Long Term Side Effects Of Neurontin??
 

I am on the M P Forum and use Neurontin for nerve pain around 2 + years now. I do have problem sleeping and sometimes feel tired from the pill. However I am looking for information on THE LONG TERM SIDE EFFECTS OF NEURONTIN. It was suggested to ask you on this forum for any help, experience or research you have knowledge about. I googled for the info but did not find long term effects.
THANKS FOR ANY HELP YOU CAN GIVE.
Blessings.

Hi,
I was on neurontin for 1 yr. for pain and seizures. After being on the drug for only 4 months I started having status seizures. It's been proven that neurontin can cause seizures for many people along with depression. The last I heard was on NBC DATELINE where the co. making the drug has over $420 million in lawsuits on them for how the drug has affect people. My pharmacist has told me that the FDA is now talking about taking this med off the market. To get good info. on the drug just type in neurontin lawsuits and you can see how the drug has hurt many people but others it has helped. I hope it helps you and May God Bless You!

Sue

What it caused with me was horrible lung problems. I have never had an instance of bronchitis or asthma in my life. Soon after I began taking it, I had four or five instances of bronchitis a year with several of them turning into pneumonia. One day last November, I was watching TV and one of those medical malpractice commercials came on..."have you ever taken these drugs?" To my shock Neurontin came up. I went to that lawyers website and they were asking for people with lung problems to contact them. I then did a simple search and found multiple instances of people with lung problems taking Neurontin. I was shocked. I stopped taking it that day and haven't had a problem since.

Thank you for your input. I will do a search on Neutontin lawsuits an read about this. I had never heard this before or read about it.

Julie
Are you ok now with your lungs? I have noticed how slow my breathing is when I try to sleep at night. As least that is how it feels. I will look up this and read about it. Thanks!!!

I still have my coughing moments, but honestly, it's been a year now since my last bronchitis episode. It was so bad that I would have to go in several times a week for Albutoral treatments.

Julie,
Now I know why I had acute brochitis a few yrs. ago when I was on neurontin. Thanks for the info. and May God Bless You!

Sue

Wow, this is a surprise to me. DH has been taking Neurontin now for several years and it has helped his seizure control a great deal. He can go for 2-3 years without having a seizure. He has not experienced any marked side effects. I sure hope that this is not taken off the market. His neuro suggested it to us as a secondary seizure control med along with his Tegretol. It worked so well that he only takes two 300mg pills a day even tho his neuro advised that three times a day was the recommended minimum effective dose.

in addition to status seizures, neurontin can cause focal myoclonus. It's supposed to disappear when you withdraw the neurontin....

neurontin can be ototoxic, cause dizziness and it can cause edema. (signs of ototoxicity are not just loss of hearing - they also include eustachian tube dysfunction, ringing, etc.)

for a little light reading, google neurontin and ototoxicity, also neurontin and myoclonus. This is helpful too:
Rxlist - neurontin

Hearing loss side effect??
 

Wonderboy
Thanks for the input. I am going to learn more about the effects you mentioned. The hearing loss and ringing in my ears are a problem. I did have a test about 2 yrs ago and the hearing doctor said it was natural loss of hearing. I am not a young person but I am not sure he is correct???

I felt Neurontin gave me relief from the pain but I am concerned about the possible long term effects. I will look up the site you gave us and continue to research these side effects.

THANKS SOOOO Much

Pfizer, the makers of Neurontion are in hot water with the FDA for marketing the drug off label, much like Vioxx was marketed.

Just run a search for neurontin lawsuits and you get a whole LOT of interesting links.:mad:

http://bipolar.about.com/cs/neuronti...ontin_suit.htm

http://www.legalnewswatch.com/news_351.html

long term neurontin use
 

I was on neurontin for over 10 years. Over this time I was advised by 3 different doctors as to what amount to take--all opinions differed. I never felt that it was monitored properly for side effects, no one ever checked metabolic levels or warned about what problems it might cause, and I always wondered how they came up with the dosages that they did. At one time it was too high and I had problems with feeling thick headed and almost slurring my words. The thing that I wasn't told was that a lot of antiseizure medications can wipe out vitamin B in your body and I ended up with a B12 deficiency. One of my friends who still takes one of those drugs takes a B-complex as well. I finally got off of the drug because I heard some things about lawsuits and it being toxic. I know that it works for some people, and that's great, but personally I would be concerned about taking a high dose for a long period of time. Right now I am working with a nutritionist and am off of all pain meds.

My daughter has been on this med for 5 months. I just I checked out the FDA sites, and those are old. It has been two years since they have investigated Neurontin and suicide rates. I am not interested in a lawsuit, but getting her off of this med and going with a more natural approach is my goal.

I feel compelled to respond...
 

...especially to those linking Neurontin with severe pulmonary problems.

I have been taking Neurontin for about a year now in an attempt to relieve intractable pain caused by occipital & trigeminal neuralgia. While my pain certainly hasn't disappeared, I would say that there has been notable relief achieved...before beginning Neurontin I would experience extreme pain (on a 1-10 scale) anywhere from 8-10 on a daily basis, often for the majority of the day. Since my dosage has been increased to 1600mg/day most days my pain doesn't hit 8+ for any measurable period of time. Usually it stays anywhere from a 3-7. As I mentioned earlier, it's, unfortunately, almost never gone but for brief moments. However, the difference Neurontin has made to my life is that had you asked me a year ago if nothing were to change regarding my pain could I go on with any quality of life I would have answered no way...now, while I certainly would prefer less pain, I can say that I think I could go on if I had to endure this degree of pain on a daily basis. I would think that's a significant difference.

Sure, as with most drugs there are some side effects...the most marked of those being clouded/slowed thinking...there seems to be a delayed response when looking for a particular word usually several times a day...a bit frustrating, albeit somewhat humorous and something I can certainly live with...additional side effects I've noticed are clumsiness and increased salivation, both mild...two effects of this med that have certainly turned out to be bonuses are that I now fall asleep easier and a virtual disappearance of my restless leg syndrome, which used to be a real irritant. Oddly, perhaps, I haven't noticed that I am drowsy during the day at all, nor can I really tell I've taken it beyond the typical decrease in my pain about 2 hours after ingesting it.

Now, as to those posting regarding lung problems...much of what I've read is someone assigning cause and effect to something that happened to them with no proof whatsoever that the neurontin was, indeed, the culprit...they could just as easily have contracted a virus, which often progresses to bronchitis, and then suffered ensuing recurrences or repeated bacterial infections.

The reason I felt compelled to respond to those allegations is that when I was 18 I was diagnosed with a very rare lung condition called Histiocytosis X or Langerhans Cell Hystiocytosis which severely scarred my lungs and which, over time, led to COPD and emphysema. I have been, more or less, a respiratory cripple for quite some time. I would think that with my severely compromised respiratory status that I might be especially prone to related side effects if neurontin were that prone to causing lung problems, but in the entire year since starting this drug I have suffered nothing whatsoever related to my pulmonary deficits...

...all I am saying is please take such claims with a grain of salt and don't jump to conclusions and make connections where there aren't necessarily any to be made...there are ambulance chasers out there only too ready to pounce on any drug for nearly any possible side effect given an opportunity and their motivation is, well, rather obvious.

Hi alassnsane,

I'm glad to hear that the neurontin is working well for you. I can remember when I was taking the drug it made me tired and that was a side effect from the drug.
I wanted you to know that I'm not making any conclusions on my own it was my Epileptologist and neurosurgeon who felt that the neurontin was not helping me after I told them I was having TC sz. (grand mal) and status sz. where a person can be out of it for 40 min. to 3 days. After doing tests on me they found that the neurontin caused more brain damage to me so I'm not only going by what happened to me but I have medical proof that the drug messed me up. I am very greatful that it's working for you and I wish you only the best on the drug. Here's wishing you well and May God Bless You!

Sue

Help
 

my husband was put on neurotin because of chronic back pain. He was started at 100mg 3x a day for 1 week then increased to 200mg 3x a day.
At the end fo the 5th day he started with severe memory loss and reverting back to childish behavior and not knowing who family members were. I became concerned and Dr. stated take him off if this cotinues. At the end of the 3rd day on the 2oomg dosage 3x a day I called again be cause he was forgetting he could even use his rt hand and his walking became shuffled as a child learning how to walk. Dr. said to take him off . This has been 2 weeks and no improvement has been made. Will these side effects be permanant?

Hi 846725,

Your husband must go off the neurontin very slowly. Neurontin was only approved by the FDA for epilepsy so your husbands Dr. is illegally giving him the drug. They have done a lot of off market labeling with this drug. This is how I started taking it. I had a concussion and my Dr. gave it to me for headaches and from that point on my short term memory got worse, it increased my seizures, and it messed up my spelling not to mention looking at a person but not remembering their name. Tell your husband to slowly go off the drug and if he's seeing a neurosurgeon you might want to see a different Dr. and get a 2nd opinion. Tell your husband to start taking vitamin B12 1000 mcg. once a day along with perscription muscle relaxers. My husband had back surgery twice and this is what helped him. If your husband is using a cell phone tell him to stay off the phone because cell phones cause memory problems and personalilty probems also after using them a lot. It shrinks the hippocampus of a persons brain where the learning and memory are.
I would get to a different neurosurgeon and get a 2nd opionion if I were in your husbands place. Neurontin can be very hard on a person depending on their body chemistry and a lot more info. had been reported to the FDA about the drug and it's not good. I wish you and your husband the best of luck and May God Bless You both!

Sue

I was on Neurontin for I guess 3-4 years for RSD, doses as high as 5400mg/day. The doctors denied it caused memory problems; I have very little clear recollection of that time period, had occassionally nasty aphasia while on it, and my memory hasn't been quite up to par since. They denied it caused weight gain; I gained over 100 lbs. on it, which didn't start coming off until I switched to Gabitril. And though I had no known history of seizures before taking it, I had at least one (possibly two) full-blown tonic-clonic seizure after I had been on it for a couple years.

God, I hate that drug.

I've been on Neurontin for 5 years and have no weight gain problems; that said, I of course was not on 5400mg a day. To start I was on 1200mg. I had the slurring and I was unable to lift my head of the bed.

After a couple of weeks I stabilised and came good. I still take it, I have bilateral myclonus (which I had before I took it), and nightime TC which I had before the Neurontin too, Just uncontrolled seizures, simple partial, complex partial, myoclonus and night time TC. All of those were apparent years before I took neurontin so I guess I'm lucky really.

A safe dose level was advised so my doc reduced me to 800mg a day. My pain is worse since then and it is awful burning nerve pain. I do have peripheral neuralgia and fibromyalgia but had that for 20 yrs.

I think too that because we are individuals what suits one will not suit another. But I would NEVER give medical advice, I'm not a doctor. Best of luck with your treatment.

Hi Julie,

I've had the same problem. Were your docs able to confirm the connection between the Neurontin and your lung problems?

John

Nice to meet you!!
 

Neurontin
 

My mother was admitted to the hospital for low back compression fractures. The physician proceeded to prescribe neurontin for nerve pain without discussing the medication and side effects with the family members first. The next day my mother behavior changed: confussed, hallucinating and having a hard time talking. After 3 days the physician finally discontined the medication. She appears to be doing somewhat better but stll confused at times. When taking neurontin can you have permanent side effects?

Hi alliecat,

After I got off the Neurontin I was fine so I hope and pray that your mom will be okay. Just give it some time until all the medication is flushed out of her system. Here's wishing you and your mom only the best and May God Bless You Both!

Sue

Neurontin Prevents Synapse Formation
 

I've been on 31 years now, since college. It does ca what you've been having, yes, but it also stops - or greatly reduces - the formation of synapses. Since the brain naturally "prunes" itself over the years through a kind of atrophy anyway, based on which connections you most, losing the ability to make new synapses is hella concerning. I've gotten stupider and stupider over the years but nobody has taken me seriously or had answers when I've complained. I'm just now learning about this research finding. It also answers why my memory (short term and long term) is horrible and why my voracious reading hasn't been adding knowledge to my mind for years now - nothing sticks anymore! I've always loved acquiring knowledge, have been eternally self-educating, but to my horror I've been forced to realize that reading it no longer means diddly after I set the book down. This is extremely frustrating - am only in my early 50's but function like a doddering senile old coot! I've been tested for early dementia but do not have that, thankfully, so I'm digging into other avenues to find the problem and fix it. Today, anyway. Tomorrow I may forget all about it. I wish I were kidding...:(

wondering about neurontin
 

hi there i,ve been taking neurontin for over ten years now for nerve pain from my lower back and neck. i,ve had six dics removed and four more still bad but they cant remove any more. for the last three years now i,ve had attacks like vertigo where you cant keep your eyes open because the room is spinning your ice cold but sweating any motion at all really upsets you.so you end up calling 911 and going to the er where they give you meds to clam you down.i am now taking meclizine for this problem. but i am really concerned about taking neurontin as i think myself and im no doctor that it is causing this problem. i really have to talk to my doctor about it.has anyone else out there had this problem that i have had. any imput would be helpfull. thanks bobby n

Hi bobby,

My family Dr. gave me the Neurontin for head and back pain after I was in a car accident and the drug just messed me up more because I have epilepsy and the drug triggered more dangerous seizures and it didn't help me at all with the back pain or head pain.
My advice to you is to speak to your pharmacist because they know a lot more about meds than Drs. do and they will be able to tell you all the side effects. I have 2 herniated discs along with degenerative disc disease and the Neurontin messed my back up a lot more but everyone is different.
Try taking vitamin B12 1000 mcg. once a day for the pain it helps calm the nerves and cut back on the caffeine also. I found ultra sound physical therapy the best thing for my back and the pain was gone in no time. I wish you the best of luck and May God Bless You!

Sue

Welcome to the gain!!