Sleep Apnoea and Gabapentin
 

Hopefully this is my first post. Has anyone else with Sleep Apnoea been prescribed Gabapentin and if so what was the outcome.
I'm keeping this post short as my last rather extensive post never appeared.
Fingers crossed.

I have pheripheral neuropathy and took gapbaten for a while (now take lyrica). I also have sleep apnea and use a CPAP. I didn't have any problems with the gabapentin. In fact, it helped me sleep at night so that I wasn't always taking my mask off. Apparently, I was subconscientiously taking my mask off about half way through the night.

Leslie, Thanks so much for the reply. It's my husband that has the Sleep Apnoea.
Since I initially posed the question, he has been prescribed a variety of drugs, and the drug of choice currently is Tegratol. He has recently diagnosed with Nocturnal Epilespy, and it appears Gabapentin also acts as an anti-convulsant drug.
My husband had a lot of trouble with his initial mask when it was a small mask, he now has a full face mask and sleeps very well with it.
Funny though you should mention Lyrica, I suffer with CRPS, and initially Gabapentin did not work for me, but a combo of Lyrica and Tramadol helps somewhat.
Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

Hi Denton, I am a 63 yr old male (going on 83 at times). I have SEVERE sleep disorders, multiple and have been on a Ventilator for the last few years. I used the Respironics BiPAP Auto machine before that and it worked great at that time.

You have probably heard about ****Edit****for all things Apnea. It is wonderful and has people there who are knowledgeable in almost all machines. If the mask does not fit right, etc. someone over there can help him. I use the Swift Mirage II, so does my wife.
OK, that taken care of, on to the drug question.

I have been on Neurontin (never can remember how to spell Gaba - whats-its-name) since
2002. I try to quit it when I can, but I always wind up back on 900mg at night. I am also on Tegratol (spelling??) for Trigeminal Neuralgia and something else. I also have RLS and PN.

I wish your husband the best, and YOU TOO.

I am on Gabapentin and sleep with a cpap. I remember also taking my mask off half way thru the night but I'm much better now in sleeping till morning. Hubby next to me has a cpap also.

I was on 5400mgs. of gapapentin and weaned myself down to 3600mgs. now and I am working on going lower than that. I found no problems with taking the medication with the cpap but I'm trying to get off of it because of how forgetful I was getting. I feel much better now that I have drop the dosage down.

Hi Denton,
I am on Gabapentin for small fiber peripheral neuropathy, but I also have sleep apnea. Gabapentin did not seem to have any effect on my undiagnosed sleep apnea, and seemed to have no effect on my sleep apnea once I was diagnosed and got my cpap either.

Russ Fletcher
Certified Coding Specialist
Portland VA Medical Center

Hi Denton

I have Central Apnea from having multiple concussions when young, and was prescribed the gabapentin for burning nerve pain from having burned out Juvenile Rheumatoid and Sjogren's disorder (attacks saliva and tear ducts, etc.) Gabapentin is in my experience the ONLY thing that will touch burning nerve pain. It's also good for helping with sleep.

The only bad side effect of neurontin (gabapentin) is it will cause edema. That's why I had to stop taking a bunch of it every night, and switch to PRN. Sometimes, it's the only thing that will help me get to sleep.

hopes this helps

gershonb

Helloo I have sleep apnoea and I have just been prescribed Tegratol for TN I am scared about Taking it as I had Issues with Lyrica:( Hope all is ok with you all. :grouphug::grouphug:xxxxx

Careful......
 

Careful Leslie.....if you are taking off your CPAP in the middle of the night this may indicate you need to be re-titrated. I did the same thing and I needed to have my air setting changed significantly. My doctor indicated the reason we take off the mask in the middle of the night is because we can't breath and feel the mask is choking us when it is actually the sleep apnea.

Gabapentin & Klonopin for PMLD Sleep Disorder
 

I have a girlfriend that has been having serious sleeping disorder because of PMLD. She was diagnosed over a few years ago. She got laid off from her job and has had troubles paying the Doctor bills, thus she hasn't been going to the doctor like she should. She has been on Klonopin 1mg for at least a year. The doctor recently increased it to 2mg and that wasn't working so he added Gabapentin 300mg and it worked!

BUT NOW SHE HAS A SEDATED SIDE EFFECT THE NEXT MORNING THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. She has been on Gabapentin for 3 days now.

The withdraws if she quits Klonopin have really got me concerned, although Gabapentin suppose to help if you quit Klonopin. I am hoping she can quit the Klonopin all together and lower her dosage each night to 100-200 mg of Gabapentin.

Has anyone been in this situation involving the drugs Gabapentin & Klonopin? If so, how did you deal with it and what was the outcome? Thanks for your help in advance

gapapentin causing sleep apnea?
 

Hi everyone, I was prescribed Neurontin at bedtime for severe neuralgia resulting from several discs out in my cervical spine. She started me out on a low dose of 300mg and I was to titrate up to 900mg after two weeks, but I found I could barely handle 600mg. Initially I thought it was causing me to hallucinate or have waking dreams. Over the next couple weeks I worked on being more cognizant of what was actually happening, and found that I was flying up out of bed gasping for air. My Doc ordered an over night pulse/ox text and confirmed that I did quit breathing. I loathe to quit taking the Neurontin because this has been the first time in 3 years that I can go for almost 8 hours without being in severe pain but at the same time I am only 30years old and I dont want to have a breathing machine just because of a medication. Has anybody had any similar experiences or found an alternate solution..I would greatly appreciate any feedback
Kristy, Oregon

Please check out this post:

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/post827707-8.html

You could try stopping the gabapentin & see if the apnea stops as well, but this might take a while for the gabapentin/effect to get out of your system.

You could discuss with your doctor trying a different med. Others commonly used for neuropathic pain include (but not limited to) Lyrica and Topamax/topiramate. Since all of these meds affect the nervous system, they'll all have some potential to effect respiration as well, but that doesn't mean they will.

Has it been determined whether the apnea is central, obstructive or complex (mixed)? Type of apnea can bear on possible treatments; a sleep study may be in order.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_apnea

If it's obstructive, you could take up playing the didgeridoo. :p

We tried a custom-made appliance, but it didn't work.

Nobody likes the idea of the machine, regardless of age, but there are worse things, it's non-invasive, it allows you to continue pain control, and most importantly, it works for most (though it takes some getting used to - being on gabapentin should help that too.)

Doc

Hey Gershonb,

I to suffer from Central Sleep Apnea. I was just wondering how your condition has progressed, do you use a cpap or autosv and have u been prescribed any meds that helped? Sry for all the questions, recently diagnosed and stresing. Was just prescribed gabapentin hence the post.
Thx

central sleep apnea and BIPAP?
 

I was diagnosed with central sleep apnea and prescribed BIPAP. I find it does not help me though and I still wake up with a massive headache,dizzy and freezing cold. I also have some neurologic defects with my brain ( ACC and septo optic dysplasia as well as what they call 'aquired chiari malformation") Does anyone else have central sleep apnea and has anything else other then BIPAP been used with sucsess?:eek: