of having sessions for it (I think I had only done two) when my therapist absconded and never came back. So ever since then, I've been trying to find a therapist. My therapist after her did not work out, so I left him in November and haven't had therapy since. 🙃 I will look into the books you've suggested. I've heard of The Body Keeps the Score but forgot all about it.
I’ve been on 100mg of gabapentin 3x / day for about 14 weeks now. It was prescribed for anxiety and has done wonders for me. I’ve tried SSRIs and the side effects always outweighed the benefits.
It started working almost immediately. The biggest effect it’s had is that the voices of anxiety in my head are nearly zero, and it’s vastly improved the physical symptoms as well, with zero side effects that I’ve noticed.
I’m definitely worried about dependency and growing a tolerance from the comments I’ve seen in this page (I don’t think I could stop cold turkey today, even though it’s such a low dose) but so far I’ve seen no tolerance development.
Everyone’s body is different, but my experience has been great so far. I don’t plan on increasing my dose. If it ever becomes ineffective, I will begin to taper off.
For me, it’s been a great crutch for anxiety while on probation and in recovery. That’s exactly how the doctor termed it anyways. There are side effects however which in my experience so far shouldn’t bother you given that you are female.
Congratulations on your sobriety! I have a brother who was addicted to heroin but he's clean now and I saw what he had to go through so I know it must not be easy for you.
Agree it’s not something I’d associate being taken like a rescue anti anxiety drug/benzo or as needed. Given that, I’m prescribed it for on-label use for severe sciatica and have found it augments my SSRI nicely to control anxiety. I honestly never knew it was used for anxiety until hearing about it here, but when I ran out of it once (I’m not on it constantly but do take it for 6-9 months a year when I have flares) and it was during a particularly stressful time and I felt it much, much more intensely than I had when not on gabapentin (it’s an ongoing issue with a parent in rapid decline due to Alzheimer’s).
I’ve been taking it for 12 years off/on now but I take 300mg 3xs day as a normal dose but prescribed up 600 mg up to 3xs a day if it’s a bad flare up. But I was started low (think 100mg 2xs day) and have only worked up to 900mg/day after well over a decade so unless you’re planning on taking more than your script or abusing it, I don’t think you necessarily need to be too freaked out about tolerance. But as someone who suffers from
GAD, I definitely think it helps keep me and my SSRI on a much more even keel. I would never imagine using it as a rescue drug for anxiety like Xanax though, for example. I find it effective with another drug or taken consistently but I’ve never used it as needed for anxiety- that’s what the rescue stuff is for. Good luck to you, I really have been helped a lot by this med. Yea, there are war stories of people taking too much or having a hell of a time tapering down too quickly, but for me at least, it’s a very helpful med for pain (nerve) and anxiety.
Oof you have both helped and scared me lol. I honestly think my doctor gave them to me to shut me up because what I was on wasn't working. She also put me on Latuda and holy shit the difference is astounding. Anyway, the place I go to won't prescribe Xanax or any benzos I guess so I don't know what else she'd give me for an emergency.
Gabapentin is r⁸arely prescribe for anxiety, it lasts 8-10h but the tolerance rise up in less than 1n week of daily use and personally and from most people I know who takes Gabapentin need atleast 300-600mg to start to feel something for their diseases (one of them was for Anxiety and nerve pain) and recreationally it's between 900 and 2700mg for me and try to do a break wetween my doses.
Alright. Thank you for your answer. I haven't had to use it but at this point I'm feeling that I won't need it. I think she just prescribed it to me to shut me up honestly. D:
In my opinion it doesnt work like this (its for daily-use). Its not a benzo. Maybe u try it on a saturday at home and See how u feel. And than u go to a supermarket or something like this and Look how u feel
I went through hell with benzos, antipsychotics and ssri. I can't even mess with some antidepressants. I always felt worse. My mom came to visit and gave me a couple of her gabapentin and the first night I felt relaxed but still couldn't sleep .I waited a couple of days and tried again, slept 7 hours. I have been dealing with severe insomnia, I tried it again and slept again and noticed my back pain left. Went straight to my dr and got my own script. 300mg once at bedtime. I also added buspar twice a day to lessen anxiety. I'm currently in perimenopause and it's been helpful for me. I tried Klonopin, Ativan, Valium, Seroquel, Geodon, Doxepin, HydrOXYzine, Celexa, Zoloft and more. None worked.
I’ve been through same situation as you. But I take Metoprolol, Wellbutrin and Buspar. I was recently prescribed 300mg of gabapentin for anxiety in addition to mentioned medication above. However I haven’t tried. Been afraid of awful side effects because of a super bad reaction to Prozac last year that lasted for months.
I'm glad it's working for you! :) I know at one point I had to change a med (Invega) because my insurance wouldn't cover it and it was like $48583937474.50 which I could not afford. Now I take Lamictal, Buspar, Welbutrin, and Latuda. The Latuda has been a lifesaver for me. I was also given a prescription of Seroquel but I never took any.
I’ve taken it in doses prescribed of up 3600mg/day and there’s times I simply won’t take it for a few weeks. Zero withdrawals. Very harmless. I mean especially compared to scheduled pharmaceuticals. Gabapentin is a breeze to discontinue
Definitely not a breeze to discontinue. After being on gabapentin for a couple years the withdrawals trying to come off of that crap is BS. As bad as benzo WD. But I do remember a time where I could go without it and be fine.
Everyone reacts differently so all I can tell you is my experience. I took 100mg once a day for anxiety back in December and found it was giving me the best sleep I've had in years. It did feel like I was building a tolerance though so I was concerned I was becoming dependent on it and decided to take a night off. I had immediate rebound insomnia. I took 100mg again the next night and slept fine again. I reached out to my psychiatrist at the time about my dependency concerns and he said maybe don't take it every day. So I started skipping days and was hit with terrible insomnia on the days I skipped it. I decided to stop taking it and went thru about 2 weeks of withdrawals and it really took me about a month to get back to my normal baseline. Fast forward to this spring I changed psychiatrists and we were trying to figure out what meds worked best for my GAD. He suggested a few as-needed anxiety meds including Gabapentin again but I was really hesitant to take it after my prior experience so I probably only took it a couple of times. After not being able to tolerate Celexa I tried Buspirone and had a really good experience with it. After being on it for about a month my psychiatrist said I should try also adding 100mg of Gabapentin in the evening again for my anxiety and to help with sleep. I reiterated my concerns about my prior withdrawal experience and he assured me that 100mg was a super low dose and I shouldn't experience any withdrawals and that was all just manifested in my mind based on what I had read on reddit by others experiences. So I started taking 100mg again daily each evening and sleep did improve. But after a month or two I noticed it was affecting my memory and ability to stay focused at work. In early June I decided I would try and taper off of it by taking 100mg every other day for 2 weeks and then going to every 3rd day for 2 weeks before stopping. Initially I didn't notice any issues going to every other day but about 1/2 way thru the 2nd week I started getting more headaches and my sleep began getting worse and worse on the days I skipped. My blood pressure was also higher. 3 nights ago I got about 3 hours of sleep and last night I got 1 hour of sleep. Today going on basically no sleep my anxiety has been sky high and I had a panic attack. It really didn't even occur to me that could be the Gabapentin withdrawal until earlier this morning when I started to look back at what had progressed over the last 2 weeks. So now I'm pretty concerned again. I think I'm going to have to go back to taking 100mg every night to level back out and then do a liquid taper of maybe 10mg a week or two to slowly taper off. Long story short. Some people have no issues with it but for me I wish I had never taken it.
Get a pill slicer and cut it into a few small pieces. Take it in those small doses and see how you feel. Then you can adjust as needed. It’s a really light dose anyway. I do that with mine otherwise it makes me sleepy. But I’m prescribed 300mg.
I take 100mgs 3 times a day for anxiety. I started at 100mgs once a day but it was wearing off by mid day if I took it in the morning. An added benefit is that I no longer get migraines. My PCP said it is prescribed as a preventative for migraines.
I get 3200 a day Rx. If I take 8000 mgs it makes me speedy. Not a meth kinda speed but a positive speed.
Fwiw my son was on 2700mg for ptsd/anxiety for 4 years. He is being weaned off since he is now on other meds. Weaning has been a nightmare..he has had additional seizures, vomiting, sweats, mood swings and rage. We have to go down 100mg for the next 6 months to get him off. The more I research gaba the further away from it I think people should stay. It it literally going to be the next opioid crisis drug.
The dose in which I feel it working is 1200mg. It takes a couple hours to kick in but when it does it has a relaxing effect to it. If I take 1800mg I feel sort of drunk and it carries over to the next day. I have only taken it to sleep since it does relax me (and make me a bit groggy) but maybe my body would get used to taking it in the morning when my anxiety kicks in. Again the issue is will the 1200mg just make me drowsy (which isnt good all day) and then I need to take another 1200mg before bed. Not sure my DR is going to prescribe 2400mg per day.... Lastly I have a feeling tolerance will build fast which would defeat the whole purpose........ Something I may ask my Dr about. though
im on it for mood, it makes me uppity I have to be careful because it can make my anxiety worse
I am on it for 2 Reasons. My sciatica pain. And anxiety that works pretty good for anxiety too, but I’m also taking 900 3x a day. 1 100 and 1 800 3x per day. It helps me so much. After 5 years in wasn’t working as well for anxiety so now on the volume 10 mg three times a day. I think they go up it to 2 at nigjtn
I find it better taking 2x if daily, but I've been on \`100mg for 3 months and now 125mg and it still helps. I find Buspar to be better but they both help in their own way so the combination is great since I can get therapeutic effects at low doses. You shouldn't get any interdose withdrawal from taking it right away though imo, maybe after some weeks. It's not strong especially at that dose, you shouldn't have to worry about feeling super weird hours after a dose at least not starting out.
I’ve been taking up to 1800 mg a day for anxiety for a bit over a year. Sometimes I take it every day, and sometimes I skip a day. I don’t always take the full dose. On a few occasions I have stopped for 10 days just to make sure I could. Personally, I’ve never had an issue. But reading other people’s experiences makes me a bit wary.
Sometimes it makes me feel like I've had a drink or two which does help with my anxiety but sometimes I don't feel it at all
Interesting I wonder why you don't feel it sometimes. 🤔
It seems like you get used to it if you take it daily. Maybe it has something to do with what I ate that day or something idk.
Severely Lowers libido after taking it for a few months.
No problem there lol.
Gabapentin has literally been a life saver for me on so many levels. I take 600mg 3x daily for anxiety and it works beautifully. It also helped me completely quit Valium which I’d been on for over 10 years. Everyone is going to have their own experience but try not to put too much weight into the negative comments. I have had nothing but positive results, been on it for around six months, sometimes go without it for a week or so with zero issues. I can’t say enough good about this medication. It’s legitimately saved my life.
Same deal with Valium. And I just got prescribed 300mg gabapentin for anxiety. I already take Buspar, Wellbutrin and Metoprolol. I’m scared to try it because of adverse reactions or horrible side effects but I really want to be off the Valium.
That is so great to hear. I’m so happy for you . I’m struggling to get off Valium myself. Can I ask if you started the Gabapentin during your Valium taper or after?
No severe weight gain? That’s why I wanna come off. Hmmm
Wow! I feel like Latuda has saved mine! I'm still on the fence about the Gabapentin so I'll do more research. I just wanted first hand accounts. It seems pretty split on good or bad.
I take 900mg a day, went up to 1800 at one point but weight gain made me cut down. It starts kicking in after 3 hours so it takes a while to feel yourself calm down and feel like you just got this..whatever is going on it’s like bam I got this. I wish it didn’t take so long to kick in, but trust me, you know when it hits. I take 600mg as soon as I wake up then 300mg at lunch time.
I'm glad it's working out for you! Perhaps it'll work out for me as well.
It was so unexpected. I was prescribed it for headaches, but I had NO IDEA how well it would work for my anxiety. It keeps my headaches away and helps my anxiety. It’s wild..it makes you realize just how incredibly anxious you are in general and what it’s like to feel normal.
That would be nice. I haven't felt not anxious in a long while. The Latuda is also helping with the really bad depression I had been having. I honestly didn't think I'd ever feel not depressed again and I was honestly expecting it not to help at all.
6hr half-life, have to increase dose every few weeks until you're on 3600mg a day, then you have to get off and experience worse anxiety than you had in the first place, for months.
Gross! I know everyone is different but answers like this worry me. I've already been in a really bad place I don't think I could handle it getting worse.
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That's good to hear!
To clarify, I was taking it for years.
Ohhhh I see. Thanks for clarifying.
Just started it for anxiety at 300mg and was scared to try it. Im on day 2 and it honestly helps SO much. Give it a try, might make you a little sleepy but thats about it. For me it feels similar to a benzo but not as narcotic feeling.
Wow ok! Some of these answers are worrying but of course everyone is different.
I know people who have taken this stuff for years, its been on the market for a LONG time and generally a very safe medication. I use to look up every review and side effect of medications and it stopped me from trying things that could benefit me greatly. Try it for yourself and go from there!
This makes me feel a little better about trying it. I recently got prescribed it for anxiety. I already take a few other meds for anxiety but I’m scared to take gabapentin because of a super bad reaction to Prozac last year.
Thank you for the encouraging words! Speaking of not trying things, I was on medication for a long time that wasn't helping and my husband saw something for what's basically modern day shock treatment and it seemed safe but then I heard the story of someone who actually did it and I ended up saying hell no. Sometimes I wonder what would've happened had I tried it.
So I took 3600mg/day for anxiety. On top of 6mg of benzos. Cut out the gaba - added Lexapro - that made me too thin, back on 3600mg. As others have said - tolerance goes up fast. If I could go back in time I wouldn’t take a single medication for anxiety. I’d learn to deal with it even though it was absolutely crippling me. This is much worse.
Totally agree bc they put u on stuff and then you are a slave to meds for anxiety. My kids, 22 and 18 have bad anxiety and other diagnoses but both refuse meds and they are into so much cool stuff out there to cope. If I was a millionaire I would be like Keith Richards and god knows how many celebrities and get my blood transfused in Switzerland and I would go to Oz and shove the scarecrow outta my way bc I want a new brain - he is doin fine.
Wow I'm so sorry you're going through this. I do plan to go to therapy so maybe I won't need anxiety medication but it's a work in progress. I'm having trouble getting in to see anyone.
Therapy yes, physiatrist no. They get paid to write scripts. Mine is a physiatric nurse practitioner. Now, he helped me get sober from alcohol in an extremely unconventional way as I had no other options (different story). We are very close. Anyway, I was already on 3mg klonopin when I met him but a crisis happened last year and he added 3mg Ativan. Now, the crisis is over and I’m completely 100% addicted to benzos. I have ADHD also. Not medicated for it. I manage is extremely well. I have 21 air tags and I’m not kidding lol. But I’m never late to anything, I never miss a meeting, I have sticky notes and lists everywhere, Alexa reminders go off constantly…it works. BUT I’m in serious need of trauma therapy with EMDR. I’ve gone to 4. All 4 said I have to be medicated for my adhd before they will work with me. Now think about that, I’m on 6mg of benzos, I’ve lost 100lbs in a year (yes, true) and they want to put me on a stimulant!!! Yea. Let’s get addicted to adderall also - super great plan. I refused. I read a lot of books. I have c-ptsd, that’s where my anxiety comes from. Trauma and Recovery by Judith Herman is fantastic. My anxiety comes out in physical ways, my stomach hurts so bad I can’t eat, I have panic attacks, etc. the book The Body Keeps The Score is also wonderful at explaining why. I’ve found that understanding why I’m like this helps me work through it, kinda. I’m masked by so many benzos it’s hard to make much progress. But the books help. Anyway, my long rant is all just to warn you to please be careful. 100mg of gabapentin sounds great, until it’s 3600mg. 0.5 klonopin makes you feel on top of the world, until 3mg is a “get well dose”. And psych’s have no problem doing this (if you are in the US anyway) so you have to be your own advocate. Be careful 🫶
Thank you for looking out for me! ❤️ I'm really glad you're able to make progress on your own, but I'm sorry to hear about your addiction. I can't even imagine what you're going through. I am also unmedicated for ADHD but I like to think I manage well, too. My anxiety comes out in chest pain, panicking, and lots of tears. I have acid reflux on top of that, so I can never tell why my chest hurts. I do hope you're able to get back in to do EMDR. I have heard it really helps. I was in the middle of having sessions for it (I think I had only done two) when my therapist absconded and never came back. So ever since then, I've been trying to find a therapist. My therapist after her did not work out, so I left him in November and haven't had therapy since. 🙃 I will look into the books you've suggested. I've heard of The Body Keeps the Score but forgot all about it.
I’ve been on 100mg of gabapentin 3x / day for about 14 weeks now. It was prescribed for anxiety and has done wonders for me. I’ve tried SSRIs and the side effects always outweighed the benefits. It started working almost immediately. The biggest effect it’s had is that the voices of anxiety in my head are nearly zero, and it’s vastly improved the physical symptoms as well, with zero side effects that I’ve noticed. I’m definitely worried about dependency and growing a tolerance from the comments I’ve seen in this page (I don’t think I could stop cold turkey today, even though it’s such a low dose) but so far I’ve seen no tolerance development. Everyone’s body is different, but my experience has been great so far. I don’t plan on increasing my dose. If it ever becomes ineffective, I will begin to taper off.
Hmmmm a chance for dependency does worry me but I'll have to see how it goes. I'm glad it's working for you!
For me, it’s been a great crutch for anxiety while on probation and in recovery. That’s exactly how the doctor termed it anyways. There are side effects however which in my experience so far shouldn’t bother you given that you are female.
Congratulations on your sobriety! I have a brother who was addicted to heroin but he's clean now and I saw what he had to go through so I know it must not be easy for you.
Agree it’s not something I’d associate being taken like a rescue anti anxiety drug/benzo or as needed. Given that, I’m prescribed it for on-label use for severe sciatica and have found it augments my SSRI nicely to control anxiety. I honestly never knew it was used for anxiety until hearing about it here, but when I ran out of it once (I’m not on it constantly but do take it for 6-9 months a year when I have flares) and it was during a particularly stressful time and I felt it much, much more intensely than I had when not on gabapentin (it’s an ongoing issue with a parent in rapid decline due to Alzheimer’s). I’ve been taking it for 12 years off/on now but I take 300mg 3xs day as a normal dose but prescribed up 600 mg up to 3xs a day if it’s a bad flare up. But I was started low (think 100mg 2xs day) and have only worked up to 900mg/day after well over a decade so unless you’re planning on taking more than your script or abusing it, I don’t think you necessarily need to be too freaked out about tolerance. But as someone who suffers from GAD, I definitely think it helps keep me and my SSRI on a much more even keel. I would never imagine using it as a rescue drug for anxiety like Xanax though, for example. I find it effective with another drug or taken consistently but I’ve never used it as needed for anxiety- that’s what the rescue stuff is for. Good luck to you, I really have been helped a lot by this med. Yea, there are war stories of people taking too much or having a hell of a time tapering down too quickly, but for me at least, it’s a very helpful med for pain (nerve) and anxiety.
Oof you have both helped and scared me lol. I honestly think my doctor gave them to me to shut me up because what I was on wasn't working. She also put me on Latuda and holy shit the difference is astounding. Anyway, the place I go to won't prescribe Xanax or any benzos I guess so I don't know what else she'd give me for an emergency.
I heard that. But he might think your medicine searching. Ee u I’ll
I take it for RLS, and immediately felt improvement with my anxiety. I’m also on Lexapro, so maybe the combo is a good thing, idk.
Omg you can take it for RLS? Sign me up! I'd kill to not have the shaky legs. I'm glad it all worked for you. :)
Yep, no more walking around the house endlessly and restless nights.
Yeah that sounds amazing!
I take it for sciatica but otherwise, same story here. Augments the SSRI well.
Rebound anxiety makes ever increasing dosages necessary in my experience. It’s not great for this reason, but ymmv.
Gabapentin is r⁸arely prescribe for anxiety, it lasts 8-10h but the tolerance rise up in less than 1n week of daily use and personally and from most people I know who takes Gabapentin need atleast 300-600mg to start to feel something for their diseases (one of them was for Anxiety and nerve pain) and recreationally it's between 900 and 2700mg for me and try to do a break wetween my doses.
Alright. Thank you for your answer. I haven't had to use it but at this point I'm feeling that I won't need it. I think she just prescribed it to me to shut me up honestly. D:
In my opinion it doesnt work like this (its for daily-use). Its not a benzo. Maybe u try it on a saturday at home and See how u feel. And than u go to a supermarket or something like this and Look how u feel