WoD's new target, Gabapentin

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UglyCasanova

UglyCasanova

Lifer
Mar 25, 2001
19,275
1,361
126
Alarm bells are going off on Gabapentin abuse. It’s an anti seizure med used for all sorts of stuff: nerve pain, anxiety, all sorts of stuff. I’m on it and it does me well, people I know who take for nerve pain said it helps them too. Tame stuff, this isn’t OxyContin we’re talking about here. It’s not an opiate, not addictive, can’t overdose, and pretty damned low abuse potential.

Not going to stop our dear leaders from protecting ourselves from it though. It and Kratom (not a prescription drug but a plant) are both in their crosshairs. It’s like they are trying to drive people towards harder stuff.
 
FeuerFrei

FeuerFrei

Diamond Member
Mar 30, 2005
9,152
928
126
Not sure ... but I might have some on hand.

The joke in teh medical community is that it's good for a variety of uses, except for seizures. The actual role it was developed for.
 
D

Darwin333

Lifer
Dec 11, 2006
19,946
2,328
126
FeuerFrei said:
Not sure ... but I might have some on hand.

The joke in teh medical community is that it's good for a variety of uses, except for seizures. The actual reason it was developed.
Click to expand...

Did you have to give them your license when you filled it?

I know a few people that either use or have used it instead of opioids and it worked well for them. I don't recall anyone having any issues when they stopped using it.
 
Thebobo

Thebobo

Lifer
Jun 19, 2006
18,592
7,673
136
FeuerFrei said:
Not sure ... but I might have some on hand.

The joke in teh medical community is that it's good for a variety of uses, except for seizures. The actual role it was developed for.
Click to expand...

yes it controlled in the US and I would try weed before this stuff.
 
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V

Victorian Gray

Lifer
Nov 25, 2013
32,083
11,718
136
UglyCasanova said:
Alarm bells are going off on Gabapentin abuse. It’s an anti seizure med used for all sorts of stuff: nerve pain, anxiety, all sorts of stuff. I’m on it and it does me well, people I know who take for nerve pain said it helps them too. Tame stuff, this isn’t OxyContin we’re talking about here. It’s not an opiate, not addictive, can’t overdose, and pretty damned low abuse potential.

Not going to stop our dear leaders from protecting ourselves from it though. It and Kratom (not a prescription drug but a plant) are both in their crosshairs. It’s like they are trying to drive people towards harder stuff.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing this might be the issue

"Last December, Ohio’s Board of Pharmacy began reporting sales of gabapentin prescriptions in its regular monitoring of controlled substances. The drug, which is not an opioid nor designated a controlled substance by federal authorities, is used to treat nerve pain. But the board found that it was the most prescribed medication on its list that month, surpassing oxycodone by more than 9 million doses. In February, the Ohio Substance Abuse Monitoring Network issued an alert regarding increasing misuse across the state."

and, more specifically:

"Gabapentin can enhance the euphoria caused by an opioid and stave off drug withdrawals. In addition, it can bypass the blocking effects of medications used for addiction treatment, enabling patients to get high while in recovery."

https://www.statnews.com/2017/07/06/gabapentin-becomes-target-of-opioid-abuse/
 
D

Darwin333

Lifer
Dec 11, 2006
19,946
2,328
126
Victorian Gray said:
I'm guessing this might be the issue

"Last December, Ohio’s Board of Pharmacy began reporting sales of gabapentin prescriptions in its regular monitoring of controlled substances. The drug, which is not an opioid nor designated a controlled substance by federal authorities, is used to treat nerve pain. But the board found that it was the most prescribed medication on its list that month, surpassing oxycodone by more than 9 million doses. In February, the Ohio Substance Abuse Monitoring Network issued an alert regarding increasing misuse across the state."

and, more specifically:

"Gabapentin can enhance the euphoria caused by an opioid and stave off drug withdrawals. In addition, it can bypass the blocking effects of medications used for addiction treatment, enabling patients to get high while in recovery."

https://www.statnews.com/2017/07/06/gabapentin-becomes-target-of-opioid-abuse/
Click to expand...

Well it would make sense that docs trying to curtail prescribing opioids would prescribe non-opioid drugs first, isn't this what we want?
 
FeuerFrei

FeuerFrei

Diamond Member
Mar 30, 2005
9,152
928
126
Darwin333 said:
Did you have to give them your license when you filled it?

I know a few people that either use or have used it instead of opioids and it worked well for them. I don't recall anyone having any issues when they stopped using it.
Click to expand...
I do have a bottle full of gabapentin. I don't recollect being asked for a license - though it was 4 months ago I got it - and I didn't think it was some controversial substance at the time.
 
V

Victorian Gray

Lifer
Nov 25, 2013
32,083
11,718
136
Darwin333 said:
Well it would make sense that docs trying to curtail prescribing opioids would prescribe non-opioid drugs first, isn't this what we want?
Click to expand...

I suspect that it's this part that they're worried about

"Gabapentin can enhance the euphoria caused by an opioid and stave off drug withdrawals. In addition, it can bypass the blocking effects of medications used for addiction treatment, enabling patients to get high while in recovery."
 
D

Darwin333

Lifer
Dec 11, 2006
19,946
2,328
126
Victorian Gray said:
I suspect that it's this part that they're worried about

"Gabapentin can enhance the euphoria caused by an opioid and stave off drug withdrawals. In addition, it can bypass the blocking effects of medications used for addiction treatment, enabling patients to get high while in recovery."
Click to expand...

So... People who are already abusing drugs are now abusing a non-narcotic. So doctors are increasingly prescribing non-narcotics instead of narcotics and because some assholes are abusing them in ways less harmfull than opioids the solution is to schedule it and make it harder to prescribe. Brilliance by the .gov once again.
 
V

Victorian Gray

Lifer
Nov 25, 2013
32,083
11,718
136
Darwin333 said:
So... People who are already abusing drugs are now abusing a non-narcotic. So doctors are increasingly prescribing non-narcotics instead of narcotics and because some assholes are abusing them in ways less harmfull than opioids the solution is to schedule it and make it harder to prescribe. Brilliance by the .gov once again.
Click to expand...

Hey, never claimed they were handling this the correct way.
 
MrSquished

MrSquished

Lifer
Jan 14, 2013
21,239
19,737
136
I took Neurontin and it really helped my severe anxiety of highway driving I developed at age 39, after decades of driving just fine. After just a month of taking it I started driving normally again, and after 8 months of taking it I quit the drug just so I'd have to take one less medication in my repertoire and I still drive just fine. I read about it and did not see anything at the time that made it sound dangerous.
 
UglyCasanova

UglyCasanova

Lifer
Mar 25, 2001
19,275
1,361
126
TheVrolok said:
Link or anything? I really don't need another thing causing more paperwork.
Click to expand...

https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/a...unding-alarm-drug-gabapentin-it-s-not-n861111


People using it to enhance opioid high. Well, people use grapefruit juice or hydroxizine or Tums or Tagamet to do the same thing. None of those things including Gabapentin is remotely dangerous on its own. What shouldn’t be done is make a perfectly safe drug that helps people (shit, it helps them not go on narcotics) scary and harder to get.
 
T

TheVrolok

Lifer
Dec 11, 2000
24,254
4,076
136
D

Darwin333

Lifer
Dec 11, 2006
19,946
2,328
126
UglyCasanova said:
https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/a...unding-alarm-drug-gabapentin-it-s-not-n861111


People using it to enhance opioid high. Well, people use grapefruit juice or hydroxizine or Tums or Tagamet to do the same thing. None of those things including Gabapentin is remotely dangerous on its own. What shouldn’t be done is make a perfectly safe drug that helps people (shit, it helps them not go on narcotics) scary and harder to get.
Click to expand...

Wow, you sure know a lot about opioid potentiation.
 
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