Hi Doc,

Did you stop cold turkey or did you have to wean yourself off the gabapenten? I don't really want to be on this stuff forever, hoping after I have the ulnar nerve transposition surgery I won't need it. (fingers crossed)

Cathie

That was a very foggy period for me. I vaguely remember calling my doctor and telling him it wasn't working. Whatever he told me to do, that's what I did.

Doc

Hey Cath, it is my understanding that Gabapentin must be weaned off. Have you called your pharmacist? I've said that I don't have any side effects from it but in the back of mind, since I began the Percocet and Gabapentin, I've realized I'm having difficulty coming up with the right word sometimes. Normally, I can spell anything....having some difficulty with that too sometimes. Just not able to express myself as well as I'd like. Don't know if it's the Gab, the painkiller, pain, stress or combination, but from what I've read lately, believe it's probably the Gabapentin. Have tried to ignore/deny the slight issue but it is there...

--including Gabapentin/Neurontin, should be tapered off slowly, as the possibility exists for seizure if they are suddenly discontinued.

All these drugs work, at least in part, by suppressing the activity of the central nervous system to spread nerve impulses' they upregulate the inhibitory neural transmitters to ameliorate runaway nerve signals. The body, in response, tends to upregulate its response to this suppression, meaning if the drug is suddenly stopped, there is more chance of runaway signalling occurring.

This homeostatic balance in signalling pathways happens with a lot of drugs--part of the reason opiates must be weaned off of slowly is that body similarly upregulates its pain sensitivity in response to the suppressive activity of the opiates, and a sudden removal of them allows this upregulation to respond unchecked, which is experiences as withdrawl symptoms until the body "downregulates" back to a baseline.

Actually, now that you've mentioned that I have the effect too. I'm a graphic designer, and it seems to "dull" my creativity (which is one reason I don't want to be on it forever) and I also have to search for my words, even for simple words, during conversations. What a wierd side effect.

I knew that about the opiates, I had to wean myself off of oxycontin and it was brutal, but I didn't know the Gabapenten was included in that catagory. I never just "stop" taking a drug without consulting both dr and pharamcist anyway, I'm way too cautious.

Thank you for explaining it so well for me!

I was only on gabapenten for one week. During that time I was a complete space cadet. I also am an artist and I could not function creatively at all. I got off the medicine and that fog lifted. Just to add to the dicussion on this particular medication. ginnie

"Ooh, that's a BINGO!" ~Col. Hans Landa, Inglorious [Barsteds]

IME, 99.44% it's the gabby. Antidepressants affect me the same way. It got so infuriating, it overrode the depression, and that's how I beat/dealt with it - the "alternatives" were worse than the depression, and in some cases, the pain. There's also been a residual effect, which should be clear in my posts here: I have a difficult time choosing words & phrases; that's why my posts are peppered with "/"s between terms, repeat words excessively, etc. I used to write much better than I do now.

Doc

Although the gabapentin maybe making you feel funny, this is also true for the percocetts:

Buprenorphine itself binds more strongly to receptors in the brain than do other opioids, making it more difficult for opioids (or opiates) to react when buprenorphine is in the system. The blockade effect also has the result of blocking endogenous endorphins from binding to receptors, which can lead to psychological alterations in mood and mental capacity. This can cause cognitive and memory deficiencies via blockade of the reward system, which is pertinent to memory formation and normal mental function.

My patch has been giving me a headache but no loss in mental/cognitive function... yet... sigh...

J.

Hope the headaches go away, and maybe you won't have any mental/cognitive problems at all!

Well now with the percocet and gabapentin together I should be coming up mute any minute now.....sorry, feeble attempt at a tiny bit of humor.