Has anyone use Neurontin/Gabapentin for Bipolar or Anxiety?

Yes i take 100mg Capsules 2 times a day and 700mg before bed. Its really good. keeps all the Wildness in your mind cause by Bi-polar. However I been on alot im only 24 and have tried almost 20 different types but was misdisagnosed. as a early teen. until i was 20, going from one medicine to another. but Gabapentin is a really good medicine for bi-polar. Keep in mind though. No medicine can treat it fully. Been taking it for a year. But now i have to stop since it is causing really bad flaking of the skin. Make sure to tell your doctor. or stop taking it if your not prescribed it has a lot of physical side effects. It also Relieves pain aswell. Like the Said Vet said. 

About 3 years ago, I was diagnosed with Bipolar II, but no cocktail worked. Finally, I found a great doctor, by commiting myself to a psych ward and refusing to leave until they figured me out! We found the right treatment and I went from complete mess to functioning almost overnight. Before I was correctly medicated, I was in serious danger of the point of no return. Anyone who battles this illness and understands how important it is to treat it as such, knows the dangerous dark place I am talking about. My doctor completely changed my medications and for 3 years I have taken Buspirone, 10mg 2x a day and 30mg at night, Neurontin 300mg 3x a day and 15mg Remeron at night. I believe it was the combination of medications, but it feels like it is the Neurontin that is the binding agent, which makes the other medications work. However, this past year, I did suffer a setback because I stopped seeing a therapist to work though my challenges and only saw my doctor once every 3 months. I finally understand that it is not just the medication, but it is also having a good team to be there to support you. This disease cannot be fought, by medicine alone, you must see a doctor see a good therapist and change your lifestyle. Also, look to you family o close friends, they ae just as invested in your recovery as you. If you don't have insurance, don't let that stop you, I am not insured right now and do not qualify for any state assistance. You would be shocked the resources available to people who want to get well. It can be a challenge at times and to get the care I needed I had to commit myself to the hospital, because they will set you up with a doctor and a therapists if you don't have one. If you really want to beat this illness and are willing to do everything that requires, you will not be turned away fom any decent mental health provider. I think Neurontin is a wonder drug, for me it was a fighting chance to get my life back and I endorse it 100% in combination with a total teatment plan.

Have been taking gabapentin as a relief for my shingles for two weeks now. What i have noticed is i don't get my up down moods like i normally would and my panic attacks are not as bad.300mg twice a day i am definitely letting my psych know!!!! :-D

That is exactly how I felt when gabapetin was introduced. It was like my doubts and insecurities vanished. Mental illness, is just that, mental illness, a chemical imbalance and gabapetin is a medical drug, that in my opinion treats the illness, unlike benzos which do nothing but numb you and mask the illness, instead of treating it, which I believe gabapetin honestly does.Talk to your doctor about maybe switching it to 200mg 3x a day, it is a short acting drug and is more consistent to your system if spaced out all day.

You are supposed to take it no later than 5, 5:30 pm.

I have high anxiety and Severe depression. I also have panic attacks. Over the years they have gotten better. I take 1200 mgs. of Gabapentin a day and it has help anxiety and depression. I'm trying to work through the side effect of drowsiness. Does anyone know if drowsiness goes away as you adjust to medication? I can relate to you being scared. I have been there. I am afraid of medications too and changes, until I met a wonderful phychiatrist. She isn't afraid to put patient on several medications. Find a good phychiatrist. I taking Zoloft, Ativan, Gabapentin and a small amount of seroquel for sleep. My goal is to get off seroquel as it promotes weight gain.

Just doing some searching around and I found this topic, so I figured I'd add a little to it for those like me that may stumble upon this discussion that are looking for some first hand user reviews.

Gabapentin has been a Godsend to me. I am 35 years old and have been battling manic depression and severe anxiety for many years. I've been to the top with lots of life success (somehow), down lower then the bottom when I just couldnt fight the fight on my own any longer. I felt for a long time that I was just a checklist for lazy doctors to try out drug combinations on. "oh you couldn't get out of bed for a week on that?" "Hmm lets try the next one on the list with a little of that on the side" Nothing that I was given would work for me and things just got worse, worse and worse until I finished destroying everything around me. Finally I started seeing a new doc that knew the medicine in and out and the way drugs can coexist to get to a desired result. He saved my life. I now currently take 400mg of Seroquel, 200mg of Lamictal, and Gabapentin 4x a day. Now after reading what most people take for a dosage, when I tell you that I take 1200mg 4x a day that may sound excessive, but there's so much truth in no two human beings alike. I started off on the low doses but they just didnt cut it, and over the course of time I felt like it didn't work at the lower doses, so here I am. I don't feel drugged in any way. Honestly it feels like I'm not taking anything and I'm just normal with good mood stabilization, no anxiety, no social disorder and good ambition.

The bad part about trying new drugs is rolling the dice to see if you're going to be one of the lucky ones that the drug doesn't completely wreck. I always say trying to maintain a life, work, relationships etc. while trying to find a med cocktail that improves your life rather than detracts from it, is like trying to fix a car while you're driving it down the highway. I had to go on family medical leave from work for a few months so I could get well once and for all. I needed that time to ramp up the dosages of the 3 meds I now take so I could "park my car to fix it" and put in the time it takes for these drugs to normalize in my system providing the desired results. The combination of these meds has saved my life. Before I decided that enough was enough I was doing enough cocaine to make Freud look like a straightedge along with whatever opiates I could get my hands on. I'm really lucky to be alive. I mean really lucky considering I've had two overdoses on heroin, and the fact that I would do a half ounce of cocaine in one night without my heart just exploding, just so I didn't feel mental anguish & regrets for all the things I've done wrong. When you're as low as I was you'll do just about anything to feel mental freedom while in the back of your mind hoping that the next hit will just kill you and put you out of your misery. I only say all these things just so I can relay how important it is to just do what you have to. Take a breather from daily life if you can and just invest in you, learn to love you again, and the rest will fall into place. 

I know I've rambled on a little so let me close by getting back on-topic and say that Gabapentin attributes greatly to my success in beating the ass off that monkey that was on my back. The best thing to do is be 100% honest to yourself foremost and to your doctor. I started on 100mg capsules and it took many increases to find where my therapeutic level was. I'm a big guy 6' 230lb former bodybuilder so I'm used to needing higher than normal dosages. If Gabapentin doesnt seem to be doing anything for you or to you then don't be afraid to tell your doctor and go up the dosage ladder until you find your sweet spot, rather than giving up on it and trying the next thing on the list. You might be like me and need what some might call an excessive dosage. The stuff can work miracles to those of us that don't have adverse reactions. 

Best of luck, and all the best to you!  --anonymous guy

I stumbled across this site because I am finally being seen to get evaluated by a therapist for bi-polar. I found your post, anonymous guy, to be very helpful and I don't think you rambled at all and it was exactly what I needed to hear right now! My physician put me on gabapentin over a year ago for my chronic neck pain which I am going through more procedures this week for. I usually take the 600-800mgs at night but decided to start taking 300 mgs during the day and feel much calmer. I just started seeing a mental health counselor after feeling like I am getting worse. Been fighting this "demon" for over 30 years and I am now 47 and really think I deserve to be whole and I know my husband and kids need me to be! My mom had mental problems (bi-polar, nervous breakdowns, depression, etc. etc.) through out my entire childhood and I just don't want my three little ones, whom we adopted, to remember me the way I remember my own mom...uncontrollable outbursts, easily agitated, etc. I feel more motivated after reading your post to get the help I need instead of canceling appointments or making up excuses! I hope you are doing well since your post! Thank you for the encouragement and for sharing your experience!

I know that this is over a year ago but I am so glad I found someone asking this question. Yes it is. I'm about as bi polar as they come. I am on Nuerontin, Lamictal(good for bi polar too), and I take Trazedone to sleep. I never knew how good it was for me until I had to go to jail for 5 days. Since I was off my meds that long my doctor had to lower all of them down to barely anything. I was taking 800 mg twice a day. He dropped me to 100 mg 3x a day and of course I couldn't remember the one in the middle of the day. So I was feeling pretty bad. He also dropped my Lamictal but you have to do that. I took it upon myself to raise my Nuerontin to 400mg 2x a day and I feel amazing. So your question is Yes. And it does help with anxiety. If you are having severe anxiety or panic attacks, then I can't sit here and say it works like that. I had it like that a long time ago and I had to take something extra. Anyways I hope you get this message. Good luck

Hello, thank you for your post. My story is a bit the same as yours, I tried almost everything and nothind seems to help me. My question to you is if you have also so much cognition problems and if yes, do these medications help for that? I started Gabapentine 2 weeks ago. The first week I felt fantastic but after that, I started to cry and it didn't stop anymore. That's why I stopped taking this medication. Now my psychiatrist prescribed me lamictal and lithium. Maybe I should give it another try. Best regards, Joke Peeters (Belgium)

If you actually wish to urge free from LRS, anxiety or pain, Gabapentin will influence be the simplest choice for you. It will treat you effectively among few days. I have also suffer with depression my friend had suggest me to buy Gabapentin online at saferxmart

I started Gabapentin 4 days ago for a lifelong of anxiety.I've only ever taken anti depresents which dont really help. My anxiety debilitates me, I didn't go out if I could avoid it. I would visit the toilet 8-12 times a day. Early days but feeling so good and my bowels have stabilised.

Big doses of gapapentin is more common than you might think, like you said, we're all different chemistry tubes

Just curious how well it helps depression. I don't have any anxiety. Tried everything. A little discouraging. Any answers would help.. thank you

amazing stuff this drug!