hello guys . i have bipolar and fibromyalgia . and used gaba pentin once but it causes me to have strange personality with behavioural changes and depression . is this a normal side effect and i have to push on medication until i am tolerant to it . or the aforementioned reason is a good reason to stopa gaba pentin . i am sensitive to alot of medication : tegritol. depakote.and lamictal . any ideas guys what to do . i have fibromyalgia and depression .

hi lab. i have rsd and fibromyalgia and have been on gabapentin for about five years now. i am up to 2400 mg daily. i had strong side effects too at first i.e. dizziness, disorentation and nauesea but after a few weeks it wore off for the most part. i still get the nausea but not as bad as it first was. gabapentin is very helpful in managing my chronic pain along with another pain med my pm dr prescribes. but everyone is different so if you have any questions about side effects if i were you i would talk to you dr about it. being that you have bipolar the side effects may affect you differently then for me. i also suffer from clinical depression and it doesn't affect that but i'm not sure about bipolar and i am not a dr so i don't want to give you the wrong advice. i'm just giving you my experience with it and hope that whatever you decide to do that you find some relief from your pain soon. soft hugs.

thanks alot man . really appreciate it . but in ur opinion do side effects wean off by time ?. and by ur experience for how long should i wait until i feel am being more tolerant to the medication ?

it took me a few weeks for dizziness and lethargy to wear off. the nausea is still there but not as bad as it was the first few weeks. i try to eat something before i take my meds. that helps a little. and the gabapentin helps with my rsd and fibro nerve pain so i feel it's worth a little nausea. but the other side affects were gone after a few weeks. if i were you i would talk to your dr and pharmacist about the side effects just to make sure that what you're experiencing is normal and how long they think it should last. hope you feel better soon. sending soft hugs your way.

Thanks alot it is slightly hard but worth the try

Hi labrynth29,
I am glad you are giving gabapentin a fair trial. I am concerned about your reported personality changes, however.

You report sensitivities to the other AED meds used for pain and/or for bipolar disorder: Depakote, Lamictal and Tegretol.

I understand as I have to use one of these for a neuromuscular disorder.
I am very sensitive to all of them. I am truly allergic to a couple of them.
I have found, through much trial and error, that I can tolerate the brand name of Depakote sprinkles, as they are metabolized a bit differently than other Depakote formulations. I cannot tolerate generic Depakote or other formulations of Depakote under the brand name.

My pharmacist tells me some other people also report being better able to tolerate the Depakote Sprinkles formulation (when unable to tolerate other forms of Depakote, both brand and generic).

If you have private drug insurance (through an employer, etc, ) or have no medication coverage, the manufacturer makes the brand name of Depakote sprinkles available via a coupon on their website available for a small co-pay.
You can check this out by searching for the Depakote manufacturer's site.

Just FYI.

I hope you find a med that works and is easily tolerated.

To Our Healing,
DejaVu

I take cymbalta. It supposed to help. Ive been on ita couple years and honestly i still get muscle aches, pain, stiffness. Lord knows how i would feel if i stopped it. It has helped my anxiety though. When muscles really get into knots i take a muscle relaxer at night and i feel much looser and move around more easily in the morning.