Neurontin vs Klonopin

[Jeanne]

Calling Andreas: we need some help here. Could you give us some information on your experience withdrawing from klonopin? How long did it take you to completely go off it? Did you feel the benefits of the increased gabapentin right away or was it only after you stopped the klonopin? How long did it take before you realized you no longer had any burning? Is it still working for you?

[Leah]

Andreas did say something about the use of neurontin in weaning people from klonopin, but I dont know anything about how it works. I do know that you dont go off klonopin cold turkey without experiencing side effects. Ive been taking it for years (for other reasons) and had to go off once in preparation for knee surgery. I kind of forgot afterwards (I was in a bit of a daze) and then began to feel incredibly anxious and depressed. Suddenly I realized ... no klonopin! I restarted my usual dose and was back to myself right away. Going off slowly, as I have been doing over the past few weeks, causes no problems that I can see. So, maybe that's just safer.

[Aleksandra]

I do not agree with the assumption that Klonopen does not effect pain. Klonopen is anticonvulsant first and foremost, and as such slows down nerve impulses thus blocking amount of pain impulses going at once to the brain. Klonopen is prescribed "off label" for many conditions, but it's primary use is for epilepsy. Other conditions are BMS, anxiety, restless leg symptom, even fibomyalgia. In my case, it was Gabapentin that had major side effect on my body and I stopped using it immediately. I also have no problems skipping Klonopen. Sometimes it happens if I am too busy. The only way I know I did forget to take it is when my burning goes up. So...the bottom line, everybody is different and what helps one does not have to help others, and other way around.
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Aleksandra :)

[Leah]

I agree! (And by the way, I didnt meant to suggest that missing one klonopin was some kind of disaster--only that if you go cold turkey and stop all of it at once, you can definitely get a bad rebound.)

After three weeks of dropping my klonopin dose way down (no klonopin during the day) I actually gave up this morning and went back to the klonopin. It's true that I didnt give up my nighttime dose, so Im not a good test case for the Gabapentin-Only-Plan. But the last month, and especially the last couple of weeks, have been bad. Ive been getting symptoms first thing in the morning, which I never had on klonopin.

So since I was nervous about dropping my nighttime klonopin (I think it helps me sleep) I thought I would try the experiment in reverse--going back to klonopin (.25 4 times a day) and sticking with my increased dose of gabapentin (600mg 4 times a day). This morning, no symptoms.

Now this may be the trickiness of BMS, and it may be ... who knows? But Im going to give the combo-plan a try. I will report back!

[Sandy]

Hi Leah,

Sorry to hear that your experiment was not as successful as Andreas'. But at least you finally got some relief.

I am fairly new to the drug scene (have been on .5 Klonopin and 20mg Elavil a day for 8 months). My burning has intensified in the last couple of months, I now have symptoms in the morning, afternoon, and evening whereas before the symptoms were mainly in the afternoon). I think the dental treatments that I got last December did me in. I had a crown and cleaning treatment.

I am curious-why are so many people on two drugs that basically do the same thing, like Klonopin and Neurontin? Is it because they started with one drug and the doctor didn't want to increase the dosage so he prescibed a similar drug to avoid dependency on the first drug or is it that the two combined really do make a difference?

I'm glad you are feeling better and hope you continue to make progress.

Sandy

[Leah]

Klonopin and neurontin are actually very different drugs. Klonopin is an anti-seizure drug with off-label use for other purposes (like panic disorder and also BMS; see above for a basic description of how it works). Neurontin/Gabapentin is specifically for treating nerve pain--like post-herpetic neuralgia (shingles), and peripheral neuropathy (related to diabetes and other things). The label doesn't say BMS but ... hey, what does?! So maybe the 2 work together in some mutually reinforcing way.

My neurologist wants me to go off klonopin. She says that if it is a cause or contributor to BMS (I have been on it for years for non-BMS reasons) it could take "weeks to months" for my body to heal and return to normal. Since I would find it hard to go this route, Im first going to try the combo-method, and see what happens. If it doesnt work, I will go back to the no-klonopin concept, wean myself again, and see what happens.

[Administrator]

Hi Leah and Jeanne

I tried several times to stop taking Clonazepam, but couldn't due to withdrawal symptoms. I finally did it over 5 weeks, reducing the Clonazepam with 0.25mg each weak going from 1.5 to 0. Even then I thought I had some withdrawal symptoms.

The effect from the double dosage of Gabapentin began after 3-4 days, where the remaining symtoms disappeared.

Take care!
Andreas

[Aleksandra]

I finally found some time to do pharmacological research on Klonopen and Gabapentin. I was surprised to find that those two are actually very similar drugs They both regulate frequency of neural impulses in the brain by interacting with GABA - main neurotransmitter (short for gamma-aminobutryc acid). Both Klonopen and Gabapentin (Neurotonine) interact with GABA. Klonopen blocks amount of that neurotransmitter in the brain, thus slowing down speed and number of impulses, while Gabapentin does the same thing , although HOW it does it is still unknown . Both drugs are also used as anti convulsants and Gabapentin is ALSO used as anti-anxiety drug . It is also recommended for Gabapentin (Neurotonine) patients to avoid abrupt stopping of taking this drug. Both drugs are prescribed "off label" for many other neurological disorders.
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Aleksandra :)

[Aleksandra]

One more thing : Gabapentin may INCREASE the effects of other drugs, like antidepressants, antihistamines, sedatives, pain relievers, anxiety medications and muscle relaxants. This explains why for some BMS patients combination of Gapanetin and other drugs gives the best result Gabapentine is helping other drug to have stronger effect. Also, antacids will decrease amount of Gabapentin that is absorbed in the body, so don't use them at the same time. Wait at least 2 hours before you take G.
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Aleksandra :)

[hollie]

thats interesting Alexandra- makes sense.

I also read that nerontin decreases amount of white blood cells present in the body

[angelani]

Hi all,

Okay, I realize this link is kinda old, but seeing as I haven't been on since 2006 (I had to look it up when I last posted not to mention how to log in), please excuse this tardiness. Aleksandra, as usual, you come up with all the pharmacological research, and you mentioned that the meds, Klonopen and Gabapentin, interact with GABA. Well, I've introduced into my combo for my BMS, well, GABA. I get it from the local health store. I tried explaining what GABA was to my neuro-surgeon - got blank but interested eyes back....you'd think he would have heard of it since the brain makes it. (Oh yeah, had brain surgery ) Anyway, GABA opened my tiny eating world a bit more - well, to be truthful, a lot more. I have been meaning to get on site to post my test but I wanted to be sure it wasn't in my head . I got off of it for two months due to other reasons and wow, did the pain come back and I couldn't eat the foods I had gotten used to eating. Went back to taking it, and everything went back to normal...so to speak. Probably it is the reason I haven't been posting here, been enjoying ignoring my BMS . Still can't have Thai food but I figure to try Brad's idea with the oesteopath if that pans out. I did try Andreas' increase of neurontin ages ago, but it only made my hair fall out so I stopped. As Andreas says, meds affect people differently. How wonderful to read, though, that Andreas has found himself BMS free. Last I remember he was going in for some major, major mouth work and just had his baby girl...guess she's a bit bigger now . And still he keeps up with this wonderful site for everyone. Way cool Guess I'm still stuck with the clonazapan and amitriptyline with the GABA. Sure wonder about Brad's idea Will have to take some time and read some stuff around here, there sure are a lot more members and new names that are now more common to see. Great to see!!!!!!
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Aloha/Bog,

Mary Hendrickson

[Aleksandra]

OK - LOL, this is just a "test" message , since first one did not go through - what is going on LOL ??? I just spent 30 min writing and "poofff"- nothing got posted !!!!!

So yeah - let us see what happens now ???!!!
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Aleksandra :)

[Aleksandra]

Ha ha, OK, NOW it works !!!!

Heeeeeeeyyyyyyy Angelani-baby , what a nice surprise XOXO !!!! I was also absent from this forum for eons but just got "topic notification" and went to see who answered to my century old post LOL and discovered that it was one of my best buddies here !!!! I am sooooo happy to hear that GABA works for you (hug) , that is just great ! I have to check what are the news regarding Andreas - what thread it is in ? Anyway - I am also still taking Klonopen , 0.5 mg a day and I can eat everything, including mildly spicy foods . I just stopped expecting my BMS to go away LOL, and it is OK as long as my K works .

Now I have new pesky health problem that I have to deal with - I even had surgery in December which helped a great deal (about 80 %), but I will not be satisfied until it is 100 % resolved - we are not talking "rocket science" here .

It was so nice to hear from you Angie XOXO !!! I hope that you are doing great in general !

LOVE TO ALL !!!!!
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Aleksandra :)

[Aleksandra]

BTW _ WHAT HAPPENED WITH AVATARS ??? LOL
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Aleksandra :)

[angelani]

My My, Aleksandra, sounds like you're almost cured - how cool is that!!!!!!!

I, too, had that "poof" happen, very frustrating indeed. Luckily I just ramble easily enough and before I knew it - repeated it and it worked the second time. Don't know what happened to your avatar...old Barto doggy is working fine for me tho' he's a bit bigger nowadays.

So.....if you can remember way way back you sent me this message below.......... and I sent you one back just recently so I'm kinda dying to know what in blazes we said so read on my friend so you can see what I mean

ALOHA Angelani :D,

(Ja idem na Hawaii u petak :cool: . Hoces samnom ? :D

XOXO)

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Oh well, Andreas...., nothing of our plan of getting rich by making "buzzers" for our tongues :P :cry: :lol: :lol: !!! Thanks Angelani for letting us know that we are not that "ingenious" and that somebody else already made a contraption . But its OK, there are so many other possibilities - like tongue piercing, chemical peels, botox injections, or compulsive licking of things and people ... :lol: And yes, as I always said, there is no such thing that I would not try, shy of drinking ones own urine, as once was suggested on this forum :cry: .

All the best ,
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Aleksandra :)

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angelani
Gold Contributor (100 posts or more)



Joined: 04 Mar 2004
Posts: 112
Location: Washington
Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:56 pm Post subject: Croation - Ja idem na Hawaii u petak :cool: . Hoces samnom ?

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Hey there, LOLOL, well, I did finally buy my Croation dictionary to figure out what you wrote, and I finally got the energy to take a look to see if I could figure out what you said. Could be I had a push as we just had a cousin reunion with about 300 people - of course the "old ones" sang a few songs in Croation as is their custom. Some of the words I couldn't find but it seems like you were saying you were going to Hawaii on Friday, are you jealous???? Per chance, did you go on vacation to Hawaii back then??? The word "hoces" wasn't in the dictionary and I'm just guessing on the "samnon" as it's meaning is lonely or selfish and neither kinda fit. Drat, wish Dad had lived long enough to finish teaching me his language. Would have loved to use it with ya..ah well...I figure better late than never to answer any link. Bet you're a bit surprised to read this huh Nada vi ne kuhati dobiti neki srce napasti!!! Probably said that all wrong and you've not a clue what I've written....well gave it a try anyway
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Aloha/Bog,

Mary Hendrickson
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Aloha/Bog,

Mary Hendrickson