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

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.