Gabapentin for Insomnia User Reviews (Page 2)

• Joy...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 6, 2015

"I did not sleep well for a over 30 years. Took Ambien for 15 years. Doctor hopped until my new doc prescribed gabapentin for restless leg & other things. I now sleep better than I have ever slept. It has changed my life. I dream & can concentrate. Wonderful."

• Kat
• November 24, 2019

"Have been on Gabapentin 1200 mg for 9 months for bipolar insomnia. Side effects include: upper body jerking in morning, sniffles in am, taste bud dulling (have lost 20 lbs.) This drug helps me sleep through the night. My mother used to take this drug for neuropathy and she tolerated it well."

• Anonymous
• August 19, 2008

Neurontin (gabapentin) "After trying every type of insomnia medicine, this is the only medication that has worked for me. I don't notice any side effects. It isn't perfect. I still have sleepless nights sometimes, but those are nothing compared to the insomnia I was dealing with before."

• Leele...
• September 18, 2013

"I've struggled with Restless Leg Syndrome and Insomnia for 14 years. This medication knocked me out! It stopped my legs from jerking and put me to sleep. The only problem is that the first day after I took it, I'd never been so groggy in my life. I could not walk straight and was lethargic all day. The next day the grogginess wasn't as bad and my doc said that that side effect will decrease soon. Other than that, I feel like this is a miracle for restless legs syndrome and insomnia. It's been a 14 year struggle for me but this is the first time anything has helped."

• bisco...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• May 31, 2015

"A TRIPLE-CROWN WINNER! First, this wonder drug eliminated my chronic migraines. Second, it has done wonders for mild insomnia. By "mild" I mean go to sleep fast, but wake up in a couple of hours staring at the ceiling. This cycle repeats several times a night. Gabapentin eliminated that problem. Now with only 200 mg before bedtime, I sleep all the way through the night! It also has the added benefit of helping nerve pain in my neck. I take Gab with prescription Advil (for arthritis in neck) when the pain is at a high level and the combo really helps bring down the intensity of the pain to a manageable level. Added bonus? Absolutely NO side effects. :)"

• Sweet...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 30, 2015

"I only take 100 mg. at night, occasionally 200 and it really does help me sleep. I feel more refreshed in the morning also like I got better, deeper sleep. I have Fibromyalgia and have had problems with insomnia for 25 years."

• Colleen
• Taken for 10 years or more
• September 10, 2018

"I was prescribed gabapentin in 2002 for neuropathy. It didn’t ease the neuropathy, so my doctor wanted to keep increasing the dosage. I declined the increase, but asked to keep taking the 300mg because I was sleeping so much better. I’m still taking the 300mg plus 3mg melatonin for insomnia. (I also must avoid alcohol, sugar, and caffeine after 5PM)"

• ecga
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 31, 2017

"I was put on 300 mg at bedtime for better sleep with spinal pinched nerve, along with chiropractor care. At first the sleep effect was awesome - no crazy dreams like trazadone, and no super quick tolerance built like ambien, just good and regular sleep. However, after a month and going up to 600mg for nerve pain it bizarrely started to cause insomnia! The worst part about this med is the brain-erasing characteristic. I thought ambien damaged my memory, but this far surpassed that because it lasted in the day to the point where I couldn't remember where things were or what day it was. My father takes it for spinal stenosis too and has no issues. Also, the posts about withdrawal syndrome are very real! It was hard to wean off."

• OmaNe
• December 17, 2014

"My doctor suggested gabapentin for my leg cramps/restless legs and insomnia. I was unable to sit for any period of time without my legs causing discomfort and would have very painful leg cramps. I would find it hard to get to sleep and would wake up at 2 or 3 am every night. I have been taking gabapentin for a month and am very pleased....I have not experienced any of the severe symptoms that have been described by others."

• Suzinne
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• August 14, 2016

"Was prescribed gabapentin for general anxiety and also to help deal with an exceptionally stressful living situation. Only take 600 mg. later in the day and most definitely am able to comfortably relax in a way I wasn't always able to. Did notice kind of a "swimmy" spaced out feeling and not always able to keep an even keel while walking. But I'm willing to accept that because I greatly appreciate the peace of mind it affords me."

• Overw...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 4, 2014

"Having dealt with death of husband, shifts in job responsibilites, grad school and child, I was in the midst of massive depression and anxiety. I was on Ambien 10 mg for 8 months, which helped, I slept but the fact of addiction was ever present. I was switched to gabapentin by my neurologist for migraines, and taken off the Ambien. I thought at first it was useless, I was wired and wide awake, but by the third to fourth day, I noticed I was dreaming again, which I had rarely done in 9 months. I feel much more rested, where as I had been taking naps any day I could, due to insomnia even on Ambien, and hardly need to now. I do feel somewhat groggy, but I only take it at night, and it is 600 mg. dose."

• Haggy...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 2, 2019

"Took Gabapentin for 3 nights. Started having SHORTNESS of breath and missing heartbeats. Slept great, woke up like I was drunk. Shortness of breath and missing heartbeats Not so good. Stopping TONITE."

• Lynn
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 18, 2019

"I was prescribed Gabapentin for hip pain and to help me sleep. Trazadone helps with sleep but not enough. Tried weening off Traz.and swlitch to Gab. Gab worked for pain for a month then stopped. Never worked for sleep. Doc said up Gab to 300mg 1 week, 600mg, then 900mg. First night on 300 slept like a baby. Haven't been able to since. On 600 now. No help with pain and sleep is worse than before."

• Tiger...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• February 18, 2018

"It was life changing both for my sleep and anxiety. My sleep doc recommended after trying trazadone, ambien, a few others including low dose seroquel (which it gave me sleep but had bad side effects for me). We started low on gabapentin at bed and slowly increased. She said optimal dose for sleep was 900mg. At 700mg I started noticing real improvement. I had a few side effects when I got at 700mg and 800mg but they passed after a few days. Things like some tingling, little blurred vision, etc. Nothing that concerned me given my sleep was improving after so long with very little sleep. The other nice effect was at 700mg I started noticing my anxiety that I had had was becoming less. The other nice effect the anxious thoughts I got when I laid down became very controllable. You do have to take 2 hours before laying down and with a small snack. I highly recommend for insomnia and anxiousness. Doc says one is unlikely to build tolerance to it which is another perk compared to some sleep meds."

• Doubt...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• March 20, 2017

"I am a 67 yr old male. Had shingles about 2 years ago and my doc rx'd gabapentin. Gave only minimal pain relief. I've had insomnia for years but never sought treatment. Had tried benadryl, that made me sleepy but I would awake after 2-3 hrs. So tried one 100mg gabapentin and 25 mg of benadryl in pm. Fantastic! I sleep 7-8 hrs of restful sleep with no noticeable side effects. The normal higher dose had no added benefit for me and tended to make me slightly dizzy."

• LTUSA...
• August 13, 2011

"I have suffered with insomnia for years and no medications improved my condition until I started using Gabapentin. I have been taking it for 7 days and my quality of sleep has greatly improved. I used to wake up 3-4 times per night and found it hard to fall back asleep. Gabapentin puts me to sleep and I am enjoying deeper, more restful REM stages. I highly recommend it for this condition. I was prescribed this for chronic pain and this is a great bonus. Like the other reviewer it will cause residual grogginess the next day for several hours. Extra caffeine is definitely needed!"

• Riebayy
• October 25, 2014

"I've been struggling with anxiety and depression for about 5 months now, so my doctor put me on Lexapro. When I went back, they prescribed me a higher dosage, causing me not to sleep but maybe 3 hours all together throughout the night. I told my doctor and she gave me Neurontin 200mg and it has helped me very much! It does work the way I expected. It doesn't just help you sleep, it lets you rest! And that is what I surely did need."

• Anonymous
• May 8, 2016

"I was taking duloxetine for my anxiety but because of some remaining anxiety, I became an extremely light sleeper and would only get about 2 hrs a night. Gabapentin was very much my savior and I now wake up once a night at most. And best, I wake up at 6AM extremely well rested."

• Confu...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 1, 2019

"I started on Gabapentin to get off Klonopin. After several months I find it works amazing at decrease the need for Klonopin. I usually get great results combining very low levels of Klonopin with Gabapentin. This improvement is why I scored it a 5. However, I now wake up after only 3 to 5 hours of sleep. This low hours of sleep makes me anxious. When I listen to my body I feel rested and I am not tired during the day. Unfortunately, knowing lack of sleep hours is related to mood issues I get scared."

• Ginnie
• July 11, 2019

"I have fibromyalgia, shingle nerve pain, herniated disk neck and back pain along with arthritis. I was put on gabapentin 300 mg 3 time's daily. It helps the pain but I am so dizzy and weak. I feel incapable of doing anything. I think I need to go back on Aleve."

• Mdd
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 22, 2017

"I also have be prescribed gabapentin for neuropathy and most recently for 2 herniated discs in my lower back causing sciatica. The first month was fine and the only side effect was blurred vision and dizziness. Going on month 6 and having horrible insomnia, memory loss, lack of coordination, pain, depression, anxiety. Effecting my job, cannot stand more than 5minutes, 2-4 hrs of sleep max per night. I'm miserable."

• Mark
• July 22, 2016

"I'm going to echo what most of the other posters her have said and say that Gabapentin can be effective for insomnia, but with a few caveats. I was prescribed 300mg/night by my doctor to help with insomnia induced by opiate withdrawals after recovering from surgery, and on the first few nights it seemed to work reasonably well. However, I did notice that my tolerance to its sedating effects built up rapidly, and by night 4 on 300mg my insomnia reared its stubborn head again. By night 6 I was determined to sleep well, so I upped my dose to 600mg. The result was the first solid 8 hour block of sleep I've had in over a month, but after only two nights of quality rest, I woke up at 2:30am again today. So, beware tolerance build-up!"

• cassie
• November 2, 2016

"I've tried different medications for over two years. This is the only medication that has worked for more than two months. Puts me to sleep and keeps me asleep. All other medications made me a zombie in the morning, or I woke up at 3 am"

• sleep...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• February 13, 2019

"I've had insomnia for almost 20 years and has gradually become more severe with time. I've tried Ambien (which worked for like 2 nights then only made it worse), Trazodone would either work well or make it worse, and then a bunch of OTC meds that are hit or miss. Gabapentin calms my mind which is the main culprit of my insomnia. I found it helps me go to sleep but at times I wake in middle of night and have to take another dose which helps me to fall back asleep within an hour. I may try to take 300mg a little earlier before bed and then one when I lay my head down to see if I can stay asleep."

• Happy...
• January 29, 2016

"I take on 300mg of Gabapentin and one Trazadone one hour before bedtime with absolutely remarkable results! 20 years of chronic insomnia and trying every treatment with minimal success. This is the miracle combination...love it! The only side effect is vivid dreams."