Tapering Off Gabapentin

I have tapered off from 900 mg to 300 mg despite my doctor's insistance that I needed 900 mg. My current regime is 300 mg at night (it helps me go to sleep). I have another prescription for 4 - 100 mg a day which I take in 2 doses of 200 mg. So I am down to 700 mg a day. Unfortunately, I also take 1/2 of a 50 mg tramadol for breakthrough pain. I take this as needed usually at the same time as the gabapentin because of the delay in time it takes for gabapentin to take effect. I wanted to get off tramadol completely but this is what I need right now. At least I have reduced my need for tramadol. In order to not take multiple 100 mg capsules you can take a combination of 300 and 100 to get to the dosage you need. Ex. 2 300 mg =600 mg and 2 100 mg = 200 mg. That is a total of 4 capsules to get 800 mg total. Good luck. Even reducing the gabapentin will probably require you to tolerate some discomfort at least for a few days so don't be discouraged. If you need to go back to your previous dosage don't hesitate to do so, It is important to be able to get your pain to an acceptable level without too much withdrawal discomfort. Give yourself time and try other things like ice packs if you need to. Maybe some over the counter NSAIDs too. I don't think I will ever be able to get completely off pain meds, but some times I forget to take my meds and I manage to go longer than I expected before I realize the pain isn't there. But it always comes back so be prepared for this in your experimentations and don't be hard on yourself if you have to revert to taking more meds. I also have problems with sleepiness on gabapentin. If I get up and stay physically active I can usually work through it. Reducing carbs may help. I can't take caffeine but that may help you if you haven't been told to avoid it. Best wishes. Cathy

I had been on Gabapentin with 1200 mg and gradually degrecreast dosage to 900 mg.When I saw my neurologist he suggested blood work first then decided 900 mg would be good.I am less dizzy now with the lower dosage and take 300mg in the morning rest at bedtime .Yes lower the med by 100mg once a week.Get both the 300mg and the 100mg to decrease the dosage is best

My son was initially put on 900 mg (300/3x day(am, afternoon/night) gabapentin for systemic pain throughout his body by Neurologist. He titrated down to 600 mg( 300/2x day) at 3month mark of first onset of pain. My son experienced a slight increase in pain when moving to 600 mg. The neurologist titrated him down very slowly-100 mg during the day only. A week at a time till down to 600 mg. Now he is titrating off med completely- titrating down 100mg (starting with daytime dose) for a week till down to 0 mg during the day, then moving to titrate 300 mg dose at night. Titrating 100 mg for a week till at 0 mg. He is now off the day time dose. Starting to work on nighttime. He is noticing very slight increase in muscle spasms, cramping and almost imperceptible nerve pain/numbness. Sleeping well, and increase in anxiety- but he has Trauma responses from all the extreme neurological and systemic pain over the last 8 months. Which makes sense as to increase in anxious sxs. Hope this is helpful. His Neurologist even encouraged him to titrate more slowly- 100 mg per day-for a month if needed🙏 He is almost completely back and sxs free. An absolute miracle!!!

I was prescribed Gabapentin for small fiber neuropathy. It didn't work but had a host of terrible side effects. I was told that the side effects were not from the gabapentin. Then an awesome internist and a team member said they were side effects. Just like yours. The tapor seems slow and there are nasty withdrawal. But getting of this medication will be so worth it.

Did anyone have ear rings and blury eyes. Gabapentin was justhard on my body

I am currently taking 300 mgs of gabapentin once daily, in the evenings, for terrible pain in my mouth caused by a blocked salivary gland. It as the only drug that worked to control the pain. I have been taking it for 3 weeks and want to discontinue/taper it because of side effects, mainly fatigue, depression and shortness of breath. What is the best way to taper this drug? I only have 300 mg capsules. I’m wondering if I can skip a day, then after a week skip two days and so on until I’m taking none? Thanks for any experiences you can share.

@judy1998
Hi Judy
I had no problems getting off gabapentin even though I took 3600 mg. It was given to me primarily for seizures however it had no effect on seizures or neuropathy. I was able to quite fast possibly because they gave me another type of GABA seizure medication. Another member here that was tapering with infinitesimally small cuts but was still having withdrawals.
if I were in your situation I would probably switch to the liquid since I believe the smallest tablet is 600 mgs. No since in paying for a more expensive drug and have to throw half of it away.
My own personal believe is that it is better to maintain a normal as possible blood serum level in your blood of the drug and not skip days since the half-life is short which would possibly increase potential withdrawals.
If my memory is functioning today I believe long-term in the medical world is considered between 3 to 6 months plus.
although I’m not suggesting you try this if it were me in your situation and since I can get off drugs quite quickly, I would stop one 100 mg Capsule every four weeks and if I had no withdrawals at all I might try reducing every three weeks the next time.
Have you asked your doctor about tapering?
I asked my doctor about tapering off Fentanyl but didn't take her advice. I told her how I wanted to taper and asked for a different prescription and she agreed.
Take care,
Jake

Please talk with your dr ABD pharmacist has the best answer
Horrible withdrawals if done too fast
Drug you can be on max of 5 months not good !

I tapered Gabapanten too fast at the end and having severe anxiety and sweating

I just saw this post and I have been taking gabapentin for nerve pain following spinal surgery. I really can’t tell if it is working at all since I still have nerve pain. My orthopedic surgeon increased my dose to 1200 mg. per day and I had a lot of trouble staying awake but no change in nerve pain. Would it be safe to say that gabapentin does not work for me?
Are there any other nerve pain meds that are not class 1 drugs that have helped anyone?