Zoloft And Gabapentin

[winnie33]

I was prescribed zoloft and gabapentin yesterday by my psychiatrist for my anxiety, panic attacks, dissociation, and nightmares. I've never been on any medication before and am a little nervous . I've been resisting the idea for awhile but my symptoms just keep getting worse. My therapist really wants to do emdr with me. But everytime we try, I have panic attacks and my anxiety is through the roof for days. I really only want to take the medication to get through the emdr. I wanted to know if anyone else has taken these medications together and what your experience was like?

 

[Deleted member 541]

I'm not sure why he/she gave you gabapentin as it's an anti seizure drug and it's used for treating nerve pain from shingles and herpes. I hate when they use drugs off label.....

As far as the EMDR goes. It can be effective, but not recommended for people with multiple traumas....

 

[Panda Bear]

Not together, but separate and years apart.

Keeping in mind that everyone reacts differently to medications, and it can be hard to find a med or combo of mess that works. Especially since there isn't an exact medication to treat PTSD, it's a best guess based on symptoms and chemistry. So if this doesn't work, don't be discouraged.

Personally, I'm not a candidate for any ssri and Zoloft was the worst of them all. It incited an intense urge in me to violently to hurt anyone who came near me. It also made my already present suicidal thoughts to go into overdrive! I couldn't control my thoughts or reactions at all. I actually ended up hurting my son while taking Zoloft. Not seriously, but I was scary!

Gabapentin can be a lot for some and really helpful for others. I never got past 200mg. For some reason my system couldn't tolerate it, it caused massive vertigo. Couldn't move! It left me basically sitting in one spot at all times. I tried this med for over a month, and my body never got used to it, it only got worse. But I've had friends who found it very helpful for their symptoms. I've heard it can be very difficult to warn off of(have one friend who just started tapering her dose because of health issues it was causing) and she's having a pretty tough time.

Either way, hopefully you can find something that works. Emdr was very helpful for me! So I understand to desire to try.

 

[joeylittle]

I'm not sure why he/she gave you gabapentin as it's an anti seizure drug and it's used for treating nerve pain from shingles and herpes. I hate when they use drugs off label.....

It's sometimes given for sleep, commonly for people with restless leg syndrome (which I believe isn't an off-label use). When taking it for sleep/RLS, it's a once-a-day dose, and quite low (300-600mg 1x/day).

I didn't have trouble going on and off gabapentin - but I'm not especially med-sensitive.

I'm curious, @winnie33 - did your psychiatrist explain what each med was meant to address?

 

[winnie33]

It's sometimes given for sleep, commonly for people with restless leg syndrome (which I believe isn'...

She said that gabapentin is technically an anti seizure medicine but it's also used to help with high anxiety and panic attacks. The zoloft is for balancing my mood overall.

 

[Area57]

I'm not sure why he/she gave you gabapentin as it's an anti seizure drug and it's used for treating nerve pain from shingles and herpes. I hate when they use drugs off label.....

As far as the EMDR goes. It can be effective, but not recommended for people with multiple traumas....

Using medication off label isnt' inherently bad. There are a lot of good uses for a lot of medicines that the FDA is just dragging their feet on approving them for. I just was prescribed gaba after a car wreck. It might work.

 

[Shoob]

I'm currently taking gabapentin. It was originally prescribed for my anxiety and trouble sleeping. It didn't do anything for my anxiety. It does help me some with sleep. The biggest benefit for me is that it reduces the bursitis pain in my hips when sleeping. I hope it works for you.

 

[Deleted member 541]

@joeylittle Gabapentin was originally used for seizures and neuropathic pain disorder. So used for any other treatment is basically off label use.

Dead Link Removed

It can also worsen depression and suicide ideation. I took it, for treatment of Migraines. Had to come off of it due to severe dizziness and worsening depression.

 

[njarmon19]

I was prescribed zoloft and gabapentin yesterday by my psychiatrist for my anxiety, panic attacks, dis...

I have taken both drugs but not together. The zoloft helped just a little, but made it impossible to sleep. The gabapentin was horrible. I gradually increased my dose for 6 months. My depression and anxiety got worse and worse until I was suicidal. I know drugs affect everyone differently so take it just as a warning. If your depression/anxiety worsens after starting gabapentin, take it very seriously. After I was weaned off of it, it was like a dark cloud had been lifted from my heads. It also gave me electrical impulses running down my legs and caused my sex drive to go down hill.

 

[whiteraven]

I am on both, and started each fairly recently. I have been on gabapentin before a long time ago for seizures and had no issues with it. This time around, my neurologist put me on it for migraines. It did break the vicious cycle I was in, although I wasn't able to take the dosage prescribed because it made me dizzy and nauseated. Interesting that some folks had problems with increased depression and anxiety. I have had some issues with that, but hadn't considered the gabapentin.

I started the zoloft after a severe "trauma reaction" a couple of months ago. I had never had anything happen quite like that before, and was needing to switch anti-depressants, so thought I would try it. I found 100mg to be extremely sedating - the anxiety and panic definitely subsided, but I was like a zombie all day long - and the 50mg much better. Still kind of numbing, but I could at least function and it helped me sleep at night.

I stopped taking the zoloft eventually because I don't have a family doctor at the moment and I really want to try to go it without the meds. anyway. Still not sleeping very well, so I take the 50mg every once-in-a-while to help.