Gabapentin? Any comments about your experience is appreciated.

Hi. I have OCD and probably GAD too, and I will be very interested in how you do with the gabapeptin. I have considered taking it. I am on Zoloft now, at a relatively high dose. I suppose it is helping somewhat but I could use something more, I think. I have a friend who took gabapeptin because she could not tolerate any SSRIs, and it helped her, though she took Valium prn as well.

Neurontin is a brand name for gabapeptin.

I thought maybe you were taking it for the ocd. I myself have not heard of it being used for anxiety. But meds can be used for different things I understand. I thought it was actually for nerve pain. Anyway, I hope it helps. Let us know. Maybe the doc got something mixed up. Maybe you should call and express your concern. I wish you the best.

Hugs, Karen...

Hi Everyone,
I would like to help if I can. I have degenerative disc disease and have had spinal fusion with discs taken out and metal hardware put in. I have taken Gabapentin in the past so here is my take on this med. It works well for nerve pain which is what I am left with after surgery. I still have more levels which need to be fused and will get this done after my cancer surgery I hope. Gabapentin is used off label for anxiety/depression.

Now for how it worked for me. When I first start taking this med it definitely takes the edge off my anxiety. I was on a baby dose of 3 capsules per day. Each has 100mg. My dr then increased this to 2 capsules 3 times per day. No side effects which are horrible. You will feel a bit tired and your cognitive abilities are slowed quite a bit. It does a good job of ending my anxiety periods. The bad news is the longer I take it the less effective it is for anxiety. If you come off it for a month then start over it works great, at least it did for me.

I am happy to answer any questions. I hope this helps anyone thinking of taking this med. I am of course not a dr and this is just my personal experience.

God bless us all.

I was wondering if anyone has walking or balance issues taking gabapentin.
This might sound very weird, but it is almost like I have forgotten how to walk!
It's like my legs and knees don't want to move correctly which is causing knee/ hip issues.
Thanks for any input!

I take 600mg Gabapentin and 50mg Hydroxyzine for sleep every night (as well as 25mg Zoloft for my anxiety every morning). Gabapentin is very effective for sleep, and also for calming my body down at night. I'm still sorting out which medication is causing which side effect, but I'm almost positive the Gabapentin is causing some balance issues (like others have said), and just to warn you it can also cause water retention and weight gain which I'm also struggling with at the moment.

Being on the Gabapentin has also allowed me to come off Klonopin, so it is very effective in place of a benzo. Hope that's helpful!

Post Edited (laurar) : 4/25/2022 6:36:19 PM (GMT-6)