Gabapentin?

My pdoc today added Gabapentin to my medication regimen, so I will be starting tomorrow. I don't know much about this medication, other than it does not usually have many side effects and that it is supposed to help me with both anxiety and mood stabilization, along with my other mood stabilizer, antipsychotic, and benzo.

So for those out there who are on it or tried it....what has been your experience with Gabapentin? Did you benefit from it? If so, what did it help you with? (i.e. mood stabilization for Bipolar/anxiety, etc.)

My former psychiatrist (clinic, so they come and go) tried 300mgs x 3 daily as a "mood stabilizer." Its odd, really; I used to take Klonopin and "z" hypnotics and such, and I tolerated them just fine, but gabapentin threw me for a loop.

Now, I take 2 other anti-seizure drugs as "mood-stabilizers," but I have low-dose (100mgs capsules) gabapentin for as-needed use. I tolerate the low dose quite well. Since I don't need it very often, I sometimes take a couple of them at a time when I'm having trouble sleeping. Works quite nicely, a little bit of a hangover effect the next morning, but nothing too terrible.

I hope it helps you. I'm not able to tolerate higher doses, but some people swear by it. A friend of mine back in the day would pop my 300mgs capsules like they were candy, usually while getting stoned. Clearly, she was a big fan, lol.

I can take up to 600mg at night for insomnia and anxiety.

I'm taking 400mg three times a day. It does take the anxiety down but not as quickly as Zyprexa did. It's good since it doesn't affect my blood sugar or cholesterol.

I was just prescribed gabapentin 100mg x3 a day along with my Klonopin. It's only been a week but I think it's helpful.

Gabapentin helps my depression.

I take an extended release version, Gralise, at night. 1800 mg. I take it for nerve pain and anxiety/agitation. It mostly just takes the edge off of the anxiety/agitation for me, and if I start to panic, I have hydroxyzine that I can take at that point.

I took my first dose today, 300 mg. It helped with the anxiety a little bit, but I felt a little dizzy and spacey. The medication is not intolerable, but I don't want to feel like this every day. It gives a bit of a weird feeling, like I'm lightheaded.

I guess I need to give it more time. I wonder if taking it in the PM is better than AM?

I made a thread about it:
https://forums.psychcentral.com/psyc...periences.html

I have found it really helpful for anxiety, insomnia and if taken 3 times a day, also for depression. It makes stress less stressful. It made my brain works ''slower'', so I only take it at night.

I have been taking gabapentin since 2007 and it works well for my needs. I take 400 mg before bed. It helps me sleep and it also helps control my bipolar. If I don't get my refill on time and I go three or four days without it I become hypomanic.

I tolerate this medication well and can take 600mg 3x a day.
My sister has MS and it does nothing but make her totally unable to function.

I like taking it at night, it definetly helps get me drowsy...the 600mg.
300 does make me drowsy too...so depending on how hyper I am around bedtime I either take 300 if not so hyper and 600 if I am hyper.

I have noticed (when I didn't have benzos) it was a subtle anxiety relief for me. I noticed one day my heart would not stop racing and I took a Gabapentin and an hour later I noticed heart stopped racing but that was about all I noticed...I didn't really feel a "calming" effect like I do with Lorazepam.

My Dr. said that I am and have been stuck in a manic state for a few months...I have extreme agitation and irritability...it is not helping me at all with that. Risperdone IS helping with the agitation but not totally...but more than Gaba does.

Hope that helps

I take gabapentin 400 Mgs 3xs a day. I don't notice any drowsiness from it. As a matter of fact I don't notice anything from it. I have a high tolerance to meds though. Good luck. I hope it helps.

I started feeling a little strange last night, like my heart was beating faster than normal and my thoughts were racing fast. Even Seroquel took longer to kick in for sleep than usual. I'm not sure if it was a reaction to my first dose of Gabapentin, or if it's just my symptoms. I felt manic, which seems to be the opposite effect of what most people get....so I'm still uncertain about this.

These feelings of "thoughts racing", "heart beating" I have noticed when I start ANY medication. I think we feel this way because of the extreme fear we have of starting new medication and the anxiety of WHAT it will do to us.

I notice that after I take a new pill and it didn't do anything "drastic" to me..like make me walk into things, throw up, pass out...and then the next time I take it...I "give in to it" and some of the drugs I find are helpful.

Gabapentin is studied in research for anxiety and should not be making your heart speed up (actually Seroquel did make my heart speed up).

Maybe if you take it first before the Seroquel you will get sleepy and then take the Seroquel.

But, I would totally understand if the heart beating fast was a "reaction" for you that is drastic. I'm sorry.

I only use Gaba for sleep or if I run out of benzos cause it does calm me...a bit.

Thanks, Misssy2 for your response. You brought up some good points. There always is that anticipation when it comes to trying a new medication and the anxiety associated with that. Luckily, my reaction to Gabapentin is not as extreme anymore. The rapid heart beat issue is no longer there. I did accidentally take it during the day (at work) since I had to call my pdoc to ask her whether she recommends it at night or day. I didn't feel terribly tired at work from it, but I felt a little 'different.' She told me switch to Gabapentin at night.

It's working out well now. It doesn't make me tired (it's definitely the Seroquel that knocks me out), but I can still see why the Gabapentin is best taken at night. I'm starting to feel the anti-anxiety effect and notice I don't need Klonopin as frequent as before, although the Klonopin is still needed.

I'm glad this is actually helping a little bit. I was skeptical at first, but my pdoc told me so many people do well with it. I think some of my skepticism was because Gabapentin was never FDA approved for Bipolar Disorder or Anxiety, so I often do not know how to feel about off-label meds. I'm glad I stuck with it and wonder in the future if it ever will be approved for mental health conditions.

When I was IP last year they told me that gabapentin works on the same receptors as klonopin so if klonopin is a good drug for you gabapentin often is too. I really like it. I take 800 mg at night (probably going up to 1200 mg Monday after I see my pdoc) and it helps a lot with both sleep and apparently mood stabilization (research has not shown it to be an effective mood stabilizer but anecdotally it works well for at least some). It looks like I will be able to get off klonopin eventually thanks to this stuff.

I've been taking 400 mg one to two times a day for breakthrough anxiety and some DM neuropathy beginning in my feet. It does have a "loopy" effect sometimes. When it doesn't. It helps me think more clearly. As another poster put, it takes the stress out of stress. At least for me. My husband has been on it 6 years for bi-polar (and I believe PTSD) and he says he can't even tell he takes it any more. My sister takes megadoses for severe neuropathy and nerve pain for years and she's the same.

I think I fully adjusted since I no longer feel any side effects. My pdoc bumped me up to 600 mg. My anxiety is a little more manageable, although I do need the help of Klonopin too on some days. I think anxiety will always be a problem for me, but I'm a little more functional, unless triggered. (Knock on wood)

I take 300mg four times a day and I guess it helps with my anxiety some.

I really DO think it will eventually be approved for anxiety, depression and insomnia and alcohol withdrawal. Because I did a little research and they have been running clinical trials on Gabapentin for the conditions I mentioned since 2013.

Pharmaceutical companies have a process to follow to get a drug approved by the FDA and it is a long process - 3-5 years. Their main goal is always to get the drug approved for the first intended purpose which in Gabapentin case they (the company that makes it) wanted it first approved as an anticonvulsant and they probably took the first 3-5 years proving to the FDA they had enough clinical trial information to prove that Gabapentin was effective for seizure conditions.

Remember #1 goal for Pharmaceuticals is to get a drug on the market ASAP to make money! Not waste time to research every condition it may help...Get it out there and then continue to gather info to prove it works for other indications to make MORE MONEY! And the biggest thing they have to prove for each indication is SAFETY, PURITY and EFFICACY. Is it safe? Is it pure (no other ingredients other than what has been presented to the FDA) and Is it effective for the said condition (with proof from clinical trials).

Like I said, I can see from Google that clinical trials have been occuring for other conditions and much information needs to be gathered to prove to the FDA that Gabapentin is effective for these other conditions and since it seems to be effective for so many OTHER conditions it is taking much longer for the company to gain approval (and get all their ***** together) to prove to the FDA this drug works for these things without harm.

I was surprised too when my Dr. prescribed this to me for sleep/anxiety. Because my sister was taking it for MS. I was also hesitant. But, working in the industry I know that many drugs do more than what they are originally patented for...so I went with it...and since Gabapentin is proved to be a safe drug overall...I don't have a problem taking it.

I've been on Gabapentin as a mood stabilizer since 2000. I went on it after a concussion that left me crying all the time. I just don't seem to be able to get off it. I'm down to 900 mg now, but that is as low as I can go without sobbing over little things.

In the beginning, it makes you drowsy...so you increase it slowly. At one point, I was on 2700 mg a day.