Experts Warn About Gabapentin Neurontin aka "Johnnys" Addiction (video)

[Clyde]

This is a really familiar pattern that RP talked about where old drugs becomes demonized in favor or newer ones that are often riskier.

View: https://youtu.be/eTAzjEP6Fc8


It's funny bc for decades gabapentin/Neurontin has been the safe, off-label alternative for all the dangerous/addictive drugs that people take but now they're coming for gabapentin. I'm seeing stories about how addictive it is and how people are buying it in back alleys which is bizarre since you can buy it from overseas pharmacies without issue.

Was there a conspiracy to promote a trash drug when it was new and expensive or did the world actually just find out it isn't any good? Or is it a great drug and the conspiracy is to convince people it's garbage to get people to move to the next more expensive alternative?

Gabapentin did a number on my dog. He couldn't walk for a day. I didn't realize he was high as a kite on "Johnnys" lol

 

[Bioenergy_Space]

Gabapentin can be very helpful, but some doses prescribed are just way too high (up to 3600mg is commonly used).

It decreases calcium influx in certain neurons and is more physiological to use than opioids.

 

[Clyde]

Gabapentin can be very helpful, but some doses prescribed are just way too high (up to 3600mg is commonly used).

It decreases calcium influx in certain neurons and is more physiological to use than opioids.

I always thought docs prescribed it partly bc of how mild it is.

Can it get someone high?

 

[learnedhelpless]

I always thought docs prescribed it partly bc of how mild it is.

Can it get someone high?

Yeah it agonises a certain opioid receptor.

 

[Clyde]

Yeah it agonises a certain opioid receptor.

Maybe theoretically it can but does it generate more of high than a cup of coffee?

Some percentage of people will abuse anything.

 

[learnedhelpless]

Maybe theoretically it can but does it generate more of high than a cup of coffee?

Some percentage of people will abuse anything.

Not theoretically, it is 100% abused. It is alot stronger and more psychotropic than coffee:

Substance misuse of gabapentin

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[ThinPicking]

It's funny bc for decades gabapentin/Neurontin has been the safe, off-label alternative for all the dangerous/addictive drugs that people take but now they're coming for gabapentin. I'm seeing stories about how addictive it is and how people are buying it in back alleys which is bizarre since you can buy it from overseas pharmacies without issue.

Was there a conspiracy to promote a trash drug when it was new and expensive or did the world actually just find out it isn't any good? Or is it a great drug and the conspiracy is to convince people it's garbage to get people to move to the next more expensive alternative?

Gabapentin did a number on my dog. He couldn't walk for a day. I didn't realize he was high as a kite on "Johnnys" lol

I've never taken this but I've taken Phenibut which allegedly bears some pharmacological similarity to it. If that's true then I can appreciate how it might raise someone's tone enough to occlude almost any ailment, including "withdrawal" from something else, and if abused how it might feel enjoyably dreamy in itself.

By the same token it would also share Phenibut's bizarre pharmacodynamic properties. Requiring a level of self awareness, care and attention to find a balance in using it that most people don't appear to be in possession of. It would be easy to chase a feeling and go off the rails.

These "news" segments have an air of promotion about them. It would be more of a public service for them to report on the process of drug development, approval, and how offlabel use and rampant abuse can follow lacklustre clinical outcomes for an original target.

 

[Funnywhensunny]

I was on this for 8 years. I didn’t find it addictive, but I am glad I’m off it. I think folks are abusing it by piggy-backing it with other drugs perhaps. Too much Gabapentin will cause sleepiness.

 

[Bioenergy_Space]

I always thought docs prescribed it partly bc of how mild it is.

Can it get someone high?

It causes a sensation similar to drunkenness but with more anxiolysis. However, this goes away quickly, so to get this high, doses have to be tapered up constantly.

The worst part of gabapentin and pregabalin is not the high, but the withdrawal after many years of use for chronic pain or epilepsy. The brain gets accustomed to always having some gabapentin around and when it is gone it can cause some excitotoxic neuron death.

 

[Clyde]

People who have spent years looking for the perfect drug know that it doesn't exist. Weening off medication is a very time consuming, expensive and often people will replace one drug with several drugs which complicates their life and makes it harder to diagnosing conditions.

I would bet companies with competing products push these narratives. Gabapentin users are like back alley drug addicts.

It was like watching "The Onion." A popular drug is discovered to be dangerously addictive all of the sudden after 30 years on the market.

 

[Clyde]

The worst part of gabapentin and pregabalin is not the high, but the withdrawal after many years of use for chronic pain or epilepsy. The brain gets accustomed to always having some gabapentin around and when it is gone it can cause some excitotoxic neuron death.

They might be withdrawing so nobody calls them a gabaheads for abusing Johnnys lol

 

[Clyde]

I was on this for 8 years. I didn’t find it addictive, but I am glad I’m off it.

I was wondering why long term users want off it. Did you find a better replacement?

 

[Judd Crane]

Yeah it agonises a certain opioid receptor.

Agonises δGABAA receptors.

I used it for sleep for awhile. My verbal fluency took a toll, even the day after. Tapering off wasn't a walk in the park but not as bad as I expected from reading peoples experiences.

 

[Funnywhensunny]

I was wondering why long term users want off it. Did you find a better replacement?

I no longer found it especially helpful for sleep and suspected it was causing brain changes… forgetfulness, malaise, lethargy, dysthymia.