Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 1016197

Shown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.

 

Gabitril / Tiagabine anyone?

Posted by uncouth on April 22, 2012, at 21:03:34

No one ever talks about this drug...

Dr. is prescribing it for refractory insomnia, we've tried everything else. temazepam didn't work last night. want to stay away from the atypical antipsychotics. have problems falling asleep, but also staying asleep.

what's the story? any experiences? why don't we heard bout this one too often? seems like theoretically really solid...only GABA reuptake inhibitor out there. incidentally, my neurotransmitter testing showed very very low GABA...

 

Re: Gabitril / Tiagabine anyone? » uncouth

Posted by Phillipa on April 22, 2012, at 22:15:42

In reply to Gabitril / Tiagabine anyone?, posted by uncouth on April 22, 2012, at 21:03:34

I've not heard of it? Is insomnia you feel worse the worse the depression is? Phillipa

 

Re: Gabitril / Tiagabine anyone? » uncouth

Posted by SLS on April 23, 2012, at 6:21:27

In reply to Gabitril / Tiagabine anyone?, posted by uncouth on April 22, 2012, at 21:03:34

> No one ever talks about this drug...

This may be because it is not effective often enough to encourage its use. Also, Gabitril is unpredictable. It can produce agitation and insomnia in some people. It can even precipitate seizures instead of controlling them.


- Scott

 

Re: Gabitril / Tiagabine anyone?

Posted by ihatedrugs on April 23, 2012, at 12:12:40

In reply to Re: Gabitril / Tiagabine anyone? » uncouth, posted by SLS on April 23, 2012, at 6:21:27

> > No one ever talks about this drug...
>
> This may be because it is not effective often enough to encourage its use. Also, Gabitril is unpredictable. It can produce agitation and insomnia in some people. It can even precipitate seizures instead of controlling them.
>
>
> - Scott

Wouldn't be worth to try it? Especially if you are taking Lamictal (which I believe is an anti-seizure). Your thoughts.

 

Re: Gabitril / Tiagabine anyone? » ihatedrugs

Posted by SLS on April 23, 2012, at 12:23:24

In reply to Re: Gabitril / Tiagabine anyone?, posted by ihatedrugs on April 23, 2012, at 12:12:40

> > > No one ever talks about this drug...
> >
> > This may be because it is not effective often enough to encourage its use. Also, Gabitril is unpredictable. It can produce agitation and insomnia in some people. It can even precipitate seizures instead of controlling them.
> >
> >
> > - Scott
>
> Wouldn't be worth to try it? Especially if you are taking Lamictal (which I believe is an anti-seizure). Your thoughts.


I do think it is worthwhile to try Gabitril once other more traditional drugs are tried first. I have seen some people respond to Gabitril by experiencing a reduction in anxiety and insomnia. However, I think it is important to recognize the possibility of adverse reactions occurring with its use.


- Scott

 

Re: Gabitril / Tiagabine anyone? » uncouth

Posted by phidippus on April 30, 2012, at 22:13:22

In reply to Gabitril / Tiagabine anyone?, posted by uncouth on April 22, 2012, at 21:03:34

Gabitril has been studied in treating insomnia-it improves stage 4 sleep. I took it for a while. It also works well for anxiety.

Eric

 

Re: Gabitril / Tiagabine anyone?

Posted by uncouth on May 1, 2012, at 6:19:06

In reply to Re: Gabitril / Tiagabine anyone? » uncouth, posted by phidippus on April 30, 2012, at 22:13:22

at what dose, and at what time(s) of day? I found that an 8mg dose really made me feel pretty blah the next dayan dI'm not sure it really helped sleep, but I would try again.

 

Re: Gabitril / Tiagabine anyone? » uncouth

Posted by SLS on May 1, 2012, at 6:54:59

In reply to Re: Gabitril / Tiagabine anyone?, posted by uncouth on May 1, 2012, at 6:19:06

> at what dose, and at what time(s) of day? I found that an 8mg dose really made me feel pretty blah the next dayan dI'm not sure it really helped sleep, but I would try again.

Blah is better than aggitated. Perhaps you will react well to Gabitril once the startup effects dissipate. Maybe you started too high. Even a relatively clean drug like Ativan can make one feel blah the next day after the first dose. I really hope it works out for you.


- Scott

 

Re: Gabitril / Tiagabine anyone? » phidippus

Posted by Novelagent on May 7, 2012, at 5:58:49

In reply to Re: Gabitril / Tiagabine anyone? » uncouth, posted by phidippus on April 30, 2012, at 22:13:22

Stick with Neurontin. I had Momento-like memory (every 7 seconds, it seemed, I couldn't remember the last 7 seconds-- memory went in and out, delusional ideas of reference involving a vague sense of meaning relating back to me as I looked at meaningless objects on my desk--

Someone else on this board also got a brief psychotic episode on Gabitril around the same time; search site with psychosis gabitril if you're interested. I think it was more than just one person.

I later, 8 years later, when I was 27, got schizophreniform, but that's unrelated. Anyhow, I slept it off and was golden the next morning, but it scared my roomies, who were good enough friends not to dial 911 in the trust it would hopefully be episodic, which it thankfully was.

But yeah, it's used for "pruning" in schizophrenia, but I think such use is naive to what it does, as it's obviously given in combination with antipsychotics that would mask the psychosis in such a case. Not sure what the rationale of pruning is, but I don't think docs have a theoretical footing firm enough to warrant this med to be used...

It also doesn't work on anxiety as well. In terms of sleep, it's meh. There's better drugs. Neurontin is great for anxiety. Be cautious of promises about drugs enhancing sleep-- I listened to the b.s. that GHB (xyrem / sodium oxybate) condensed sleep... All it did was make me vomit in my sleep. Broken sleep, they're finding, could actually be ideal sleep. No one knows what they're talking about when they talk about efficient sleep.


> Gabitril has been studied in treating insomnia-it improves stage 4 sleep. I took it for a while. It also works well for anxiety.
>
> Eric


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