I'm looking for a little help from you smart folks out there who understand brain chemistry way better than I do....
About 5 years ago I was prescribed gabapentin as a "safe, non addictive" alternative for anxiety. Like so many medications, this turned out to be far from the truth. . As a recovering drug addict, I can attest that gabapentin withdrawal is easily up there with benzos and opiates. A google search of gabapentin withdrawal will bring up countless horror stories from people trying to stop taking it.
However, there are a handful of accounts which claim that supplementing a lot of magnesium (orally, epsom salt baths, magnesium oil) can greatly lessen or eliminate gabapentin withdrawal symptoms. Apparently it attaches to the same receptor site as gabapentin???
So my question is: Could memantine help with gabapentin withdrawals in a similar manner?
From what I understand, memantine and magnesium are similar in a lot of ways and in mechanism of action. Memantine also has a very long half life (60-100 hours) Could memantine play a role in lessening my gabapentin withdrawals? Or, am I way off base here?