Not the 'recreational' part. The other use. And my ex-wife was on it for chronic pain for awhile. She had to wean down slow.
Yes, it is rough to get off of after long-term use, like many drugs, but it's nowhere near as rough to quit as benzos (quitting benzos can kill you), and it's much easier to wean down off of than benzos as well. Partly because it's really not fun. Benzo's kinda are.
If people are abusing it it's because they can't get any decent drugs. Like I say, it's really not a fun drug.
Again, not saying it's not POSSIBLE to take enough gabapentin to make it so you shouldn't drive, but just because you have it in your system doesn't mean you're messed up on it. Your body adapts pretty quick to a therapeutic dose and you basically just feel 'normal' on it.
Taking Gabapentin is, overall, not that much different than Paxil. It has nasty withdrawals too, and you can get a buzz taking more than you're used to, etc.
On edit: As you alluded to, Gabapentin, along with Clonidine and Ambien (if you're lucky) are freaking magical for opioid w/d's. Combined, they turn an absolutely intolerable misery into one that mere mortals can survive. And none are opioids, obviously, and if you only use them for 2-3 weeks, they are easy to just up and quit.
Oh, and Loperamide, AKA Imodium. That is also a freaking lifesaver ... Though it's kinda delaying the inevitable because it's a 'gut-acting-only' opioid ... but if you can get through the worst at the beginning, you can deal with stomach distress later when you quit the loperamide ... a lot more easily.
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