Gabapentin

[spacebebe01]

I am taking gabapentin and know there are other peeps on here who also take it. What I want to know is how many peeps take it and how it helps them. I think this would be interesting to find out and useful to have the info in one place.

[Allthestars]

Gabapentin

Hi space, I take gabapentin daily but for spinal injury.....So I take quite a high dosage 8 x 400 mg per day lol so I don't think anoyone will beat me on that dosage. It use to make me a bit spaced out when the GP switched from trammadol but I think my body use to it now. But it def increases my appetite which is one of the biggest side effects from gabapentin so if u r on a diet or trying to loose weight stay away from the gabapentin lol. It does also have seratonin releasing qualities so it is said to work as an anti depressant but gps in this country very rarely prescribe it for that. X

[spacebebe01]

Gabapentin

I have been prescribed it for pain, but I have presviously taken it for depression, thats what I am asking about here because I know others take it for that reason, my other question is does anyone take it for/ or find it helpful with their drinking problem, I know there have been studies done on this so am just wanting to know what MWOters think.

I have noticed the increase in appetite as well, thats a bit scarey so I am trying to find a way to be eating good healthy stuff so at least I wont feel bed form eating too much crap.

[Greg]

Gabapentin

I am also very interested to hear of the experience of others with gabapentin, particularly from anyone who has taken it daily for a prolonged period (e.g. a month or more). The reason I say that is because there are anecdotal reports of it having a large tolerance issue when used daily for depression and/or anxiety. I don't know if this tolerance also applies to any anti-craving effects it may have.

Personally, I have experienced some relief of depression and anxiety using moderate doses (e.g. 400-600 mg) but I have not yet taken it on a daily basis for long periods. I did take the very closely related drug pregabalin (Lyrica) for a week and experienced an unusually rapid tolerance issue with it, such that I experienced little effect from about 300 mg/day after starting at only 75 mg/day. I was not drinking or taking other drugs at the time either.

I remember a few members here using gabapentin during previous discussions, so hopefully they will add their experiences.

[DizzyBee]

Gabapentin

I googled it and first stepped on our own Bruun's tail

https://www.mywayout.org/community/f2...use-51066.html

Also found:

Gabapentin reduces alcohol consumption and craving

Gabapentin reduces alcohol consumption and... [J Clin Psychiatry. 2007] - PubMed - NCBI

Gabapentin Improves Outcome in Alcoholism

Brain Posts: Gabapentin Improves Outcome in Alcoholism

Gabapentin is used to treat withdrawals
PsychiatryOnline | American Journal of Psychiatry | Gabapentin Treatment of Alcohol Withdrawal

And finally a study that combines Gabapentin and nal:

Gabapentin combined with naltrexone for the ... [Am J Psychiatry. 2011] - PubMed - NCBI

[windycitylady]

Gabapentin

Space, I have every intention of writing a serious, well thought out post here, but had to post this first. I was doing dome research about gabapentin tolerance and the possibility of using Lyrica instead and found this hilarious video. I am NOT suggesting this dude knows what he's talking about. But about 40 seconds before the video ends, I think it shows him boxing someone while naked. He gets points for that.

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

Be back later to talk about my gabapentin experience.

[spacebebe01]

Gabapentin

Hi Windy unfortunatley I couldnt get your link.

I posted on my own thread but I will put it here as well, in fact I will copy it so apologise to anyone who has already read this

On the gabapantin front, I have been wondering more (I seem to do a lot of wondering). When it is prescribed for pain (which is what its generally for) it is said the effects build up over time, I have read that it needs to be taken regularly, 3 times a day for a while for full effectiveness. Maybe the antidepressant effect is just a nice side effect that wears off like most se's do and not tolerance at all. As I intend to be taking it as prescribed for pain anyway I will be able to tell you more in future.

[spacebebe01]

Gabapentin

OK I found him I just went on you tube a searched Lyrica. I like the way he says "You can trust me Im and expert" yeh course we will.

This is another problem with gabapentin, the fact that it is being used as a fun drug doesnt really bode too well for us getting prescribed it for the future.

Is the tolerance only regarding the fun drug aspect of using it not the medical use for it. Hmmmmm???
Im asuming it is because a lot of peeps have been using it effectively for pain for years and well they would either have to now be taking massive doses or it wouldnt work for them if that was the case.

[windycitylady]

Gabapentin

My gabapentin experience in a nutshell:

I was first prescribed gabapentin 10-12 years ago. I did find it helped with depression and anxiety. I believe I was taking 600 mg once or twice a day depending on my mood. Lost insurance, discontinued use.
Started taking it again 2 or 3 years ago and have been taking it ever since. The majority of that time I was taking one 800 mg pill at the beginning of the day. Maybe 8 months ago, I began dividing the pill, taking 400 mg upon waking and another 400 mg a few hours later. In the last 3 months, I've been taking a total of 1200 mg daily, now divided into 3 doses. Roughly at 11am, 3pm, and 9pm. This has by far produced the most noticable results. An elevated mood (but no mania, which one 800 mg can lead to) and lessened anxiety. I can actually feel if I've forgotten to take my last dose. I get irritable and, for lack of a better word, sad.

In the last 2 weeks, I've been struggling more with my depression. That's exactly when all this talk of gabapentin tolerance started around here, and it alarmed me. However, there are several factors at play. My depression could be situational. There are several aspects of my life with which I'm very unhappy right now. It could be "the pink cloud" of new sobriety wearing off. It could be PAWS. It could be that enough time has passed since I've been extremely depressed that my frame of reference is skewed; I've forgotten how devastating major depression is, and I'm mistaking a simple bad mood for something worse.
So I'm very interested in what others have to say about this tolerance thing. I plan on asking my dad, as he's been taking it for depression for years now. BUT he did steadily increase his dose until he reached a pretty high daily amount (2400mg). Is that tolerance? Maybe not, since he's been stable on that dose for a while now.
Anyhow, yes, anyone else who's taking it or has taken it, please chime in. And I'll let you know what dad says.

[GingerDust]

Gabapentin

windycitylady;1309857 wrote: In the last 2 weeks, I've been struggling more with my depression. That's exactly when all this talk of gabapentin tolerance started around here, and it alarmed me. However, there are several factors at play. My depression could be situational. There are several aspects of my life with which I'm very unhappy right now. It could be "the pink cloud" of new sobriety wearing off. It could be PAWS.

You have been through a whirlwind of challenges and changes, Windy. I'm amazed at how much you've been dealing with. I'd have likely cracked under the pressures you've been sailing through. I hope your blues blow away soon. :l

[spacebebe01]

Gabapentin

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[spacebebe01]

Gabapentin

I dont believe this I just did a post and for the first time ever I thought I had a quote down and its not turned up on here.

I cant go throught the whole thing again but in a nutshell what I said was to Windy after taking gabapentin for 2 - 3 years and being ok there is no way that can suddenly be tolerance why you feel bad. Yes I do feel its situational, you are going through so much lately of course you will feel crap, tolerance, the way I see it is like with sleep meds, you take the min dose and it works for a while, then you cant sleep again up the dose and it works for a while longer and so on until you cant up the dose any more and you cant sleep without them and you are in trouble. In my mind that is what tolerance is, correct me if Im wrong, the drug stops working at the dose and needs upping to get the same effect, I used to drink 1/2 bottle of vodka and was pissed and went to sleep, then needed 70cl of vodka to get the same feeling, then needed 1ltr vodka plus cider to pass out and couldnt sleep without it , isnt that what tolerance is?

What I remembered from my other post is that although talking on here is great it can set me off on a tangent which may not be good. you started thinking about tolerance after seeing about it on here. I am now wooried about where I get my bac from, I have been looking round other pharmacies, I need to say here that I have been taking the same piils from the same place for around 6 months everyday and on and off for about a year and no bad things happen, but now I am panicking that they are contaminated or something else, so although everyone elses thoughts and experiences should be shared we have to be careful about what we do with the information we get. As in all life

[Greg]

Gabapentin

Tolerance cannot happen to all of gabapentin's effects, otherwise it could not be used to treat epilepsy or neuropathic pain for very long. Depression can easily happen due to prolonged alcohol withdrawal symptoms, and I have indeed experienced increased depression for a while after quitting the booze.

From memory, some stories of gabapentin tolerance I read were from stoners/drug experimenters who were attempting to use the drug to get high, so this may not be a big issue for anyone using it therapeutically.

[windycitylady]

Gabapentin

Thanks all, for reminding me that I have had a lot going on in my life. And also that it's unreasonable to quit drinking after daily use for many years and expect my brain not to rebel somewhat.
So, are we taking my case as conclusive evidence that tolerance does not occur with gabapentin?
And you're right, Greg. I saw tolerance most often mentioned by stoners. How someone gets fucked up on gabapentin is beyond me. When I was younger, I had people offer to buy it off me. Huh.
That said, that guy in the youtube video did seem like a lot of fun. :H

[playland]

Gabapentin

Hi Everyone,
I'm going against my normal policy of not reading much or posting on threads other than the "Topa" thread because I feel that I don't really have the time to get involved in several different ones, but, that said, I feel I might have something to offer of use here as I do take gabapentin for pain. I have taken it for quite along time and it does work quite wonderfully for the pain. When I started taking the Topa a few months ago, I stopped taking the gaba because I was afraid of taking two powerful drugs together, afraid of how they might interact, so #1, my pain got alot worse when I stopped the Gaba and I have been struggling with it and #2 I have started the gaba again recently because I just can't deal with the pain. I have also received my new supply of Topa and will just take them both and see how it goes. The Gaba is RXed by my doc but the Topa is self medicated and acquired online, we will see. I also take Zoloft for depression and it works quite well, when I try to stop, I feel like crying all the time, so I continue to take it, I have taken it for about ten years since a divorce.

Reflections on Gaba: I took only 300mg at night, it neither helped nor hindered sleep; I didn't notice any difference in mood when taking it or not; i never found that i needed to increase the dose to control the pain; i gained 20 pounds while taking the Gaba during the last few months and thought the gaba was the reason but now when I look back I believe it was because I took a year off work, left the Bay Area where I walked several miles every day as I don't have a car and became very sedentary for the year and also continuing with my habit of eating very late at night (the walking probably helped before with that); I noticed absolutely no effect of reducing my craving for alcohol while taking it and I was actually out of control just as always.

Well, I hope that helps someone, as for me, I am starting my gaba again because it has been really hell
these last few months dealing with the pain and I'm going to just pay attention and see if the topa and gaba can work together, I don't take a hugh dose of gaba and before on topa didn't get above 50mg a day, i'm hoping that it will work for me again.

bye for now, love and hugs,
play