Neurontin and NCS
 

It seems from what I've read that neurontin works in the brain. So just checking: I'm concluding that it doesn't affect nerve conduction studies...is there general agreement on this?

For the past month I've had increasing pain in a shoulder and arm with loss of strength in some fingers, and it seems to be coming from my neck. I've an epidural, MRI, myelogram, scoliosis series, and tomorrow I have NCS and then a visit with a surgeon to put it all together. Preliminary fidings indicate narrowing of the space where nerves leave the cord, caused by bone, not disk.

I tried Tramadol, Oxycodone and hydrocodone, and they didin't touch the pain, so I just used my TENS, which was a life-saver. I've been taking Neurontin, 900mg/day, a low dose, for 4 days, and the pain is significantly better...I mean, here I am typing...and I'm pretty okay. But there are two problems: I've fallen asleep three times during the day in social situations. Pretty embarrassing. Also, I'm worried this is just masking things, and I don't really know if anything is resolving, and all i have to rely on is the films, rather than my inner sense of how I'm doing.

Does that make sense? So I'm figuring to stop this, even though the weekend is coming up and I could afford to be drowsy, because it's disconcerting to not know if I'm better or not. And I'm not sure if the NCS might be masked also.

Any thoughts?

Thank you folk.

Best

In general--
 

--yes, the primary activities of Neurontin and Lyrica seem to be in the brain and spinal cord; both seem to act as GABA analogues in damping down the "runaway" firing of neurons that relay pain impressions. So it is not likely that their usage would greatly alter an NCS/EMG; indeed, neurologists certainly do these on patients who are taking these drugs. (Although, since the mechanism of action of these is not entirely understood, I would never say never.)

Certainly, many have complained about sleepiness and zombification on these meds, though many have also reported that some tolerance develops and the effects lessen in time. A lot also depends on size (I was able to tolerate 2700mg/day of Neurontin at my peak and still function mostly normally as regards mental acuity and energy, but, as I recall, I'm about twice your weight).

You can certainly experiment a bit with timing and dosage before you go in for the appointment, and see how that goes (and I suspect they will find osteophytic narrowing of the neural foramina, if my memory of you is any guide).