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Gabapentin addiction please help.

So my dr gave me gabapentin for tramadol withdrawals. It has helped wonderfully. This was 7 days ago. So I think I am over the withdrawals from the tramadol but I have been taking high doses of gabapentin in that 7 days. Like anywhere from 900-1800mg a day to stave off withdrawals. My question is how long will it take to develop a gabapentin addiction because I've read horror stories about the withdrawals. So I wanna stop taking it in like 3or 4 days but I just wanna make sure I won't suffer any withdrawals.
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Avatar universal
Shes right, Gabapentin is not a controlled substance, but it should be. A newer version came out years ago called lyrica. Same exact class of medication, same mechanism, and it IS a controlled substance. The only reason gabapentin is not is because its super old. No one can or wants to re-establish its status. I would suggest a slow weaning off of it over a month or so. Take your time and decrease the milligrams every 5 days or so. Then after you are on the lowest strength it comes in down to once daily then start taking it only every other day till you taper it off completely.
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5801192 tn?1389200487
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Dear Jones1431:

Gabapentin is not a scheduled drug/controlled substance.

From the manufacture's drug label:
"Abuse
Gabapentin does not exhibit affinity for benzodiazepine, opiate (mu, delta or kappa), or cannabinoid 1 receptor sites.

A small number of postmarketing cases report gabapentin misuse and abuse. These individuals were taking higher than recommended doses of gabapentin for unapproved uses. Most of the individuals described in these reports had a history of poly-substance abuse or used gabapentin to relieve symptoms of withdrawal from other substances. When prescribing gabapentin carefully evaluate patients for a history of drug abuse and observe them for signs and symptoms of gabapentin misuse or abuse (e.g. development of tolerance, self-dose escalation, and drug-seeking behavior).

Dependence
There are rare postmarketing reports of individuals experiencing withdrawal symptoms shortly after discontinuing higher than recommended doses of gabapentin used to treat illnesses for which the drug is not approved. Such symptoms included agitation, disorientation and confusion after suddenly discontinuing gabapentin that resolved after restarting gabapentin.

Most of these individuals had a history of poly-substance abuse or used gabapentin to relieve symptoms of withdrawal from other substances. The dependence and abuse potential of gabapentin has not been evaluated in human studies."

I understand your concern about not wanting to be addicted. Your dose of gabapentin 900 - 1800 mg per day is actually within the normal dosing range. Please do not stop taking your medication without consulting your physician, especially if you are being treated for withdrawal symptoms.

Take care!

For more information, please go to:
1. Gabapentin - Medline Plus
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a694007.html

2. Gabapentin - Daily Med
http://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/lookup.cfm?setid=0936a88f-b569-49c4-951b-14e8f6273b53#nlm42232-9

3. Importance of gabapentin dose in treatment of opioid withdrawal. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2011 Oct;31(5):593-6.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21869694
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