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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by jonhed on April 23, 2016, at 18:55:18
Hey you guys! i'm a longtime lurker on this forum and finally decided to write something, mostly for overcoming my fears of being misjudged as a person i'm not, or to sound like a fool.
I have experienced a lot of misunderstanding in texts or mail, because sometimes when i get very excited and "in the moment", i loose control over my writing and maybe become more emphatic or loving = shame..
So i have banned myself from social media for 2 years now, just so there can't be any misunderstandings.
But screw that, i am anonymous here and you seem like good people :-)So, to the question!
I'm currently on gabapentin as an anxiolytic because as an former drug addict in Sweden it is very hard to get benzos for anxiety, and pregabalin is contraindicated for addicts.
I wonder if someone here can explain to me the magnesium and gabapentin interaction, and how, if the magnesium levels become low when on gabapentin, it can be good for counter anxiety when magnesium seems to be an anxiolytic itself?
And are there someone here who likes to share their experience with gabapentin or with just magnesium?
Is magnesium "just a useless supplement", or can it be positive for mood?
I have been on gabapentin for about 4 years ago in rehab, that time i had 1200mg as a single dose one hour before they handed out the 8 O'clock morning diazepam, to count "morning anxiety".
It worked pretty good for a while but the cognitive side effects was horrible, more than just with diazepam itself. so i stopped taking it after about 1 month.I'm diagnosed with Dependent Personality Disorder, GAD and PTSD.
I've been hospitalized several times for drug induced psychosis in the past and it still affects me very much.
I have been under the investigation for schizophrenia, but they have come to the conclusion that it was only because of the stimulant abuse.
I am a little concerned about that because the psychotic periods was, nearly allways, full-blown for over 3 weeks (sometimes 6 weeks) after last drug intake, and the time i've spent in psychosis is over 1 year effective time.So that is my primary question: Is there someone who can tell me, or just speculate, if you can develop some sort of schizophrenic disorder (schizophreiform, schizo-affective, paranoid schizophrenia, delusional disorder or even a mood disorder) from stimulant abuse?
I honestly believe that people without mental disorders do not get that psychotic from stimulants, and i'm very concerned about that.
(i've been on tons of neuroleptics in the past, just for information)
I can develop hallucinations from just 40mg of ritalin now a days, and i don't think that is normal.
My psychyatrist, who i've had for about 3 years now, says i'm "hypersensitive" to most substances because some imbalance in the brain due to excessive drug use in my early teens.
Can it be so?I'm not going to make this post longer than it has to be and i'm sorry if this is the wrong thread for this questions, but it is been on my mind for 5 years now and i've searched the internet for an appropriate forum for maybe 3 years.
I do not expect for someone to answer this megapost, and i have no expectations neither.
I'm just thankful for every little brainstorm or guess or whatever, couse i love this forum and you seem like such loving persons. (i've been here for like 2 years).Thank you all for making this such a great forum.
/J
Posted by linkadge on April 23, 2016, at 19:18:48
In reply to Gabapentin, magnesium and existential questions., posted by jonhed on April 23, 2016, at 18:55:18
Stimulants are known to cause psychotic reactions in normal people (depending on the dose and the sensitivity of the individual). Some people can experience such reactions are doses much lower than other individuals. That alone does not imply somebody has schizophrenia.
I would hesitate to call somebody schizophrenic if the episodes were induced by stimulants.
Magnesium alone can be useful as an anxiolytic. It has been shown to potentiate (increase the effects of) other anxiolytics like benzodiazapines. Some studies show that lower doses of benzodiazapines are needed when supplementing with magnesium. Magnesium interacts with NMDA, gaba, calcium channels and 5-ht1a receptors.
I have GAD and take magnesium (50 mg) along with other supplements.
I haven't heard that gabapentin lowers magnesium. However, if this was the case, then you could consider supplementing magnesium with gabapentin (check with a doctor). I would assume that it would enhance the anxiolytic effects of gabapentin, but you'd have to try it yourself and see.
There are other supplements for anxiety which can be useful. You may look into taurine & niacin.
Linkadge
Posted by jonhed on April 24, 2016, at 4:55:18
In reply to Re: Gabapentin, magnesium and existential questions., posted by linkadge on April 23, 2016, at 19:18:48
Thanks for the answer!
Oh, maybe i should listen to my psychologist then.
I've been ruminating this so long that it now sounds perfectly true.Good to hear about the magnesium and the anxiolytic effects, because it's a cheap supplement. (at least where i live)
Is there some medications based on magnesium, like an analog of magnesium that can easily break through the blood brain barrier?I can't make myself take the gabapentin today. last night i went to the ER because i had dry hands, worrying that it could be steven johnson syndrome.
Now a days i can't take medications, i get so anxious about them and it always end up in a panic attack when i start a new drug.
I stopped parnate after one day after month of excessive worrying about the tyramine induced hypertensive crisis.
Lamotrigine was the same as now, after i finally had succeed with titrating it up to 200mg i couldn't bare the thought of dying by a skin condition, and i stopped.
I can't take any drug that potentially makes the QT-intervall longer or induce akathisia , there goes all the neuroleptics.
Even when i'm very much helped by those somethimes, the akathisia is a problem for me on nearly every antipsychotic and a lot of antidepressants to.Is there any effective drugs that lacks those side effects?
I'm going to purpose memantine when my pdoc calls me on tuesday.
There is some threads about it here and on other forums and it seems to help some people with ocd symptoms.
I scored very high on the obsessive part in the psychiatric examination, and have tried to find medications to cope with those symptoms.
/J
Posted by Horse on April 24, 2016, at 15:25:41
In reply to Re: Gabapentin, magnesium and existential questions., posted by jonhed on April 24, 2016, at 4:55:18
I believe Magnesium L Threonate crosses the blood brain barrier. There are a few threads here discussing this. Let me see if I can attach them. (If not, type it into the Babble search engine.)
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120212/msgs/1010532.html
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20110810/msgs/1004819.html
http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl?post=/babble/alter/20120530/msgs/1023266.html
Have you tried an anticonvulsant mood stabilizer? I've GAD, too, and Lamictal (lamotrigine) has been amazing! Not a cure, but massively helpful.That's a lot of gabapentin at once. Have you ever taken it divided into 2 or 3 doses? You might not feel as affected. I take Lyrica. Although it is scheduled here (controlled), I think prescriptions are less controlled. I have read that in Sweden, Lyrica is more difficult to get.
Posted by jonhed on April 24, 2016, at 16:14:58
In reply to Re: Gabapentin, magnesium and existential questions. » jonhed, posted by Horse on April 24, 2016, at 15:25:41
Thanks for the tip, i'd never heard of l-threonate before!
How long have you been taking lamictal?
As for everything i worry about the long term side effects of it. (be aware, i'm am an hypocondric so please take my paranoia with a pinch of salt)
Lamotrigine worked very well for me, and if i'd been a little less frightened about what might happen in future, i may still be on it.
The only thing that can keep me from not stopping medication is empirical evidence that i'm not going to die, which turns out to be hard to find. I would very much like to be able to complete the treatment that has been worked out for me.
But without an effective anxiolytic together with a mood stabilizer, i get to anxious.Lyrica is better, i've had it a couple of years ago to but the massive tolerance build up made me stop it + doctors who refused to continue later on.
Can i ask you if you take something else than lamotrigine and pregabalin?
It sounds like a good combination to me though. I might ask my pdoc very gentle about giving both of them try.
I am very ill right to be honest and they are running out of options for the moment, so i think they will try whatever purpose. Besides the most obvious narcotics of course.I've had good results treated with opioids, but here in sweden we only have clinics for long term opioid treatment, and in my region the clinic is "full" until august.
It may sound wierd, and yeah, politics in sweden is wierd.But opioids is not a miracle drug, nothing is.
I will try magnesium and hopefully i find an mood stabilizer that i can tolerate.
Very tempted to try lamictal again and have read nearly all posts about it on babble for about 6 month.Is there a big difference in your GAD with lamotrigine and pregabalin?
This is maybe an anecdotal question but do you think one medication is more critical to have than the other (referring to lamictal and lyrica)?
thanks
/J
Posted by phidippus on May 6, 2016, at 6:23:36
In reply to Gabapentin, magnesium and existential questions., posted by jonhed on April 23, 2016, at 18:55:18
>Is there someone who can tell me, or just speculate, if you can develop some sort of schizophrenic disorder (schizophreiform, schizo-affective, paranoid schizophrenia, delusional disorder or even a mood disorder) from stimulant abuse?
No. The brain is plastic and will bend but not break and usually returns to its original form. Any changes wrought by stimulant abuse are not permanent and can be reversed.
Eric
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