Is it safe to stop gabapentin? How?

Hello @jeanallen

Gabapentin is a drug that has been around for a long time and is generic. I can't speak for the price in your area or for the type of insurance you have for prescriptions. however, with my Part D prescription coverage it is quite inexpensive.

If you don't have prescription coverage you might check prices on the GoodRx website. They will provide you with the pharmacies in your area that participate and the prices for each dosage.

My insurance pays for mine so I don't know what it actually costs. Mine comes in 300 mg capsules and I take 3 a day.

Withdrawing from Gabapentin should be a slow process decrease your dosage in the slow manner and you should be able to withdraw from it successfully. Can you withdraw from a medicine like Gabapentin should be supervised by medical professionals

@annatino
Since 2006, a life-long consequence of chemotherapy is residual peripheral neuropathy. Having tried gabapentin, Lyrica, pristiq, cymbalta, etc. ...none of them gave me relief and their side-effects were intolerable.
My neurologist tapered me off of each one before trying another. Now, I have learned to live with it.
Your doctor will guide you if you advocate for yourself. I don't know what your circumstances are. I do know communicating with your doctor is a priority.
Good luck.
Happy wellness.

Been taking 200 mg gabapentin per day at bedtime for back pain for about a year and a half. Sleepiness during the day, foggy brain, blurry vision; but still doesn’t address the pain. Advil sometimes helps a little. I’ve decided to quit the gabapentin. Since the dosage is so small, is it safe to just quit or is there a tapering schedule I should follow?

I’ve heard others here talk about tapering off, but I think it needs to be done with the supervision of your prescribing doctor, as we all respond differently and have different prescriptions and dosages in the mix.

@casso Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect! I'm glad you've asked this question, really. It seems like such a small dose of Gabapentin, when you read what some other members have been taking, doesn't it? I was also on that same 200mg per day dose, because I have kidney issues and the protocol is no more than 300mg a day. That was not a therapeutic dose for me, and I chose to stop it, too.

Being on this medication, your body may get used to "having it around", and a sudden stop may cause problems. In my case, I told my doctor, and we came up with a tapering schedule, of skipping one day out of three for 10 days, then every other day for 10 days, then 1 day on 2 days off for 10 days, and stretching it out like that. For you, please talk to your doctor for a suggested schedule. If you have other issues going on, you may need to work with those at the same time.

What do you think your doctor may advise? Additional treatment for your back pain? Physical therapy, perhaps? I will be curious to know!
Ginger

@casso
Tapering is very individualized.
I got off it easily but another person was tapering by 1/2% percent so you'll be the only one to know for sure. Your doctor can offer you an educated guess at what might work but it's still a guess. If you start to have any withdrawal symptoms go back to the dose withdrawal symptoms and taper from there slower.
Take care,
Jake

I took gabapentin for many years, it didn't help anything at all.
I googled the info, because I just cold turkey stopped. I didn't sleep at all for
2 weeks, then googled. I started taking one every 3 days (since I had already
stopped).

I think I would do every other day, then every 3 days, etc. Ease into it is now
my method for everything!!!

Once you're off, it is done. Not one issue other than getting off of it. I bet you
won't miss it at all. Stupid pill that has helped not one person I know of with
neuropathy or back pain, or ANYTHING.

Good luck