DOSE:	3 mg	oral	Pharms - Clonazepam	(daily)
	1800 mg	oral	Pharms - Gabapentin	(pill / tablet)

BODY WEIGHT:

174 lb

Gabapentin for Benzo Withdrawal Maintenance

I have been on clonazepam for over a decade. When I first started, I was prescribed 3mg (1mg TID) of clonazepam for generalized anxiety and it was a wonderful experience for the first few years. I was able to function normally for the 1st time in my life and everything was going well. I first started to notice a problem when I moved states because of my job and I had to find another doctor to prescribe me the medication. It took me many weeks to finally get to see a doctor and in the meantime I actually ran out of my clonazepam and for the first time I experienced the hell of benzodiazepine withdrawal. It was absolutely the worst experience of my life. I had uncontrollable anxiety, depression, a sense of unreality, vivid nightmares, and feelings of impending terror. All I could do was hide in my room and cry and crawl the walls.

One of my friends recommended taking gabapentin to help with the withdrawal syndrome. I was hesitant because I didn't believe anything could help me, but I took the 3 x 600mg gabapentin pills. Within 2 hours, all my major symptoms were relieved and I felt almost back to normal. It was a godsend and saved my life. My friend was able to provide me this dose for the next few days until I finally got a chance to see a doctor to prescribe me clonazepam. My dose was reduced from 1mg TID to 0.5mg TID, but it sated my anxiety and I was back to full life functions The gabapentin was integral in helping save my life from uncontrollable benzodiazepine withdrawal hell. The dose I took was very high (1.8mg gabapentin) I probably didn't need that high of a dose.

Exp Year: 2020	ExpID: 114952
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: 45
Published: Dec 2, 2020	Views: 628
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Pharms - Gabapentin (183) : Addiction & Habituation (10), Medical Use (47), Not Applicable (38)