Gabapentin (Neurontin)

[Zwraven]

I personally had no problems coming off gabapentin, but we are all different.

 

[Philip]

All depends on your doses and length of use.

I would never use it daily or for months on end. The side effects mess with my gym commitment. It causes stiffness and swelling in the joints. Not good.

The worst withdrawals I've ever had were from phenibut. Gabapentin is just a few days of discomfort compared.

I never used benzos long enough for terrible seizure type withdrawals.

I just felt horrendously anxious and my T was way worse than usual when I stopped.

Gabapentin is like benzo-lit. It in the same class as phenibut and GHB but it offers minimal recreational potential which us why is very easy to obtain.

Like OTC in the country I live.

 

[ChrisJ]

I came off Lyrica, I felt bad for about a week with headaches and low appetite. I found it hard to sleep but eventually I was okay. It gave me a nice 'high' while I was on it but it didn't work as well as the clonazepam. It didn't reduce my T or H, it just made me feel high similar to a pain killer the way it masks a pain without actually removing it.

 

[free spirit]

Since having a 5 month break from taking Gabapentin I began to take it again for my trapped nerve. Within a day I noticed that my Tinnitus has completely disappeared. I contracted the condition after a bout of Shingles 6 years ago and I am now heartily relieved to be Tinnitus free.

 

[undecided]

That's great to hear.
Gabapentin is not an "cure everybody" drug but it has shown some good results for some people, probably related to some other condition they might have.
I took it for some time and while it didn't reduce the volume of my T, it used to make me feel better, it didn't bother me as much... Then I read some studies that the drug might be linked to liver cancer so I stopped using it.

 

[Candy]

@free spirit - in the previous 5 months it hadn't reduced your tinnitus correct?
Also who prescribes this the GP or an ENT?

Thanks

 

[JasonP]

I have two questions:

1. For those who took it and found it helpful, how many days did it take to start working, and what dosage were you on?

2. Did any of you experience tinnitus caused by benzodiazepines or antidepressants, and if so, did Neurontin help?

 

[Riderz43]

My T started after I took low doses of gabapentin for less than a week for a foot problem. The drug made me dizzy, a known side effect, so I stopped it. Two days later my T started. It has been three months now of constant T which only goes away when I drug myself to sleep. So be careful with gabapentin.

 

[Cal18]

@Riderz43 What dosage of gabapentin were you taking?

 

[Carlos1]

My T started after I took low doses of gabapentin for less than a week for a foot problem. The drug made me dizzy, a known side effect, so I stopped it. Two days later my T started. It has been three months now of constant T which only goes away when I drug myself to sleep. So be careful with gabapentin.

I've been on Gabapetin for 2 years and .25mg of clonozepam and its giving me some relief
tough to say how drugs will effect person to person some say it helps some swear it caused it who knows.
I know one thing T sux

 

[garywi]

I was taking Gabapentin for 2 years at 300mg for sleep and RLS. I stopped for a med break. During Gabapentin, I noticed my ears would ring very occasionally but never at night and never for long periods of time. Three months after I stopped, I have full time ringing in my left ear. I don't know if related to gabapentin, but I want to start taking it again for sleep but I am afraid now.

 

[Riderz43]

@Riderz43 What dosage of gabapentin were you taking?

100 mg. 1x a day at night after eating. Sorry for the delayed response.

 

[Cal18]

@Riderz43 At one point, I felt like I was getting better but now I don't think so. I think I'm going to taper off of it. I'm on the same dose. I figured you would have been on something higher - I'm on the same 100mg. I don't think I'm dizzy from it but my vision is a little blurred. I'm not linking this. I hope it calms down for you.

 

[Alue]

That's great to hear.
Gabapentin is not an "cure everybody" drug but it has shown some good results for some people, probably related to some other condition they might have.
I took it for some time and while it didn't reduce the volume of my T, it used to make me feel better, it didn't bother me as much... Then I read some studies that the drug might be linked to liver cancer so I stopped using it.

Can you show me the studies linking it to liver cancer?

 

[Ryan O]

I take 2mg of klonopin per day, which lowers my T by about 30%. My doctor added 600mg gabapentin, taken once daily at night, three days ago to see if it would help. Incredibly, my T is now virtually gone. I've had T for over year since it emerged during a nasty head cold and never went away.

No major side effects at this point to report from the gabapentin other than improved sleep and slight dizziness in the morning, the latter of which goes away after a cup of coffee.

No idea where this is going and if the gabapentin will continue to work long-term. If it does, I'd love to taper off the klonopin -- even if I may need to increase the dose of gabapentin to make up for it..

The klonopin makes it clear GABA has some impact on my T. Gabapentin's mechanism of action also includes raising GABA, although, I understand the GABA it creates doesn't really bind well with GABA receptors in the brain.

But gabapentin is also a significant calcium channel blocker. It's possible the calcium channel blocking aspects of the drug could be the main mechanism of action for the minority of T suffers it helps. Calcium is an excitatory element within the brain and inner ear, and plays a significant role in auditory transmission/perception.

This is all speculatory, of course. Gabapentin is a weird drug that works for some people and not others with a variety of ailments. And no one really knows why it works when it does work.

As a side note, I've also tried Lyrica in the past -- gabapentin's improved next-generation iteration, which also includes calcium channel-blocking attributes, but it had no effect on my T.

 

[RaZaH]

Incredibly, my T is now virtually gone

For how long has it been g0ne, I have learned that with the intameable T beast anything within a few days can just be random.

 

[Ryan O]

Three days. So yes it can be random. But it had been present for 24-7, every day, all day, up until I started the gabapentin. Day 1 was about a 50% reduction from the 2mg klonopin baseline. Day 3 was virtual absence.

 

[RaZaH]

Cool, please keep us posted

 

[Scared111]

Three days. So yes it can be random. But it had been present for 24-7, every day, all day, up until I started the gabapentin. Day 1 was about a 50% reduction from the 2mg klonopin baseline. Day 3 was virtual absence.

is your t still gone with the gabapentin and klonopin?

 

[Ubiquiste]

I tried a combination of clonazepam (1mg at bedtime), flunarizine (10 mg at bedtime), betahistine (24 mg x 2) and neurontin (300 mg in the morning), magnesium and vitamin B6. It had worked and alleviated my tinnitus before a new accident.

 

[GregCA]

I tried a combination of clonazepam (1mg at bedtime), flunarizine (10 mg at bedtime), betahistine (24 mg x 2) and neurontin (300 mg in the morning), magnesium and vitamin B6.

What was (were) the useful compound(s) in that cocktail?

 

[Ubiquiste]

What was (were) the useful compound(s) in that cocktail?

Klonopin, Sibelium, Betaserc together at beginning. Neurontin then increased the effect of the initial combination.

 

[GregCA]

Klonopin, Sibelium, Betaserc together at beginning. Neurontin then increased the effect of the initial combination.

Which one is the Sibelium in that list?

 

[Ubiquiste]

Which one is the Sibelium in that list?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flunarizine
"Flunarizine is not available by prescription in the U.S. or Japan"
Sorry...

 

[GregCA]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flunarizine
"Flunarizine is not available by prescription in the U.S. or Japan"
Sorry...

Thanks!

 

[Sonic17]

@Ryan O
I have been following your posts in this thread, are you still T free?

 

[Ubiquiste]

Thanks!

After research I discovered nimodipine. Nimodipine is close to flunarizine by its mechanism of action and can be purchased in the USA

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7841896

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/4087991

https://www.tinnitustalk.com/threads/nimodipine-interesting-find.5549/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2832848/

As a reminder, my effective association was:

Betahistine, Flunarizine and Gabapentin

 

[flobo]

An ENT i saw last week has me try gabapentin (200 mg / day).

There seems to be a very slight improvement of my T with it, but I'm having some weird side effects (joint pain).

I've tried to stop twice now but if I miss a dose, the joint pain seems to get worse.
I'll try to go down to 100 mg for a few days and see what happens (it could still be completely random).

 

[Pleasure_Paulie]

I'll try to go down to 100 mg for a few days and see what happens (it could still be completely random).

I would keep on it for a few weeks to see if the side effects reduce. Otherwise you could try Lyrica - Its the newer version of Gabapentin.

 

[flobo]

I would keep on it for a few weeks to see if the side effects reduce. Otherwise you could try Lyrica - Its the newer version of Gabapentin.

Thanks Paulie, i could try that. The pain is not unbearable or anything. I'm just a bit scared for long term use that it could get worse.