OliverB Posted November 5, 2016 Share Posted November 5, 2016 (edited) I am having cognitive and physical side effects from every day taking benzos, I wonder if any of you have tried to reduce benzos by taking gabapentin, as far as I understand it cause less side effects and it is safer than benzos. I am not worried about possibble sedation since benzos already caused it, also, it is a mood stablizer which would be good since my cycling depression isn't still fully under control with lamotrigine. I take benzo for generalized anxiety caused by psychosis and acute anxiety triggered by trauma. 0.5 mg klonopil in the morning, 1mg afternoon and 1mg at night for generalized anxiety and 2mg for acute. Edited November 5, 2016 by Bixo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OliverB Posted November 11, 2016 Author Share Posted November 11, 2016 Nobody has tried? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissaw72 Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 I haven't tried it, but I can say that when I was on gabapentin, I was also on xanax and klonopin at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OliverB Posted November 11, 2016 Author Share Posted November 11, 2016 I was given it, I will tell you if it works since gabapentin is safer than benzos if they work for you for anxiety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wooster Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 Gabapentin has been helpful with stabilizing my sleep, which, in turn has significantly decreases my use of Klonopin for sleep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancesintherain Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 I hope it works for you. I was on it for a period without a benzo (I was IP and Ativan was stopped abruptly) and my anxiety was fairly high. That said, I was also fairly out of it, so I'm not sure anything would have worked perfectly. ive heard of it doing good things; it just didn't seem to do enough for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OliverB Posted November 11, 2016 Author Share Posted November 11, 2016 It's seems to be half working. But it's better than clonazepam tolerance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissaw72 Posted November 11, 2016 Share Posted November 11, 2016 I'm glad it is working for you, at least half way working ... make sure to give it a fair chance and wait for 6-8 weeks to see the full effects/how it is helping you, or not. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Posted November 12, 2016 Share Posted November 12, 2016 Gabapentin threw me into horrible mixed episodes the two times I tried it. Once so bad I landed in IP. It just did not work well with me. I was agitated, depressed with a lot of negative energy.. typical mixed episode. Came on quick. Not a normal reaction. I've never had cognitive problems from benzos. Or addiction/dependence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissaw72 Posted November 12, 2016 Share Posted November 12, 2016 Want to add that IME it is a bitch to come off of if you need to wean down. For me it took awhile, but especially when I was getting down to the end of it ... After (I think) the 100 mg I had to just stop there and deal with about 1-2 weeks of side effects before I could deal with life again. YMMV though. It works for a lot of people, this is just my experience with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OliverB Posted November 12, 2016 Author Share Posted November 12, 2016 It is working greatt, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissaw72 Posted November 12, 2016 Share Posted November 12, 2016 5 hours ago, OliverB said: It is working greatt, Great news! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OliverB Posted November 13, 2016 Author Share Posted November 13, 2016 Well, it seems it's worsering my hypotension on mornings, so I will take two coffe and a glass of water with salt before taking it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissaw72 Posted November 13, 2016 Share Posted November 13, 2016 5 hours ago, OliverB said: Well, it seems it's worsering my hypotension on mornings, so I will take two coffe and a glass of water with salt before taking it. Personally I'd run that by your pdoc, just to let him/her know, like an FYI thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alien Navel Cord Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 I am on both klonopin as well as gabapentin and I thik the gabapentin works for me by maintenance and the clonz works well for acute attacks better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissaw72 Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 FWIW ... klonopin does not work for me as a PRN med. It only helps to keep the amount in my system constantly (0.5 AM / 0.5 PM). I use xanax for breakthrough anxiety, as the PRN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alien Navel Cord Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 9 hours ago, melissaw72 said: FWIW ... klonopin does not work for me as a PRN med. It only helps to keep the amount in my system constantly (0.5 AM / 0.5 PM). I use xanax for breakthrough anxiety, as the PRN. Yeah I think most people use klonz for maintenance - my doc won't prescribe xanax or anything else for acute attacks though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissaw72 Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 1 hour ago, Alien Navel Cord said: Yeah I think most people use klonz for maintenance - my doc won't prescribe xanax or anything else for acute attacks though. Did your DR say why? Have you talked to him/her about maybe getting a very small dose of something for the acute attacks? ie no valium, no ativan? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alien Navel Cord Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 1 hour ago, melissaw72 said: Did your DR say why? Have you talked to him/her about maybe getting a very small dose of something for the acute attacks? ie no valium, no ativan? Yeah, she and all of the others have told me that because xanax and ativan are short acting there is more potential for abuse with generalized anxiety disorder, since it's a disorder that isn't usually just acute, but chronic instead. Panic attacks however are acute and the klonz take too long to do their magic. But oh well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissaw72 Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 3 minutes ago, Alien Navel Cord said: Yeah, she and all of the others have told me that because xanax and ativan are short acting there is more potential for abuse with generalized anxiety disorder, since it's a disorder that isn't usually just acute, but chronic instead. Panic attacks however are acute and the klonz take too long to do their magic. But oh well. Personally, this would really piss me off. Klonopin is a benzo. Not a short-acting one, but it is a benzo. I have general anxiety disorders too, and have never come across any pdoc who says how with having generalized anxiety disorder, there is more potential for abuse. I'm sure some people do abuse it, but if everyone did, then no DR anywhere would be prescribing it. I know people abuse it, but not all of us do. It is the ones who abuse it that gives it a bad rap, when it comes to prescribing it to people who really need it. /end of rant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alien Navel Cord Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 19 minutes ago, melissaw72 said: Personally, this would really piss me off. Klonopin is a benzo. Not a short-acting one, but it is a benzo. I have general anxiety disorders too, and have never come across any pdoc who says how with having generalized anxiety disorder, there is more potential for abuse. I'm sure some people do abuse it, but if everyone did, then no DR anywhere would be prescribing it. I know people abuse it, but not all of us do. It is the ones who abuse it that gives it a bad rap, when it comes to prescribing it to people who really need it. /end of rant. Yeah. They told me that since it only lasts a little while, I'd feel like taking more and more of it to keep the anxiety away, whereas taking the klonz only makes it so I have to take my prescribed dose and be fine for a long period of time. A lot of them do seem to think that "uh oh, this person could potentially abuse them" - judging too soon that that would be a problem or not. It's like people who take painkillers and get addicted give pain killers a bad rap for those who actually need to take them for chronic pain and then get chastized for it. As though it's their fault they need them. Etc... I totally get what you're saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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