Anyone on Gabapentin?

My psychiatrist has me on Lamictal (I am only at 75mg now). I have been having severe anxiety, so she suggested Gabapentin. I am on 100mg this week and then up to 200mg for another 3 weeks. Now I have read I probably need to get up to at least 600 and probably more. I feel like it is going to be months before I even know if these medications are helping.

Anyhow.. is anyone on Gaba? Have you found it helpful for anxiety?

I really like it. I take it at night (800 mg) and 100-200 mg PRN. My goal is to taper of klonopin and use only gabapentin but first some other things have to happen. At one point I was on 1200 mg and night and 600 mg twice a day so you can take quite a bit of it; I know the hospital doctor said I could take more although my own pdoc doesn't like high doses of it. I find it controls anxiety as well as klonopin and without being addictive. On really high doses I get confused and can't function but that was more like 1000 mg 3x/day for severe akathesia and only short-term.

I get horrible anxiety that my kids will be killed or kidnapped or that they have already but no one has prescribed gabapentin.

I've been taking it for 6 years. It seems to help, but it's not always enough. I'm taking 800mg at night.

I've been on Gabapentin (300 mg, 3x daily) for about 8 months. I still have a lot of anxiety, but I am better with it, compared to when I am without it. The side effects are minimal. Sometimes I get fatigue, but that's it, really.

Did you all take time to build up to your current doses? I feel frustrated that I am going to have to wait so long when my anxiety is currently through the roof especially at night. I am wishing she had given me Ativan for this particularly bad run with anxiety.

ShanDoll, I was also put on gabapentin on top of lamictal (200 mg).

Gabapentin was great in the beginning at soothing the agitation/restlessness that I got from a high dose of lamictal. Gabapentin relieved a lot of the physical symptoms of restlessness/anxiety and really helped me sleep.

The best effects (somnolence, anxiety relief) did wear off over time. I was on 1200 mg of gabapentin when the dosage was reduced in favor of another med. But it did help make me physically calmer.

I would definitely recommend it, but if the anxiety comes back, the doctor should up the dosage.

Good luck!

I started on 600 mg (300 2x daily) at first. It helped a little bit, but not right away. It still wasn't quite enough, so my pdoc brought me up to 900 mg (300 3x daily) afterwards, which seems to work better. I also take Klonopin as needed, so the combination helps. Sometimes Gabapentin alone without Klonopin helps, so it's definitely not just the Klonopin doing all the work.

I hope you find some relief soon. (((HUGS)))

I'm on Gabapentin. 900 mg. Also called Neurontin. It has a lot of abilities. It works for so many different illnesses. Nerve pain, shingles.

"Neurontin and its use in psychiatry to treat patients with treatment-resistant mood and anxiety disorders"

The reason it doesnt say it is because the ESA just hasn't approved it for anxiety. All in all I think it helps. Give it a go.

I meant FDA. Sorry.

I take it. I really like it. I take 600mg four times a day (so 2400mg total). It helps, but only to a certain extent. I still have to be on other anti-anxiety meds.

I too am in an anti anxiety drug besides gabapentin. I also take 6 mg of Ativan a day.

I have bipolar and take 400 mg gabapentin at night to help me sleep.

I've been on gabapentin since 2010? I went off it in 2013 to get pregnant and it was 24/7 panic until I ended up in the psych ward back on all my meds. I've been on as much at 2400 mg, but right now I take 200 mg in the AM and 1200 mg in the PM. Seems to work for the most part. Sometimes I still need to take a kpin here and there.

I take 600mg 3x/day for a total of 1800mg. I'm on it for nerve pain, but it definitely helps my anxiety as well. You do have to go up slowly in your dosage, though. Otherwise you'll end up in a severe brain fog.