Side effects...Gabapentin
 

I have been taking Gabapentin 600mg at bedtime for over a year. Over a month ago my doc had me start taking 600mg two more times during the day, which means I'm taking them three times a day.

I have been fine with taking the evening dose however, since I started taking the other doses. I have had problems with shaking in my hands and jerking everywhere else. I can be sitting watching tv and my arm will jump…or any other part of my body that I cannot control. I have also felt really buzzed at time I have had horrible problems with my memory, yesterday I was talking with my DH about something and I couldn’t remember a word he was asking me what it meant. I had to have him repeat it over and over and I still couldn’t remember it. I have gained weight an dizziness its all too weird...

I don’t like what is going on…The pills does relieve some of my pain but not enough to make it worth taking. I’m thinking of going off the pill except the evening dose.

Has anyone else had these same side effects?:(

I hope you and your doctor can find another medication that can work without all the "high" effects. I used to take only 100mg at night but I am such a lightweight that I could shake the "high" for hours after I woke up from my Gabapentin coma.
Now I take Elavil 25 mg- not nearly as effective :( but at least I know what I am saying now.
Good luck!!

Tami....YES!!! I take a high dose of it, too, and have noticed the same things as you. The jerking - I only notice it when I try to sleep. It wakes me up sometimes but I've never noticed it during the day when I'm awake.

I've had swelling in my hands and feet, too. And....of course I've gained weight. That really stinks 'cause I haven't been eating much.

I've started not taking one of my daytime doses....it just zombifies me and I stagger around the house and sleep the day away. And...the pain relief I get from it isn't worth the side effects. I wish my Neuro could prescribe something else. :(

Tami--
One of my questions is how fast did you titrate onto your new dose ? I've been on Neurontin about 9 months (for seizures and allodynia--nerve pain) and I have found that how fast/slow you titrate it can really make a difference in the side effects you experience. When I first started titrating my neuro had me stay on 300 mg for approx 3-4 days, then titrate up in 300 mg incriments every 2-3 days until I reached 900 mg. BUT, how fast/slow I titrated onto it was really up to how I was feeling and reacted to it. I had A LOT of side effects from each dose and each dose increase. So, what I did was stay at one dose until the side effects went down to where I could function--- usually about a week to a week and a half. So, I went much, much slower than my initial titration schedule (my neuro was fine with it) and found it made a lot of difference. I still have side effects, but over time they have gotten better and easier to deal with. So, my suggestion would be to give it a little more time-- especially if it is helping your pain (or whatever you are taking it for). I know it isn;t easy, and the side effects stink-- I went, and am still dealing with. through them myself.

Hang in there and keep in contact with your doctors about how you are doing and what you are going through-- often times they can give you some suggestions on ways to deal with the side effects or change your dosing schedule to help minimize them.

Good Luck-- L2L

Just wanted to add a quick disclaimer: NEVER change a dose or a schedule without talking to your doctor first. My neuro had given me the go- ahead to titrate as slow as I felt I needed to-- meaning, if I didn;t feel ready to increase my dose after 2 or 3 days; it was fine for me to slow down and wait until my body got a little more used to it.......:)

I took this medication too for back pain. I got up one Saturday morning, left the house to go to dunkin donuts to get a to-go cup of coffee, and proceeded to go to work!!! I was off that day. My brain wasn't working at all.

If you decided to stop taking these meds please let your dr know. If I'm not mistaken you need to taper off these meds, you shouldn't stop cold turkey.

Dottie

I take Neurontin and Baclofen at night before I go to bed. It really doesn't mess with my thinking when I'm awake but after I sleep and then wake up my short term memory is terrible!

Just the other night I took it after I had spoken with my son who told me that he was staying the night at a friends house. Well, I woke up about 3:30 AM and noticed that he was not in his bed. I had NO recollection of our conversation the night before. I was panicked! It took a few moments of me thinking really hard back to the night before for me to recall the conversation. That was scary!!

I have just weaned myself off of gabapentin . . . I did not see any positive changes in my pain levels (actually seems like my symptoms have become worse) and I could not handle the swelling. . . and a rare side effect, but a difficult one if you have Crohn's and an altered digestive system. . . incontinence! So my neuro said to quit taking it if I didn't think it was working.

What is up with everyone pushing the same three or four meds, but being rather blase about them once you begin taking them? Seems the more I try to find out what I can do for my PN, the less the docs seems to know! Is it just all about the Rx pad to them?

I am ready to go the massage and exercise route with a gal who is also a naturalist/nutritionist. Can't hurt anyway.

side effects
 

the biggest side effects for me was weight gain and cavities in your teeth . so I got off of it real quick .

Jim takes gaba Tammy. Don't go cold turkey or you could have seizures. That's the side effect of stopping too soon and Jim found out the hard way. He has swelling and weight gain too and his neuro said if we wanted to try to go down on them we could. She said to report back to her what we find. She up'd his dose last year and he's gained almost thirty pounds since then.

Stay tuned because it will be a long ride. I am weening Jim slowly, very slowly. I don't ever want to see him seize again.

Sandy, did he have seizures before the took the gaba? I'm on a pretty high dose (600 mg X 3) and would like to cut back. I've never had a seizure before. It's causing me to gain weight, too. But...I have such bad pain in my arms and legs I hesitate to cut back. How much are you decreasing the dose by?

Thanks! :)

Kelly, no he didn't. He was put on gaba for nerve pain years ago. Now that he's on Methadone we feel that maybe he can come off gaba. When he had those seizures five years ago it was all from gabapentin withdrawl. Some resident took him off the gaba while in kidney failure and forgot to tell his neuro, not to mention forgot to look up the side effects of going cold turkey.

My advice would be take it slow. Jim is on 3600 mgs at 1200mgs 3x a day. I am taking one pill out for each dose. So, now he is getting only 2400 mgs a day, 800mgs 3x a day. We'll do that for about a week or two and then drop down again, one pill each dose until we are done. I am hoping he can get off it completely but if he starts to feel nerve pain, we'll know it was doing it's job and stop at the dose he needs.

My Neuro stated me on Gabapentin 3 weeks ago.

I started with one 300mg at bedtime for one week, the second week it was one in the morning and at bedtime and now I am on one pill 3 times a day.

I am having a little relief but I think she will probably increase the dosage after my next appt. in Sept or Oct. I haven't had any bad side effects other than being a little slower and foggier in the morning and my fatigue is worse. I don't do well in the morning anyway so I just take it slower.

I'm on a low dose compared to the rest of you but my Neuro did start me on it very slow.

I have been on Gabapentin for a couple years now and am taking 3600mg a day. The only side effect I notice is weight gain (it makes me hungry all the time) and sleepyness in the late morning and afternoon. But then, I have an extremely high tolerance for meds. In 2004, I was taking about 8 Vicadins (7.5/750mg) a day for months (and working and driving) before a spinal fusion and quit the day my surgery was done. No WD. I am lucky in some respects and not so lucky in others.

I would follow the advice mentioned prior and hope it works for you.

Hello Tamiloo, I am currently taking gabapentin, (1) 600 mg pill twice during the day, and (2) pills at bedtime for a total of 2400 mgs per day for over a year now. I am currently experiencing a jerking of my left hand (I am left-handed) which creates any messes, and a loss of body movement as well, which leads to my falling down sometimes. Attempting to go off is not good as it leads to seizures. My doctors assistent told me that gabapentin is not for treatment of the nerves, but I was under the impression it is. At this time, I am simply looking for someone who shares some of the conditions I am experiencing, and when I read your post, I felt a kindrid spirit. please respond. Revyrev:

The post you are responding to is over 4 years old, so getting a response may be iffy.

Gabapentin
 

I canned them the gabapentin shatkes, and finally, when I was at my worst, I had to have wife drive me to the doc so he could see it firsthand. He took me off them right away. One size does not fit all, and I have discovered that rats have it. even been tested for cancer for the stuff in high dosses. It marginally worked for me, but after that reaction and serration in syndrome from SSRIs, they decided to put me strictly on opioid therapy.

It has been a paperwork hassle, but well worth it. 80% pain free, not in gaga land, and able to function. It is a miracle