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Anyone have skin itchiness as a result of gabapentin withdrawal

Posted by wallywuv @wallywuv, Mar 13 9:03pm

After surgery and 10 days of 600 mg (3x @ 200 mg) of gabepentin, I had a withdrawal reaction of severe skin itchiness no rash, no hives, horribly painful. Anyone else? I was told to stay on it for a month after with terrible itching, built myself up to old dose slowly- thought i could come off from a lower dose, but had to go back up to 600 mg. How did you wean yourself off it again. Thank you.

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bajjerfan | @bajjerfan | Mar 16 9:55am
In reply to @chrissiebee "I was put on Gabapentin 2x a day by my PCP when I was diagnosed with..." + (show)
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I was put on Gabapentin 2x a day by my PCP when I was diagnosed with lower limb lymphedema . I wish I had never gotten on it because I felt like a space cadet most of the day. Finally when I almost caused an accident, I stopped cold turkey and had no side effects. I know this is not advisable, but I was scared what it was doing to me. I mentioned this to my cardiologist and he shook his head and said he only prescribed Gabapentin for people with trouble sleeping. After this PCP prescribed other unnecessary medication for me and the pharmacist called me aside when I went to pick it up and he advised me it was "black boxed" which meant it interfered with other meds I was taking, I quit that PCP. I recently read, and you can Google this for more info, that tests are now showing that people who take Gabapentin have a higher risk of dementia for whatever that's worth.

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@chrissiebee

A PCP may not always know about drug interactions, but these days it's easy enough to look them up and not prescribe certain meds or inform you of possible interactions. I believe that the pharmacist has that responsibility tho. Your's did the right thing.

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chrissiebee | @chrissiebee | Mar 16 11:41am
In reply to @wallywuv "Thank you so much. Amazing. I am already pretty old and cognitively 100% or close to..." + (show)
Profile picture for wallywuv @wallywuv

Thank you so much. Amazing. I am already pretty old and cognitively 100% or close to it. Gotta say they are finding out soooo many things contribute to dementia risk. Hydroxyzine ( very string Benadryl) long term is a risk. I memorize grocery and other store prices...it really helps. And i get great weekly deals on the stuff I buy! Thanks again.

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@wallywuv You are so right. Many diseases, including cancer,, has many contributing factors. Same with dementia and Alzheimer's. I just lost my best friend, age 82, who had Alzheimer's for a number of years. Incredibly sad to watch. Do your research is what I say. The link between Gabapentin and Alzheimer's is relatively new. In fact, there is info on this site also. Statistics were a bit frightening to me. Nevertheless, I stopped taking it years ago and it was for only a few months. Glad to be off it is just my experience.

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