Mari

I'm not sure its the gabapentin causing the foggy feelings.

Donna

Dear Mari,

guess i've got meds on the brain (well, literally ) and wondered how the gabapentin was working out?

did you get the 100 mg capsules prescribed?

how much are you taking now?

are you feeling any better, in any of the areas that were bothersome:
-- fogginess
-- depression
-- (anxiety - not sure if it helped you with that)
-- nerve pain

i hope there has been some improvement.

~ waves ~

Dear Waves,

Thanks.

My mdoc appointment is sometime in January so I do not have the 100 mgs pills yet.
I am taking about a third to a half of a 300 mgs pill: perhaps 100-150 mgs.

Fogginess -- has improved now that I am down to this low dose
Depression -- helped within the first month of taking it
Anxiety -- lessoned almost immediately when I started it
If going up beyond the low dose does improve the anxiety issue any more -- it does at the huge cost of fogginess.
Nerve pain -- no help I think. Pdoc said that I would need to be at 400 - 600 mgs for a month. I was up to 600 mgs for 10 days.

Being out in the sun three times in the last seven days has helped with depression, anxiety, and energy levels. . . .so it is hard to respond to your questions with regard to time line.

. . . if you asked me your questions two weeks ago I might have answered differently. Today, I feel sleepy but good.


M

I am a 28 yr old female with a dx of bipolar 2, ptsd, and generalized anxiety disorder. I was prescribed Gabapentin 300mg capsules 6-26-12. Was told to start with one at night and if I had no side affects after 2 days to step up dosage to one in the am and 2 before bed. With all I have been reading, (umpteen google searches and ended up here), I see mostly negative things about this drug as far as mood stabiliztion goes, so it has me concerned. Mood stabilization is what it was prescribed to me for. Almost everything I have read says it is uncommon for mood stabilization, and rarely works, some even say not FDA approved for mood stablization. My psychiatrist says she has had other patients in my demegraphic with similar issues with mood and anxiety, sleeplessness etc... and seen marked improvement for may of them. I'm not quite sure what to make of all these conflicting reports. I am confused and anxious over all of this, and wonder if I should trust the psychiatrist and stick to it until I go back in 2 weeks, see what it does or does not do for me, or exprss my concerns now and get on something else. Any suggestions or positive feedback anybody has to offer would be greatly appreciated and welcomed! Thanks

I take gabapentin, But it wasn't prescribed for mood. But I believe it
has helped my anxiety some along with my celexa generic.

I also know that when I first started it, it made me sleepy and helped
my sleep a lot. It still helps my sleep.

I take it for pain issues. I have fibromyalgia, and I take 1200 a day,
now. I've been on it for over 2 or 3 years now. I don't believe I've
ever had any side effects unlike others.

Its been a good drug for me.


I personally would say, if you trust your psychiatrist I would give
it a try. See how it goes, then decide. The only thing I would say
is if you want to wait say 4 days to start the morning dose that
would be okay. I believe I was told to wait 5 days. But remember
I take it for a different reason. And I started on 300mg too when
I started.

Donna

I know it defenitely takes time, as was my experiance with other meds. I am just so ready for something to work. Patience is what is required here, of which I have very little. However, on a lighter note, I have had it help some already for getting me to sleep. Insomnia has been one of my biggest issues for the last 10-12 years. My mind is almost always go go go, even when I am deeply depressed, but my body is dragging. It feels strange to want to do everything, to look at all that needs to be done around my home an half of me is thinking ahh, the heck with it it aint that bad, while the other half is saying get of you behind and do it. The motivation more often than not, just isn't there for me. I have to look at my son, and think about his health and safety, and push myself daily to get something done. I am hoping that I continue to have progress with this over the coming weeks. I am going to continue taking it and see how I respond. No negative affects yet accepy for a slight sluggish feeling. But I don't as that is even from the gabapentin where I experience this almost daily anyways. I guess you could say it is slight;y more noticible than before I began taking this, but not bothersome. I am actually quite calm today. Which is a rarity for me. My psychiatrist also said if this works for me, but only partially, that there where other thing she could prescribe me in combination with the gabapentin to level me out and get me functioning at an optimal level again. Lord knows I need it. Thanks for your prompt responce and input @ Dmom3005! I will be checking back in here to update after a week or so and after my 2 week progress with the psych. Heres hoping!

Sorry so many typos, my mind goes a lot faster than my fingers can keep up with sometimes! :P

Hi Mari, this med. did the opposite for me. After a week on the med. I was more depressed than ever. I do not know how others respond to it. Maybe it effects you in a good way. ginnie

Hi, MaineMom,

Good news about getting some sleep!
I am on two meds that are not approved for bipolar. They help me a lot. Try not to pay too much attention to what others on the internet are saying about their reactions to meds.

After two weeks on Gabapentin, my anxiety was eased.
After a month more, my depression lifted a tiny bit.
My psychiatrist calls this a third line mood stabilizer that he does not use much in his practice. Still, he knows it works for me.

Keep a spread sheet or a mood chart of some kind to help you keep track of
1 medications
2 sleep
3 side effects
4 symptoms

You can google "mood chart" for some on line or make your own so you can keep track of your progress and bring the chart to show the psychiatrist at the next appointment.

Mari