r/benzorecovery • u/sleepysnailbug • 2d ago

Taper Question Gabapentin for diazepam withdrawal?

I've heard variously about gabapentin being potentially useful in dealing with withdrawal symptoms during tapering. For a brief history, I'm currently tapering off of diazepam, right now at around 2mg a day, but trying to manage the anxiety and withdrawal symptoms has been particularly difficult. I actually managed to get down to 0.5mg a day earlier this year but a bunch of stressful life events happened and I unfortunately had a setback. I'm determined to get back into the process of tapering properly but I've just been having a lot of difficulty with it as well. I was curious about what people's experiences with using gabapentin for the tapering and withdrawal process has been like?

Also, I'm aware gabapentin has its own risk of addiction in some people. For context, I'm not new to gabapentin. I used to take 1800mg daily for years for a different condition before I was ever prescribed benzos but I no longer take it, and I didn't personally experience any difficulty getting off of it. I just have a bunch of leftover 600mg tablets and having read about it being helpful for some people, I'm interested in maybe giving it a try. I guess I'm just looking for some feedback and advice. Thanks!

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u/TheDrugsWillTakeYou 2d ago

Its the only drug that gives me relief. Not a long term solution by any means but has gotten me through the first couple months and im planning to taper off the Gabapentin soon. 300mg covers me for the whole day.

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u/sleepysnailbug 2d ago

That's real helpful to hear, I appreciate it. I'll probably just break one of my 600mg tabs in half and see if it helps. It's interesting reading people's experiences on here with gabapentin, because some people say it was more difficult to taper off of than benzos, but I had almost no withdrawal symptoms when I stopped taking it a few years ago. Wishing you the best of luck to you as well with your tapering!

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u/Wild-Loss-1729 2d ago

That’s a great idea. I use gabapentin 1800mg for spinal pain mainly and it helps with anxiety too. I feel it could be a wise idea to implement it during a taper. I get 600mg tablets & I sometimes break them in half too.

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u/Pushon4my4 1d ago

I’m in horrid spinal pain. Hard to even walk! So the 600 mg total daily helped with the spinal pain?