Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

The Gabapentin worked great for a couple of years and now doesnt seem effective. I am thinking of withdrawing it. If I wait a month or so, can I start it again and will it be effective like it used to be if it is out of my system for a while? Appreciate anyone who has done this or medical information on it. Thanks.

If you are using Gabapentin alone for your RLS, the problem is more likely just that your RLS has become worse as you have grown older, this is very common. If you are using Gabapentin alone and stop it, when you restart it is not likely to be more effective than when you were using it previously. Most likely you need to add another medicine to the Gabapentin or increase the Gabapentin dose.

Maybe it will work, maybe it won't ... there is no way to know for sure ... I tend to agree with stjohnh but you won't know until you've tried it.

For me Carbamazepine was quite a effective RLS medication until it lost more and more of its effect. In the end I had to stop and switch to some other drug. Carbamazepine did not work again for me when I tried it later again.

I would work under the assumption that Gabapentin won't work in the future anymore ... but maybe you get lucky.

Your first alternative is Lyrica since the drug is related to Gabapentin ... however I would not be surprised if Lyrica isn't working either. But it is worth a try. There are some other antiepileptics that help with RLS (Carbamazepine, Oxcarbazepine) but they are not commonly prescribed for RLS in the U.S.

So maybe the situation will force you to look into opioids.

Thanks Stjohn and Qyx for your help

For me, every med that ever worked for my legs stopped working. It seemed like I needed more. Some of them I have been able to go back and use, but I continually switch them up. That seems to work best for me.

Got a message from my Dr at Stanford and he said the receptors could be reset if I stop and restart the Gabapentin. Of course, i would have to deal with the leg twitching problems during that time. May try it and just just a half tablet of my Mirapex to mitigate any augmentation or side effects.

Are you taking Mirapex as well? If so, what dose?
You should be able to just stop the gabapentin, no tapering needed.
I hope your doc is correct. In the RLS community we usually talk about resetting receptors for people using dopamine agonists like Mirapex, not the alpha 2-delta ligand group (gabapentin, Lyrica, Horizant). I'm not sure that gabapentin uses receptors that can be reset. I think it affects calcium channels.

Are you seeing one of the Stanford docs in the RLS Quality Care Centers program?

Gabapentin is not safe to just stop no matter why one was taking it. This is an anti-convulsant med that changes brain structure. It can be dangerous to stop it cold turkey or even with a quick taper. Some people need a very slow taper, depending on the person.

I was put on a quick taper and it practically made me delirius. Not safe.

It's possible that you were becoming tolerant to it, not just that RLS was worsening.