I know exactly how you feel. I don't take anything for my tinnitus or nerves, mostly from fear it may backfire. Gabapentin has been my go-to form of relief when things get too crazy and as an all-around sleep aid. I've been taking it for around 6 years now, almost every night, w/ no ill effects. My nightly dosage is 30 minutes to an hour before bed w/ an 800 mg pill and 75 mg of Benadryl (another sleep aid because I have seasonal allergies, which makes the tinnitus louder).I'm in a pickle with angle grinder reactive tinnitus and dysacusis beeps. There are genuinely some evenings where I just can't take it anymore and need the relief Clonazepam provides but then await the rebound depression. Swings and roundabouts until something better comes along, my situation miraculously improves (9 months since worsening) or Dr. Shore's device comes out this century and I'm hopping on the first jet to California to have a crack at it...
This generally works pretty well in terms of getting to sleep, along w/ a fan by the bed. However, there are times when I know it will not be enough, so I take 1200 mg of Gabapentin w/ the Benadryl, and this almost always works. Thankfully, there is no brain fog in the morning when I awaken. If I don't get plenty of exercise during the day, it's usually much harder to get to sleep.
Whether or not 1200 mg of Gabapentin is a problem, I couldn't say, and I haven't found anything that might indicate that it is. It's used primarily for nephropathy, and I've read of a lot of people having to take more than twice that much regularly w/ no issues since it's not a narcotic and not addictive. There have been rare cases where it has been thought to build up and cause a toxic kidney problem in people who have stage 4 kidney disease, but generally, it has little to no effect on brain function, kidneys, or liver. I'm very grateful that an old girlfriend told me about it. It's a very interesting drug that works for many uses and is usually OK to take w/ other medications. It has a short half-life of only 5-7 hours, and normally it takes 30-35 hours to clear out of your system. So, by the time I take it the next night, it's almost completely gone.