Are you feeling anxious? Anxiety is a feeling that everyone could have with the problems we meet in our life. It is just a feeling of unease, worry or fear that come within yourself that could be severe or mild. As an example, the fear you get when you are facing an interview or an exam could be anxiety. So, it’s normal to be anxious at times like this. But there are people who could not control what they feel and that could adversely affect their day-to-day lives. So, there are medications to follow in order to overcome this problem. Gabapentin is one of them. Actually; this is an oral capsule, where the brand name is Neurontin. Gabapentin for anxiety is popular among many individuals around the world.

Do you know about Gabapentin?-Gabapentin for anxiety

Gabapentin belongs to the class of anticonvulsant drugs which is used to treat partial seizures, neuropathic problems, and restless leg issues on children and adults. It’s available both in generic and brand versions. Gabapentin is used sometimes as a combination therapy which means it could be used with some other drugs. This was created to be an approximate synthetic version of the neurotransmitter GABA. It’s the most predominant neurotransmitter in the brain and spinal cord which belongs to the main central nervous system. But, in order to get Gabapentin, a person must have a prescription from a doctor and the gabapentin dosage will vary according to the age of the patient. The children and elderly patients answers for a lower dosage of gabapentin. The doctors can increase the dosage when they do not respond to a lower dosage of gabapentin. The patients with serious issues could be treated with a combination medication with some other drugs. The extreme large dosages of gabapentin could be dangerous.

Gabapentin was used at the initial point to treat anxiety that occurs in bipolar disorder. There have been many types of researches which showed that gabapentin can be used to treat patients with anxiety. Hence, a review submitted by an American Journal of Psychiatry showed that gabapentin has become an addictive medication of some patients with anxiety disorders, panic disorders, and generalized anxiety disorders. Now let’s look into the symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder. Earlier you understand it the faster you can cure it!

Symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder[GAD]

Generalized anxiety disorder could have both psychological and physical symptoms. If you identify any of these symptoms in you consult a doctor as soon as possible. Its nothing to worry about, as we all human we can have different issues in our life which in return leads to a psychological or physical problem in our body. It’s perfectly normal. So, identify it and get treatments by your physician.

Psychological Symptoms:

Generalized anxiety disorder can result in your psychological behavior. You may feel a difference in the way you think, behave, talk and react to certain problems.

• Impatience: Feeling uneasy or restlessness
• A sense of fear towards facing certain problems or sometimes even without a reason to fear about.
• Feeling irritable about certain things.
• You may feel difficult in concentrating on your studies, job etc. You may not have a clear idea about anything.
• Sometimes; you might not like to be in contact with people like your family and friends.
• You might feel stressed always.

Physical Symptoms:

A generalized anxiety disorder may also have physical symptoms which will physically affect your behavior and your body.

• Feeling dizzy and tired always.
• The sense of an increase in your heartbeat which might be strong and irregular.
• You may feel a few pains and aches in your body muscles.
• Feeling excess in sweating/difficulty in breathing.
• You might get stomach aches/headaches and might feel sick.
• Unable to get a continuous sleep this is also called as insomnia.

Hence if your suffering from the symptoms above consults a doctor. If so the doctor suggests it to be GAD he’ll prescribe you with gabapentin. There are various dosages such as 100mg,300mg, and 600mg so on which changes according to the age and certain factors of the patient. Each 100mg capsule contains 16.38mg lactose.

What are the long-term effects of taking gabapentin?

• Abrupt stoppage of gabapentin will cause stress on the brain.
• Discontinue of gabapentin without proper care can lead to dangerous conditions as the body couldn’t react for a sudden lack of gabapentin.
• They are at risk of experiencing seizures such as drowsiness, slow in thinking, sometimes might get suicidal thoughts and behavior (Depression), certain allergies etc.
• The longer you consume gabapentin the difficulty is with the withdrawal process.
• They might also risk in return with anxiety or any other condition which they took the medication.
• This may also cause weight gain.
• There are few side effects with the continuation of gabapentin. They are as follows:
• Infection of viral diseases
• Fever
• Vomiting
• Aggression

Important:

• However, Gabapentin could be an addiction. Once you use it you will not be able to stop it.

Conclusion

Hence, as a nutshell use of gabapentin for anxiety can result in both favorably and adversely. It’s better to stop the usage of gabapentin when you feel better with your condition. The long-term use of gabapentin may cause dangerous conditions as we discussed above. It’s important to get the advice of your physician before starting the medication of gabapentin. You may also talk to your doctor to get any other medication options that may work with your condition. Anyone who uses it in large amounts with or without prescriptions can be suspected of abusing the drug. Abuse of gabapentin is not widespread but yet there is a risk of it. There are few cases reported as gabapentin is used as a drug by drug abusers. Moreover, this article warns those people the overdose of gabapentin may cause various issues as discussed above. So, try to use this gabapentin only with the advice and precautions of a doctor. Get the real benefit out of this medication and experience the miracle of gabapentin!