Anyone here currently using gabapentin for alcohol dependence?

[Greg]

Hi all, I have not been on this forum for a very long time. I hope everyone is doing well. Things have been ok for me except during the past 2 months, due to my drinking increasing again.

I've had a quick look at the medication part of the forum, but I have not been able to find an answer to my question. Basically, is anyone here successfully using gabapentin to keep off alcohol? If so, what dosage? I'm seriously considering trying it at 2000 mg per day (divided up as 400 mg at 10 am, 2 pm, 6pm, 7 pm, 9 pm). The bunching up at night is due to my increased cravings for alcohol at night, and also the desire for the drug to help with sleep.

Any opinions are of interest. There is a study (on NIH I think) showing that 900 mg per day of gabapentin helped somewhat with alcoholism, but 1800 mg per day worked better.

[Colin]

Hi Greg,
I´ve been on 3600 milligrams gabapentin per day for the last couple of years to help with nerve pain. During that period baclofen has been my drug of choice to keep the booze under control. My cocktail is completed with amytriptyline for depression and nerve pain.

My average consumption has been less than one liter of 5% beer per day and thus just inside the WHO limit for `low risk´ drinking.

I sleep well but still suffer the occasional afternoon somnolence.

[dundrinkn]

I take 700 miligrams a day. I also take baclofen. I am using them both due to nerve pain, and also trying to not have to go up so high on the bac. Probably not helpful but thought I'd chime in.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Greg, there is some compelling evidence that Gabapentin helps people who are attempting to stay abstinent. As you mentioned, the higher doses are the effective ones. I just had a conversation with my pdoc about it, and the affects of GABAa (which is what Gabapentin affects) on drinking patterns. I would give it a shot!

Have you given up on taking baclofen?

Nice to see you and good luck.

[Greg]

Thanks folks for the replies.

Hi Ne, yes I have given up on baclofen, mainly because I am one of those who would need massive doses and I've become wary of importing drugs from overseas pharmacies. No doctor around here will prescribe over 80-100 mg per day unfortunately. The appeal of gabapentin (for me anyway) is that effective doses are within the accepted daily dose range, unlike with baclofen, so I stand a better chance of getting it from a doctor.

[Danathos]

I used to be on 450mg of pregabalin per day for anxiety though it didn't really help with that and I still drank like a fish whilst I was on it, good luck though

[YouKayBee]

There have been concerns expressed recently in the UK about misuse of gabapentin. There are tales of addiction problems, I'm not totally convinced because medics don't always get it right, but something to be aware of.

[dundrinkn]

That's seems strange since it really doesn't make you at all "high" from my experience. Of course, I am only at 1000mg. I have heard it is difficult to come off of ... but then again, everything is. Coffee, soda, sugar, not to mention alcohol. But good to keep in mind.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

There have been concerns expressed recently in the UK about misuse of gabapentin. There are tales of addiction problems, I'm not totally convinced because medics don't always get it right, but something to be aware of.

I've read at least one paper about this. The people they found were looking to get high, and using gobs of gabapentin. (Like 3000mg).

Bluelight (the forum about recreational drug use) describes the high as similar to a benzo, but less effect. They are often take with benzos to relax.

I'd say no worries, mate. The max recommended dose is very high, relatively speaking, and effectiveness for alcohol is a dose (IIRC) of less than 2000mg/day.

[nicnak68]

My husband had a spinal cord injury 2 years ago and spent 5 months in a rehab hospital learning to walk again and use his hands and in all that time he didn't drink and thankfully gave up smoking.But he did take up drinking again when he came out.He was prescribed gabapentin for pain relief and to repair nerve damage and he titrated up to quite high levels and his drinking didn't decrease.But he decided to come off it as he thought it wasn't beneficial and was giving him constipation and stomach problems and he didn't have any bad SEs coming off it

[Greg]

It seems there is a wide variety of responses to gabapentin (and pregabalin), ranging from a positive effect on alcoholism to no effect at all. This variety of response also seems to extend to the abusability of the substance and the level of difficulty in getting off it. I have read anecdotal reports of some people experiencing a psychoactive effect from quite low doses, and 200-400 mg has a mildly relaxing effect in my case (from a few tests I have done in the past), whereas others appear to need thousands of mg to get a "high" or relaxant effect. Very strange substance!

I'm still planning to ask a doctor for a prescription, even though I was knocked back in the past, and I had considered using it with either baclofen or phenibut to get an anti-alcohol effect without needing huge doses of either gabapentin or baclofen/phenibut. I will almost certainly also be using Antabuse again, plus finding alternative activities to do at night (e.g. gym at night instead of drinking).

[Greg]

p.s. my interest in gabapentin is also due to its reported ability to help with marijuana cravings. For those who don't know, I had switched from alcohol to pot over 5 years ago after exhausting every other treatment for alcoholism except high-dose baclofen and inpatient rehab. Lately however the pot has been doing less to help me avoid alcohol, plus the police in my area are now intensively doing random roadside drug tests to catch motorists driving with cannabis (and also ice and ecstasy) in their system. I have had trouble cutting the pot out, despite a few periods of abstinence (lasting 3 to 8 weeks) over the past few years, and I was hoping gabapentin could kill two birds (alcohol and cannabis cravings) with one stone. If I have any success I will report back here over the next few months.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

What's the word, Greg? Did you decide?

[Diver]

Greg,
I just read on Dundrinkin's thread, that he is using Gabapentin in conjunction with Bac. You may want to check it out.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

Diver! Where have you been? How are you? I think I left you hanging a while back. I apologize.

I hope you're well.

Ne