Dear Bizi
 

Mdoc went well - i got what i needed mostly. :)

Have neuro referral - will travel! :)

He fixed up my generic brands in his computer so we wouldn't have issues again, and was nice about it. He had given me the wrong generic for sertraline, and now they have to write "no substitution" on the script even for generics... so i couldn't get it filled! Also got some stuff fixed for dad, and he was nicer than i thought he would be about that.

He didn't know about migraine exemptions or if there were a way to get gabapentin put through the state even though he's supposed to know these things, since he's the point person for them. :o Well what can you do.

Mom checked when she was at the hospital the other day... The other GPs in our town are at their quota. Only ours is available (wonder why :rolleyes;) so can't even change right now.

Thanks so much for your support :):hug::hug::hug:

~ waves ~

Dear Mari
 

oh boy... so am I!!!!! i am in my pre-menstrual phase right now... i'd most likely be having migraine after migraine... judging by the "hints" of head pain i occasionally get on one side, then the other... but only subtle "hints" oh what a relief after that awful month almost non stop.... ackk!!!! :yikes:
Yes, I am going through the necessary steps.

I do rather feel as though i'm creeping forward ever so slowly, while the calendar is rearing up and slapping May in my face quite prematurely! :eek::Noooo:

i dropped the ball on fixing my resumes (2 languages). there is very little left to do so i am a bit disappointed i left it incomplete. And there's no excuse i do have the time and ample "consciousness-windows" to do it. There are indications that school and student i recently worked for will request some time. I'd rather give them second priority. I want part-time employment but preferably with a dedicated language school. Hence my urgency to have materials ready to be "fired out" as soon as i am well enough to take on interviewing.

Anyway. Yesterday morning i tried to call for an appointment at the clinic, but the call center was O/O - "we invite you to call back later." LOL, "invite." i had to go to pdoc's so i suppose i declined their invitation. Today is a public holiday so 'twill have to wait till tomorrow.... sigh.

Heyyyy!!! can't call anyone or go anywhere today... perfect opportunity align those resume's eh? erhhemmm. :o:rolleyes::eek:

:Sigh:

=====================================
about gabapentin side effects - speech/cognition... :o

For the first time ever with gabapentin, when i most felt its effects, i had mild trouble with language - specifically
-- understanding normal-rapid speech (sounded like a rush of syllable salad)
-- replying to a question after a context switch
the last especially seems perhaps more of a general cognitive dulling thing.
but i was just wondering if you experienced either of these specifically.
example of the second one, is my parents were exchanging departure greetings - i was more or less following. my father turns to me and says what time do you have to leave. i say "da" (not meaning yes in russian, either! i look at the clock for help... by that time he has gone off to do something else.

ughhh.... scary.

:hug::hug::hug: I very much appreciate your being here for me.

~ waves ~

EVERYONE & Vowel Lady
 

Hi

EVERYONE:
sorry if i am replying out of order... last night Vowel Lady's colorful avatar caught my attention so i replied to her, LOL, but by the time i was done i was barely conscious - even took me a bit to find the submit button! :o:eek:


Vowel Lady:
my reply to you is on the previous page!


Thanks again to all of you for your support! :grouphug::heartthrob:

~ waves ~

Waves,

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...=speech&page=2


I searched and this is what I found on my Gabapentin thread from July 5, 2011

+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+

I can't explain exactly what the speech issue is.
I've been home from work for two days so I can't remember.


+_+_+_+_+_++_+_+

Update today, April 25, 2012

I have to get ready for work. I can't spend time doing more searching. This might have been my only helpful post on this.
I remember having issues saying the words -- like my mouth was in the way. This clearly concerned me when I started taking the med at the end of June. 2011

Now, in APRIL 2012, I still have some issues.
I do not know what is left over from the stroke in 2009 and what is from the Gabapentin. There was other posts in June and July 2011 about speech. It seems that Gabapentin was effecting speech.

I sort of have a stutter every once in a while. Stuttering was not part of my speech after the stroke. It is a Gabapentin thing I believe. Maybe less than once a day (I have to pay attention and do a count) I stutter. And there is no pattern to what words give me problems. I will start making a list so I can report.

I feel like my tongue gets in the way. I wish I had documentation from a speech therapist from 2009 so I could compare before pre and post Gabapentin.

Clearly, speech got worse in a particular way in the early days of Gapapetin and some of it is still going now.

+++++++++
What a messsy post. I apologize. I do not have time to make this make more sense. I have to go --- wanted to respond.

Mari

W: :hug::hug::hug:

How much are you taking.
It's not scary --- it's the same crap as usual --- The equation of Gain vs Loss.
We take the meds for benefit and decide to keep taking them based on how much we can put up with the side effects.

My feeling is that the speech improved after a few months but I do not know. Maybe I got used to them. I am taking less than half a 300 mgs capsule.

Stay well today. Take care.

M

current user of gabapentin
 

I currently take 1200 mg of gabapentin 3 times a day. Bad news is it does not help me with any of my migraines. Gabapentin helps to calm down the nerve pain in my face and head. I also can not take any NSAIDS they cause asthma attacks. Last time I was in the ER for a migraine there cure was phengan and benadryl. My dr gives me phengan for when I get nauseous with a migraine. They are 2 cheap drugs that do help. :rolleyes:

Rae Lyn

WElcome to the room and the site.

I have phen gan and hadn't thought about it for Migraines and nauseous.

I will remember that. I could take the benedryl too. That would work with
the pressure by my nose.

Weird that those symtoms come.

Donna:grouphug::hug:

speech issues w/ Gabapentin titration - comparing notes
 

Dear Mari,

it's ok, and i really appreciate the time you already spent on this to give me some feedback. sorry i have taken so long to respond. have a bit to say is why - need brain in gear myself, lol!
This is helpful. This is also very different from my experience. My problems were more receptive than productive.

I had productive issues but they could easily have been due to the cognitive dulling and inability to focus: I had slowness in speaking and difficulty with continuity esp due to word-finding. However, I had no difficulty articulating, nor physical sensations related to articulation, such as you describe. I think if i'd been slurring mom would have told me. Now, i have slurred in the past with gabapentin but that was only when i was ramping it up on top of a high dose of Depakote: during the peak times i would become uncoordinated and the mouth was no exception, hence the slurring.

The receptive issue i had, on the other hand - unintelligible syllable salad - seems more directly related to speech (possible Wernicke's aphasia). It didn't occur to me to ask to be spoken to in English to see if that worked any better (in aphasia, one language can be messed up and another not.)
No worries, the post was just fine and I appreciated the quick response.

Thank you for investing so much time in doing the back research for me too. :hug::hug::hug: I appreciate you. :):heartthrob:

~ waves ~

gabapentin dosage, effects, titration rate
 

Dear Mari

i basically took 900 mg within the first 24 hour period.

I wanted to ramp up fast and ended up taking even more than i would have since it seemed to fix the migraine i was having right then. I took 300 + 300 starting in the afternoon Sunday - both those crashed me out (expected). Then i took an additional 300 during the night. The speech nd cognitive/focusing problems happened Monday morning.

It is scary to me. :o

It is crap yes, but in no way is it usual. i have never had this happen before with any med. :(

i have four viable languages: two i need for daily use as well as for professional purposes, the other two can also serve professional purposes and thus are definitely non-negligible. i don't have a lot of ways of earning right now besides my languages. mess with my speech centers and i get more than a little uncomfortable. :Noooo::(http://www.thesmilies.com/smilies/scared/scared0014.gif

When i took 1200mg gabapentin for a year my only side effect was increased photosensitivity - totally acceptable compared to migraines which include photosensitivity andthensome.

So far, my speech difficulties were an isolated episode. I'm going to put this to bed for now because i don't want to get freaked out about it. :o

thanks.

i have been at 750mg (300 + 150 + 300) for the past couple days. today i was supposed to increase to 900mg but i already have reason to think 750 might be enough. if this gets me through menses (which would be amazing) i'd be tempted to reduce more... see if just 600 might work on the same dosing schedule - i do take this medication rigorously at 8 hour intervals.

last time for prophylaxis, even 900 mg was not enough for migraine control - 1200 (400mg tid) worked great though. different times, different needs i suppose.

thanks again, Mari, for everything.

~ waves ~

To Rae Lyn
 

Hi Rae Lyn! :)

:welcome_sign:

Thank you for replying to me, I very much appreciate it. :)

wow, that's 3600mg total... i'd exepect if it were going to help, at that dosage, it would. that sucks since you have to take it anyway.
wow i'm sorry. i did not even know NSAIDs can cause asthma attacks. eeks. :(
Those drugs are both first generation antihistamines, they cause heavy sedation and can be used for nausea/motion sickness.

I'm familiarr with benadryl but i cannot take it - I get paradoxical agitation from it - incredible agitation. I have never used Phengan but I am not aware that it (or Benadryl) play any role in pain control??

This leaves me very much to wonder, what do the doctors in the ER give you for pain? They must give you something else... do you know?

~ waves ~