[Macophile]

Has anyone else seen this news story?
http://www.boston.com/news/local/art...study_on_drug/

I am wondering if this has any baring on Gabapentin too or is it just the main drug? I know that I have heard from some of my pain dr's that Gabapentin is thought to be more effective than Neurontin, but I wonder if that is because Neurontin doesn't work (or at least not very well.) This also raises the whole issue of the differences between generics and the original drugs... if one works better than the other, than they really can't keep saying they are the exact same thing. (which I always said was a ridiculous statement)

[dahlek]

But 'Neurontin' IS 'gabapentin'.
http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/gabapent.htm

Lyrica is similar to the Gabas but has one or two teeny differences in chemical make-up that are different. For some like Nide44, it has more punch w/less s/e or volume. Others can't tolerate it tho.

Some things work for some, others not at all.

I'd only taken the 'brand name' and had horrid side effects.. all the common ones and more.

IF YOUR pain is less taking one brand or non-brand vs another? Stick with it!

Anything that works for you to lessen pain is not to be tinkered with!

Hugs! - j

[chrissys]

I'm on Gabapentin, huge amounts (1200mg 3xdaily not the recommended 1200 per day) and I find that it helps my pain. Does it make it go away?....no....but any little bit of relief is better than none. I agree with the "whatever works!!!" philosophy. I'm pretty lucky about side effects too. Best of Luck!
ChrissyS

[Macophile]

Originally Posted by chrissys

I'm on Gabapentin, huge amounts (1200mg 3xdaily not the recommended 1200 per day) and I find that it helps my pain. Does it make it go away?....no....but any little bit of relief is better than none. I agree with the "whatever works!!!" philosophy. I'm pretty lucky about side effects too. Best of Luck!
ChrissyS

Oh I believe in that philosophy too, and I am currently on Gabapentin among other drugs (however, nothing is working completely), but this news article kind of freaked me out a bit.

[mrsD]

that have been bolstered as effective when studies have shown not are Claritin and Prozac. Both had many studies showing those equal to placebo in effectiveness. Those studies were suppressed, and look at how both drugs became blockbusters!

I have always had doubts about Neurontin (gabapentin), since there is really no explanation yet as to how it is supposed to work. Given that and the fact that ParkeDavis and then Pfizer who took it over after the merger, deliberately sent drug salespeople into doctors offices to encourage them to use massive doses when no studies were in place to show safety for that...well that was just reckless and greedy. The bipolar arm was refuted finally, as ineffective. What Pfizer was doing was experimenting on people and making tons of money doing so. They were slapped with a huge fine-- over 600 million dollars for doing it.

Thanks for putting up that link. We all need a reminder now and then about this subject!

[nide44]

The article was quite revealing. It seems that the Pfizer marketing
execs play real hardball, like a Hollywood Corporate Scandal Movie.
Even though the article seems to lean on the ineffectiveness of Neurontin
for off-label purposes and especially for neuropathic pain, the fact is that
I was taking it for over 6 yrs for PN, and believe me - if I missed a dose
I knew it! It took pain levels from a 8-9 down to a 3-6.
But I became tolerant of it, and switched to another Pfizer med, Lyrica (after trying a number of other drugs). The Lyrica is more effective, and brings my levels down to a 2-4, ......... even a 1, sometimes.
Doing business the way they do is reprehensible.
I'd rather not, but the drug works for me!

[savannah]

If you dig deeper you'll find that there is no valid research supporting the use of Neurontin for neuropathic pain. I am outraged that our money is being stolen from us by the drug companies for garbage medicine. Neurontin is not effective for neuropathic pain or no more effective than placebo.
I had always refused to take it because I research drugs before I take them and have access to evaluations of original trial data.
My Doctor gave me the rolling eye look when I explained the why I would not take Neurontin.
There are also more recent reports of Doctors at Harvard and Stanford taking up to $500,000 ( over several years)to give positive reviews of drugs. How can we trust any drug when even at these highly regarded schools the best doctors are filling their pockets with drug money. To me they are no different than drug dealers.
Still it leaves the patient being the guinea pig and everyone else getting rich.
Be careful what you take. Make sure it is really helping you feel better. Your doctor usually relies on drug rep. tells them about a drug. drug reps are sales people who are trained to sell certain drugs but have no educational requirements for the job. They are just sales people the same as buying a carsales . So this is where your doctors get their information about a new drug, from the drug companies sales staff!
I used to work in a huge medical pratice and the sales reps brought us wonderful lunches, gifts and I don't know what they gave the doctors. They were there almost everyday and once a week would be the drug companies catered lunch for the staff.

[Momma's Kids]

I was taking Lyrica but it caused too much swelling in hands/feet, blood pressure was way too high. I switched to Gabapentin and it seems to work just as well and I haven't really noticed any major side effects.

I take about 1600mgs a day...it did make me feel tired at first so I cut back a little...now it is ok. I also take Requip to help with neuropathic pain...it works wonders!! If I miss for more than three or four days I feel like cutting off my legs and arms. lol

Keep what works...if it ain't broke, leave it alone. lol

Savannah...I worked in a pharmacy while going to school...sometimes what works for one might not work for another...
I have a friend that cannot take neurotin it makes her break out in hives...but as I stated it works very well for me and for others.
I can understand your frustration over drug companies, clinic trials, etc...

I can tell if I don't take it for a couple of weeks or more...and it is not psychological, it works for me...

Some doctors will prescribe drugs without knowing if they will work...but then if we as patients don't tell them...that's our responsibility not the drug company or the doctor's.

[Leslie]

I'm glad you guys brought this up...I am taking 1200 mgs of gabapentin every 6 hours and it works pretty well for me...

While at lunch today one of the guys was telling me about his wife who has diabetes. She also has PN, from the diabetes I assume but not sure. She took neurontin for 10 years. The husband said that the long term use of neurontin has caused a great deal of other medical problems for her. He was trying to explain but wasn't very clear. But he did say that "neurotin chokes out the oxygen in the bloodstream" and the only way to correct this was to have blood transfusions. I asked when she started the transfusions and she has not yet started. He did mention the lawsuit and "the billions of dollars paid out to the states to settle their cases." So, I don't really know what he was trying to say other than to scare me away from neurontin...

[mrsD]

a list of reported effects from Neurontin for 2007
http://patientsville.com/medication/...de_effects.htm

On the first page are two reports of decreased red blood cells.

However, the suicide or suicidal ideation reports are much more frequent than I expected!

Remember, drugs are tested for weeks. There are no long term reports on them.
So if someone takes something for 10 years....there is no guarantee of any sort that
whatever it is --is safe for that long.