@annatino and @rivermaya34
Good evening. I am going to try to give you some background about my personal journey with gabapentin, This was the first medication that my Neurologist prescribed after the results from the skin biopsy came back with a diagnosis of severe SFN, (small fiber neuropathy). He began to increase the daily dosage by 300 mg per month. The side effects of fuzzy brain and dizziness were more than I could handle so he had me take the gabapentin only at bedtime. And yes, it worked to reduce the numbness, pain, and coldness in my hands to enhance my sleep.

Shortly after that, I was introduced to medical cannabis to include a topical 3:1 CBD/THC for my hands. I found it to be helpful. So…….in a shared decision, my PCP and I decided to taper off one half gabapentin capsule at a time. It took several months for me to get to 600 mg at night.

And I have been doing reasonably well. In fact, I would like to eliminate gabapentin altogether. My hope is that a medication will be developed just for Neuropathy patients. Or it may be that there is some way to implement nerve regeneration in a more reasonable timeframe. Until then I will be very careful about terminating the last two capsules of Gabapentin.

Go slowly, be careful, and don’t forget to introduce a replacement to handle the symptom progression that affects us all. We all know how much we regretted missing a dosage of Gabapentin.

Will you please let me know what you decide? Your shared experience will help so many others.

May you both be safe, free, and protected from inner and outer harm.

Chris

I can’t tell you how many times I have thought the same thing re: Gabapentin. It is rare that I’m not checking my watch and waiting every day for my 4 pm dose because pain is setting in. Then I wonder if that means I’m addicted. But I do believe it’s because the pain is real, and that the Gabapentin is just the best and safest thing for us right now.
Throughout life, I have doctors throwing HARD pain meds at me for each nagging pain, and I’m like “Woah!!! I’m not trying to MASK the pain, I’m looking to FIX the pain”. Sometimes, like for surgeries, injuries etc it made sense to mask it while we knew our bodies were healing, so I would indulge in very temporary pain relief; I always feared dependency that we’ve all read about.
But I’m like you, I would be ok taking Gabapentin for the rest of my life because I’ve accepted that we have something that doctors admit they can’t heal, and I think it must work since we know when the medicine is wearing off. Gabapentin does not make me “high”, drugged feeling, or unsafe. I can safely walk, drive, and function. Would I have even more energy without Gabapentin? Probably, but I’m sure my neuropathic pain and discomfort would counteract that benefit.
So I too wonder if I’ve become “addicted” and if I’d have withdrawal issues if I needed to stop; but until they find a safer alternative, or better yet, a cure for the pain and other life interfering effects of idiopathic neuropathy, I’m ok with Gabapentin for life and hope I stay stable. With that said, I have not tried any of the pain clinics and not certain if they take you off 100% of medications, but I’ve recently dabbled in acupuncture and if there are success stories of getting off Gabapentin for a sure tried holistic remedy, I would consider trying to get off Gabapentin with proper supervision.