Use this section to discuss your experiences with prescription drugs, iron injections, and other medical interventions that involve the introduction of a drug or medicine into the body. Discuss side effects, successes, failures, published research, information about drug trials, and information about new medications being developed.
Important: Posts and information in this section are based on personal experiences and recommendations; they should not be considered a substitute for the advice of a healthcare provider.
Brynmr wrote:Anyone know the max dosage of gabapentin? I'm getting conflicting info online.
There is honestly no such thing like a max dosage for many drugs. At least you can't give a certain number safely that would account for all people and all circumstances. There will always be people who tolerate and require much higher doses than the average.
Pregabalin is a drug similar to Gabapentin but more potent. The max approved daily dose is 600 mg but it is not like you will just die when you take 601 mg or 660 mg. In fact there are some people who can take several thousand mgs of Pregabalin and still experience tolerance.
Basically what you are asking is the wrong question. In practical terms, a doctor would want to know if you have side effect at your current dose and when there is nothing relevant, it often makes sense to increase the dose of a drug that has worked before but stop working.
What you asking is basically the max dose before you experience relevant / problematic side effects. But there is no real way to predict it. Just that those max dose recommendations are mostly based on studies in the years before the drug was on the market. And they tend to choose doses where not too many people develop serious side effects, so that they will get approval for marketing.
Hi Wendykat, glad you found us. I hope you find what you are looking for. We have lots of knowledgeable, compassionate, empathetic people here. Let us know if you have problems.
0.5 mg of Ropinirole and about 2100 mg of Gabapentin seems to be doing it for me - for the time being at least. To Qyx's point: I wasn't experiencing any side effects I couldn't tolerate. But ya know you tend to follow your doctor's advice so I'm trying out this DA drug but I'm not happy about it. I'd rather just go to opioids and I'm already addicted to drugs.
I'm going to stop taking this Ropinirole. I don't like it. It's not helping my symptoms and it's making me creepy (gives me chills) on top of it all.
I was prescribed 30 tablets on 07 of this month (Jan). I've taken 18. Is stopping abruptly ok or do I need to taper off? I'm going to increase my gabapentin dosage to maybe 2200 or 2400mg and see how that works.
Brynmr wrote:I'm going to stop taking this Ropinirole. I don't like it. It's not helping my symptoms and it's making me creepy (gives me chills) on top of it all.
I was prescribed 30 tablets on 07 of this month (Jan). I've taken 18. Is stopping abruptly ok or do I need to taper off? I'm going to increase my gabapentin dosage to maybe 2200 or 2400mg and see how that works.
Should be ok to stop abruptly. Be aware that this is likely to be MUCH more difficult than you anticipate. Likely you will have 1-2 nights of NO sleep (not even 5 minutes). This will get better over the next few days, but you will likely be VERY tempted to restart it in the first few days of torture as you get off it. If you make it to the 3 day mark, chances are good you will be successful. Good luck, keep up posted.
You might not have problems after only 18 days. Go for it.
Been on Gabapentin for 20 months. Currently @ 1800 to 2200 mg. Soooo... getting off it might need opioid assist. We'll see.
Why do you want to get off the gabapentin? And (although I had a miserable time when I stopped gabapentin) gabapentin does not cause augmentation nor does stopping it cause increased WED/RLS symptoms. So there would be no use for opioids in a gabapentin withdrawal.
I'd rather just go to opioids and I'm already addicted to drugs.
What do you mean by this? If you're referring to your need for medication to treat WED/RLS or any other disease, that's not addiction. Even if you need ever-increasing amounts to relieve the WED/RLS symptoms, that's tolerance, not addiction. Even if you get sick when you stop taking the medication, that's dependence, not addiction. If you use the medication to alter your mood, to get a sense of euphoria or mellowness or some other kind of pleasant mood, and you use increasing amounts just to get that feeling, and especially if you start wanting that feeling so much that your moral compass fails and you start doing illegal things to get more of the medication, then that's addiction.
Beth - Wishing you a restful sleep tonight Click for info on WED/RLS AUGMENTATION & IRON I am a volunteer moderator. My posts are not medical advice. My posts do not reflect RLS Foundation opinion.
Brynmr wrote:I'm going to stop taking this Ropinirole. I don't like it. It's not helping my symptoms and it's making me creepy (gives me chills) on top of it all.
I was prescribed 30 tablets on 07 of this month (Jan). I've taken 18. Is stopping abruptly ok or do I need to taper off? I'm going to increase my gabapentin dosage to maybe 2200 or 2400mg and see how that works.
Should be ok to stop abruptly. Be aware that this is likely to be MUCH more difficult than you anticipate. Likely you will have 1-2 nights of NO sleep (not even 5 minutes). This will get better over the next few days, but you will likely be VERY tempted to restart it in the first few days of torture as you get off it. If you make it to the 3 day mark, chances are good you will be successful. Good luck, keep up posted.
Got through the night with 2100 mg of gabapenting. Surprisingly I felt better than the night before when taking .5mg of ropinirole. There wasn't that added creepy feeling. I was pretty bouncy but fell asleep around 2 am. Slept til 9 am.
Badnights: I mentioned my increased gabapentin dosage which wasn't working so well to my GP and he sent a script of .5mg of ropinirole to my pharmacy so I went with it. Look, I don't want to get off gabapentin because generally it's been working with few side effects but I want it to be more effective. If taking more of the drug will do it then I'm fine with that but doc didn't say just take more of the drug. And yes, dependence rather than addiction - a more appropriate term. I don't take these drugs to get high.
Hi brynmr
I'm glad your ropinirole-free night worked and you slept well! You can definitely get augmentation within days - I had it by the third day. Besides Qyx, Ann also augmented in very few days, and there are others here who augmented within a week. So you might have been augmented already. I'm glad you stopped the ropinirole.
I hope you can find something to add to the gabapentin that will cover your symptoms better. I found when I was on gabapentin that it quelled the really nasty sensations (the electrical yukky buzz that I can't describe) but it left me with a small but persistent urge to move. So I could lie in bed, but I couldn't keep still - I had to kick kick kick these little kicks, which meant I was awake. Adding codeine to that helped. Since your GP is not likely to prescribe an opioid, you might try to order some kratom, which would have a similar effect.
If I were in your shoes, I think probably I would look into the iron infusions more. Start taking oral iron while you're investigating (unless you;re in danger of hemochromatosis). Depending on where you live, there may be different options available, and some are cheaper than others. Also some are faster - I got 750 ml of ferric carboxymaltose and it took 45 minutes.
Something will work out. You're going about it the right way, learning first and asking questions and avoiding things that don't feel right.
Beth - Wishing you a restful sleep tonight Click for info on WED/RLS AUGMENTATION & IRON I am a volunteer moderator. My posts are not medical advice. My posts do not reflect RLS Foundation opinion.
At one point my GP said that the max dose pretty much depends upon side effects, which are specific to the individual. But he joked that anyone who was trying to get high off of it could take over 3600mg at a time and that all they would get is a long nap.
Steve
https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.
Looks to me like I'm a member of the exclusive, Rapid Augmentation on Gabapentin, club.
Thanks for the info everyone, I do appreciate your advice too. So far the upped dosage of gabapentin (2400mg) is working reasonably well. Bouncy feet but falling asleep ok. Kratom looks interesting - some iffy side effects though like liver damage. Anyway I'll stick with the devil I know for the time being.
badnights wrote:Hi brynmr
I'm glad your ropinirole-free night worked and you slept well! You can definitely get augmentation within days - I had it by the third day. Besides Qyx, Ann also augmented in very few days, and there are others here who augmented within a week. So you might have been augmented already. I'm glad you stopped the ropinirole.
I'll pass this on to my GP when I see him.
I hope you can find something to add to the gabapentin that will cover your symptoms better. I found when I was on gabapentin that it quelled the really nasty sensations (the electrical yukky buzz that I can't describe) but it left me with a small but persistent urge to move.
I hate the anxiety when it happens. Usually when I forget to take the meds or at 4 am on occasion. It's a terrible feeling that has me reaching for another pill and a couple shots of Jack Daniels.
If I were in your shoes, I think probably I would look into the iron infusions more. Start taking oral iron while you're investigating (unless you;re in danger of hemochromatosis). Depending on where you live, there may be different options available, and some are cheaper than others. Also some are faster - I got 750 ml of ferric carboxymaltose and it took 45 minutes.
