Gabapentin and involuntary movements?
 

Hi

Last night while watching tv and trying to sleep I had three very large leg involuntary movements. Now, I've had involuntary movements since this whole thing started but these were huge like lifting my leg right off the bed and part of my hip. Normally, the movements are small and not usually noticeable by others. Anybody have this happen while on ganapentin? My husband says its just my body relaxing ( he had just given me a massage) what do you guys think?

Also, so far it seems like the gabapentin is just making things more dull but not lessoning the frequency of my twitching or taking away any of the sensations. Is this what it does? Or as my dose increased will it actually lesson the number of twitches and completely take away other things like vibrating and tingling?

Thanks

No set rules
 

Different for different folks, GABA took edge off for me but many weigh side effects vs. relief. Good luck, Ken in Texas.

From your other posts, it appears that you are only taking 300 mg/day. For Gabapentin, that's really a low dosage. I titrated up to 900 mg/day in the first few days and got partial relief from twitching/cramping. Then I stepped it up to 1800 mg/day after about a month, and got much better relief.

From what I've read, 1800 mg/day is a typical dosage for treating cramping or pain. My neuro said I could go as high as 3600 mg/day - but I think side effects would be too high for me at that dose.

So, you have just started and are at a low dose. The fact that it seems to be dulling things is a good sign that its starting to work. Give it time and don't be afraid to move to a higher dose.

Gabapentin does have side effects, but for me they aren't nearly as bad as the various antidepressants I have tried.

Yep, everyone is different. But Gabapentin is typically best for pain (especially that burning and shooting pain from SFN) vs the involuntary movement/fasciculations problems.

Gabapentin does have side effects, but for me they aren't nearly as bad as the various antidepressants I have tried.[/QUOTE]

What r ur side effects? R they expected to go away when u stop? Have u tried stopping before? If so, do it twitches come back?

My side effects include drowsiness when I started taking it. I don't notice the drowsiness as much after a while, but I don't have much trouble falling asleep when I'm taking the Gabapentin - so that may actually be a positive thing.

I do get some mild memory issues, which seem to be pretty common. (The brand name for Gabapentin is Neurontin, and I've heard more than one person call it "Morontin" because of the memory effects.) I'm still able to function at work - and I have a fairly technical engineering job, so its not too bad at the dosage I'm taking. this is the primary reason I don't want to go any higher though.

The other side effect I get is some "sexual issues". (I'm a guy, so this may not apply to you.)

I haven't stopped taking it since the twitching issue started, so I don't know what would happen if I stopped.

Taking medications is always a risk/reward balance thing. Based on your other posts, you seem to be in pretty rough shape physically and mentally - so how much risk are you willing to take? Trying a moderate dose of Gabapentin seems pretty low on the risk scale - at least compared to many of the other treatments for PN pain.

The psychiatrist who prescribed Gabapentin the first time I was on it called it "the next best thing to holy water" when I asked about the risks. I wouldn't go that far - but he told me that Gabapentin is less of a risk than many other meds because you take it in the active form, rather than most meds which have to be metabolized in the liver before they convert to the active form.