[doydie]

My Mom has neuropathy unkown origin and is on 900 mg/day and it isn't helping her. She is 85 years old and is afraid of what she calls 'mind altering drugs' and she thinks Neurontin is because it made her feel dopy when she first started it. She now mainly takes it at night now. So she saw a new doctor today and he ordered her to increase it to 1800 mg/day. I don't know a whole lot about Neurontin, I am on Tegrtol so I don't know what kind of dose that is an should she expect any other reactions to it. You know how people are in retirement communities, they all talk about thier meds. So several people say she might be incontinent with this dose. Any help?

[SallyC]

That's an awful lot for an 85 yr old woman.

Neurontin made me dizzy and stupid and otherwise didn't help.

Why don't you talk to her Doc and see if he can't come up with something better. Docs get stuck on certain meds and they don't help everyone.

[Lady]

Doydie I am not 85 years old but I was up to 3600 mg a day. Split over every 5 to 6 hours. She should find out when she should up her dosage. All at night?--or over the course of the day?

1800 mg was the least I was on. I started with 100 mg at night. I worked my way up when it didn't help.

Your body builds a resistance to it so you have to up the dosage. But her age does worry me. She should speak with her doctor again or maybe you could call for her.

2 x 900 mg tablets will equal 1800 mg. Or 3 x 600 tablets a day. or 6 x 300 mg a day. Spread out during the day. She will get used to it, just make sure she doesn't fall form drug hangover in the morning.

[NurseNancy]

i don't specifically know the answer to that.

you can go to a pharmacy and ask for the drug company insert on the med.
then read it from cover to cover. it will tell you about side effects and possibly mention the elderly.

just doubling the dose seems excessive to me. it should be increased gradually i would think because of her age. you really want to make sure she doesn't fall. that wouldn't be good and can lead to other problems.

perhaps she could see a gerontologist for her pcp. they are experts on caring for the elderly.

[wkikta]

Gradually increase the dose over two or three weeks. 1800 mg is not an exceptionally high dose. The annoying side effects should fade after a couple of weeks.

[mrsD]

Neurontin and its cousin Lyrica are excreted thru the kidneys unchanged.

In an 85 yr old person, I'd expect some kidney slow down or slower rate of clearance...and this will affect dosing. Smaller doses should be considered for anyone with kidney impairments. So suggestions for a typically normal person, may not apply at all to your Mother.