Generic Name: Gabapentin for Insomnia (gabapentin)
Gabapentin for Insomnia Reviews
"Taking this drug, for me, was like taking the tiger by the tail. And I got eaten in the end. Lol, to be less dramatic, I used 300 to 600 mg of gabapentin for sleep every night for fourteen months. It worked like a dream and I thought my lifelong debilitating sleep issues were over. No. It stopped working. I sleep even worse on the drug now than I used to sleep without it. And when I don’t take it, I have complete insomnia—not even a doze all night. I know I could increase my dose and maybe be okay for another six months or another year. But I have to get off of it sometime if it’s just going to stop working periodically. I can’t increase the dose forever. I wonder how long it will take to withdraw? I wonder if I’ll ever sleep well again? Maybe I’ll update this post or post again when I find out."
"Used to wake up many many times each night and be tired in the morning even after 9+ hours in bed. First tried hydroxyzine but I was soooo groggy all morning. Gabapentin at 400mg about two hours before bed is perfect for me, get a much better quality of sleep and wake up with no side effects. Been using over 6 months. Soooo helpful!"
"Hi. I've been prescribed Gabapentin 100mg 2 times daily in the past and again recently to no avail for sleep and anxiety, so I put them aside and gave up until recently after viewing other people's comments. I talked to my doctor about upping the dose as I saw that many people were on a much higher dose than I was. He agreed knowing I have a high tolerance to most medications and preferred I use it instead of Xanax. He told me to take 200mg 2 times a day and I finally felt something that relaxed me but not so I could stay asleep at night, so again he upped my dose to 300mg 2 times daily. Now I am calm in the day and have no problem falling asleep after relaxing for a few hours before bed. Also, I did not have any side effects at all using Gabapentin. Many comments posted say that it's a matter of getting the right dosage for you, and it seemed that was true in my case also. So anyone out there struggling like I did, I suggest you don't give up and talk to your doctor, you are not alone."
"I have been taking 200mg Gabapentin for 2 weeks to help with sleep and anxiety. The first week, I had my concerns. Dry mouth, headache, and dizzy. But I stuck with it and continued to take it since it was helping with my sleep. Now after 2 weeks, I am having no side effects and sleep well. I go to sleep easily and stay asleep for 7-8 hours. I am feeling calmer during the day, my anxiety is much better. For me, I'd have to grade this med a 10."
"I was put on gabapentin for insomnia/anxiety/depression combo after all the antidepressants I tried worsened my sleep problems, with the exception of Ativan (not good quality of sleep) and Trazodone (got a rare side effect). I was pleasantly surprised to find that in addition to drastically improving my sleep, my depression and anxiety disappeared in the first three days. My energy is also better than I can remember, and I don't dwell on negative thoughts or get overemotional since being on it. I take 600 MG (two 300s) two hours before bed."
"I started taking gabapentin for chronic pain in my hip before I had a replacement. I had to stop taking them after a short time as I was so tired I could not concentrate at work. I have suffered from insomnia for years and thought I would try just taking 200mg at bedtime. Hey presto, I can finally sleep without waking up all the time. I have no side effects and wake up feeling rested. This drug has changed my life for the better."
"I've had horrible anxiety, insomnia, restless leg & depression for years that has disturbed my sleep. I've tried many meds such as Seroquel, Trazodone, Benadryl, Melatonin, Xanax, Ativan, etc., all eventually stopped working or had lingering effects. I started taking Gabapentin when I developed Shingles & noticed I started sleeping better. Sleeping uninterrupted through the night, my legs and body no longer felt restless. At first, I had some side effects the next day, being groggy & foggy but after my body became used to the drug within a few weeks, it disappeared. Now I take 600mg every night an hour before bed, and I sleep like a baby & wake up rested. Even if I wake at night, I don't feel 'drugged up' or in a zombie-like state. I feel calm & sleepy. After all these years of taking so many meds to help me calm down and sleep, I never considered Gabapentin to be so wonderful & just what I needed. I'm 38 and a nurse & can't say enough about Gabapentin. I have had wonderful results."
"I'm taking 1200 mg of gabapentin for severe back pain. Since taking the drug, I find I talk all the time, like I'm so hyper. People ask me what I'm on. My major complaint is I can't sleep. I'm literally up for days at a time. I need sleep. Does anyone else suffer this terrible problem? The doctor says keep taking them."
"I suffered severe insomnia for the last five years and a milder form prior to that time period. I also experience migraines (lifelong) and back conditions (disk disease, arthritis, and sciatica). In consultation with multiple physicians, I was prescribed gabapentin for the multiple symptoms. I now sleep like a baby at night. I am more functional with my back condition, and my migraine episodes have been cut in half. Gabapentin reduced my use of Maxalt, Fiorinal, and Ambien. I have taken 600 - 900 mg of Gabapentin as treatment. I have not noticed any side effects."
"I started taking gabapentin in 2005 for severe insomnia, and within 2 weeks or so, I started to feel better. My anxiety and depression were so much better also, I felt like a new person. I was taking 600mg once in the morning and 600mg once before bed. After a while went by, I started getting very tired, so I just take one at bedtime now. So far, so good. I highly recommend this medication."
"My husband was put on 600mg of Gabapentin at bedtime for restless leg syndrome. It really helps him sleep & not be restless. I was having problems sleeping, so I went to my doctor who gave me a prescription of Gabapentin. My dose is to take 2 when needed & 2 at bedtime. I found that they also help me with chronic pain & severe arthritis from full hip replacement. Unfortunately, the surgery that I had did not go as planned. I have had pain & 3 other surgeries since I was 8 or 9 yrs old & now I am in my 50’s. I like to lie in bed & read for a bit before I go to sleep, so sometimes if I don’t go to bed as soon as I take my Gabapentin, they seem to wear off a bit. But all in all, I still give Gabapentin a 10 cause it definitely helps me sleep & helps my pain."
"I take Effexor for anxiety, which has greatly increased my insomnia. Without something for sleep, I'll wake up anywhere from 20-30 times a night. I fall asleep easily but wake up repeatedly. I've tried many things over the years to try and help improve my sleep; 5HTP, SAMe, Melatonin, phenibut, klonopin, trazodone, quetiapine, etc. The gabapentin is a lifesaver. I take it at the same time every night and sleep like a baby. There are no side effects that I can tell and ZERO grogginess in the morning. I'm amazed that I wake up refreshed and ready for the day. I haven't slept this well since I was a child. I highly recommend being open to trying this if you're suffering like I was."
"I was prescribed gabapentin for pain management after lumbar microdecompression/laminectomy surgery. It helped me sleep ALL night without waking up several times. I wake up a bit groggy (200mg before bedtime), but it abates pretty quickly once I get busy with chores. I have woken up during the night on it to use the bathroom, and I fall right back to sleep, no tossing and turning or wishing I could fall back to sleep, which is my usual scenario. I also think I am more calm with less anxiety, but possibly that is the result of a SOLID night's sleep. Just to mention, I also occasionally have night sweats but have not noticed any since taking this. As it stands, it reduces my back pain, gives me a full night's sleep, and relaxes me, so I'll be mentioning this to my GP when I see her next to see if we can extend my use."
"I was prescribed Gabapentin for sciatica, and it definitely helped. I was also prescribed Vicodin, and the Gabapentin helped me avoid taking the Vicodin more than a few times for breakthrough pain. But the real surprise was how well I slept with Gabapentin. I sleep longer and feel more refreshed. I can tell I'm not as sharp for 15-30 minutes after I wake up, but not the fog I wake with when I take diphenhydramine (Benadryl)."
"I was on and happy using SEROQUEL for sleep and was highly skeptical about trying GABA. I tried many other medicines to combat insomnia and they all proved not to work. I was pleasantly surprised how GABA worked. It helps keep me in very deep sleep for 6 hours. After that I wake up, but can easily get to sleep. The dreams are very vivid, but not unpleasant. I had to tweak my dosage however. I'm now at 1200 mg at night and sleep with total ease. Full disclosure, my insomnia has roots in anxiety, so this medicine proved to be effective because it helps with Anxiety too. I'm happy!"
"I was prescribed gabapentin by my doctor for insomnia. I find it does help to keep me asleep once I get there. I agree it doesn't put me right to sleep, however, I find that it does allow me to relax my brain and body so they're not going 100 miles an hour, which then allows me to fall asleep. I was told to only take it if I had 7 or 8 hours dedicated for sleep, so what I found was this. When I take it and am allowed to sleep a full 8 hours before getting up, I feel great in the morning. If I take it and have to get up in 6 hours, I'm disoriented in the morning and vision is blurry. So with that being said and knowing it takes a couple of hours to fall asleep after taking this, I've learned my timetable of when I take it, where I get the best results."
"This is my 3rd night of taking this. I went to my doctor because my depression and anxiety had come back full force. I hadn't eaten hardly anything in 3 weeks and couldn't sleep but 3 hours a night. I was a walking zombie! She prescribed an SSRI and this, and I have slept like a baby on 300 mg a night plus melatonin. My anxiety has gone down at least 60% in two days, and my depression has already lightened up - although that will take much longer, but just getting some decent sleep undisturbed has really helped! A great side effect of this is that I used to have to get up 5 or 6 times a night to go to the bathroom, and now I get up maybe once a night! What a relief!"
"I started this drug for chronic back pain, but my doctor prescribed it for nighttime only because of the supposed drowsiness effects. Being an insomniac, I was not at all opposed to possible drowsiness (excited for it, actually). Now it’s been just about 6 months and I love it! I take 600-900mg at night, normally just before bed (9 pm) (higher dose if the pain is worse that day). I start to feel the calming effects within 15 minutes. I don’t think it really makes me drowsy, but I get the same feeling on the drug as I do after I’ve finished some yoga or meditation so it’s very tranquil, and I usually fall asleep within a reasonable time frame (30 min-1 hr) and stay asleep throughout the night to wake up at 4:30 am feeling refreshed and alert! I’ve not noticed any additional side effects (e.g., dizziness, weight gain, etc.) and it works well for my pain!"
"I've had chronic insomnia for 20 years. I can't fall asleep and then when I do, I wake up after a couple of hours and can't fall back to sleep for several hours. I still take trazodone to get to sleep and use the Gabapentin to stay asleep. I take 100 mg of the trazodone and 1500 mg of the Gabapentin. I sleep great and feel great the next day. Nothing else ever worked for me. I love this medicine. Sleep is a beautiful thing."
"I've had so many kinds of insomnia for so many reasons, including sleep apnea, cortisol and endocrine issues, anxiety, caffeine abuse, and genetics (family history on both sides). I've tried almost everything out there for insomnia, and only three pills have worked: diphenhydramine, doxepin/Silenor, and amitriptyline. But they all cause weight gain and lead to tolerance, so I try not to use them too often. That said, gabapentin is an awesome, awesome drug, so calming and (for me at least) almost totally without side effects at 300 mg. It doesn't put me to sleep or keep me asleep, but I keep it by my bed for any early wake-ups, for which it sometimes works: about half the time it puts me back to sleep for that extra 60-90 minutes I really need but my body hates to give me, and it always puts me in a good mood."
"Taking gabapentin to ease withdrawal from the last of a clonazepam withdrawal, 5 weeks ago. Worked so great for sleep! Deep sleep, REM, rested in the morning, no wake-ups at night. Suddenly stopped working for sleep 2 nights ago. Severe insomnia, so I upped from 300 to 600 mg at night. Still no sleep until 4 am. Then only 4.5 hours. So disappointed because sleep makes it possible to handle the rest. Has been good for other symptoms of withdrawal, but"
"I did not sleep well for over 30 years. Took Ambien for 15 years. Doctor hopped until my new doc prescribed gabapentin for restless leg & other things. I now sleep better than I have ever slept. It has changed my life. I dream & can concentrate. Wonderful."
Neurontin (gabapentin) "After trying every type of insomnia medicine, this is the only medication that has worked for me. I don't notice any side effects. It isn't perfect. I still have sleepless nights sometimes, but those are nothing compared to the insomnia I was dealing with before."
"I have had profound insomnia for many years. Last night, finally I slept 7 hours with gabapentin. Dosage was 300 mg in the morning, and 600 mg at night before bed. The first two nights, I had zero sleep. The third night, BINGO! I slept 7 hours. The side effects seem to be less now. In the beginning, a person can be quite dizzy, feel tingly, and have a slight loss of coordination. Those side effects seem less than in the very beginning. My hope is to not be on this medication a long, long time but to eventually wean off. I must work with my doctor. All these psyche meds a person MUST, MUST wean slowly off. All of them. Especially the benzodiazepines. Some of the short-acting benzos like Xanax should be taken off the market. Very dangerous drug. VERY, VERY addictive."
"I have taken a lot of meds for sleep because I have bad insomnia. And I can get to sleep but always wake up about 3-4 times a night. I have taken a lot of benzodiazepines. And they help, but I don't feel refreshed when I do sleep. I always feel tired and with no energy. I was put on gabapentin and have been on it awhile, but I'm on a very high dose because my tolerance is so high. I've taken up to 2600 mg a day. It helps with my anxiety and sometimes sleep. I've got to where nothing helps me anymore. Any suggestions would be helpful."
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