I had a strange experience with Gabapentin the last couple of nights and would like to hear any comments or feedback from those who have taken it about what might have happened.

I've been taking Clonazepam (.5mg) and Doxepin liquid (3.25mg) for several months and my doctor gave me a Rx for Gabapentin so that I could slowly taper off the Doxepin (which seems to be impairing my memory and making it harder to recover from PCS).

I took 50mg of Gabapentin (1/2 capsule) with the other sleep meds Wed. night. It took a couple hours to fall asleep (usually takes 1 1/2 hours without the Gabapentin), but I slept deeply for 6 hours, woke up, took some glycine powder and fell back to sleep for a couple more hours.

When I woke up, my brain felt noticeably better. It seemed like the Gabapentin had helped bring parts of my brain back "online," which was great.

I took the same sleep meds last night (50mg of Gabapentin plus the other 2) and was awake all night. I took another 50mg of Gabapenting at 3 am, thinking that it might help me fall asleep, but I stayed awake for another several hours before falling asleep. I finally fell asleep around 6am and slept until 9am. So I only got a few hours of sleep, but it was deep sleep.

Even though I didn't sleep much and feel very tired, my brain still seems to feel better from taking the Gabapentin -- like it's waking up parts of my brain and maybe re-setting some neural pathways.

Does anyone know why I might have had two different reactions to the Gabapentin the last couple of nights? I'm afraid to take it again for fear of being up all night, but it seems to be helping my brain in some way.

Has anyone else felt their brain function improve from taking Gabapentin?

Is there another drug that works similarly to Gabapentin that might be worth trying to help with sleep and brain function?

Thank you very much for your help!

50 mgs of gabapentin is an extremely small dose. I take 900 mgs so my mind and body with let go.

I am concerned that you are mixing too many substances. I would be more inclined to think the clonazepam is the cause of your memory issues. Memory issues are known to be caused by benzos like clonazepam.

My doctor took me off clonazepam and substituted the gabapentin.

New neural pathways take months to be established. It is not a process that can be accelerated by meds or other substances.

Neural pathways develop similar to how one would make it through a maze in the dark. If all you could do is walk through the maze with your hands out in front to tell you when you have bumped into a wall then you can turn right or left and continue, that is the specificity the neural pathways use. Through this hit and miss process, over time, the new pathways are established.

Nutrition helps the tissues strengthen and some meds may slow the repetitive strains.

Dear Mark,

I feel so in the dark about this PCS. My neurologist is honestly horrible and I will switch soon.

Thanks for shedding some light. Please help me to explain what is exactly going on with my brain? Why am I getting headaches? What do you mean by new neural pathways are being bulit? *sigh* these are the questions my neurologist should be answering...Thank you so much

blue,

Many with PCS have set their hopes on neuroplasticity. This is the claim that the brain can continue to change and fix itself by building new neural pathways. Think of them as detours around a damaged road.

Though neuroplasticity is true, it is over hyped. It is a slow process. It works best when the brain is healthy and not under stress. When we focus on lowering our daily stress levels, this is to allow our brains the ability to heal and figure out how to work better.

The best concussion specialists are united about the need to get quiet rest for the brain. The nutrition for the brain issue that I have know for decades is just starting to be a standard protocol with some concussion specialists.

The important concept to any brain recovery is patience and time.

You should be concerned with the proven strategies, not the pie in the sky 'fix me now' schemes.

There is not much a neurologist can do to help you. Finding a better neurologist will be of minimal help. A sport concussion clinic may offer you better support even though they will not have any better treatments.

I wish I had a recommendation for you. I lived in Santa Clara County for 31 years. I left in 2000.

If you decide to get a NeuroPsychological Assessment stay away from James Bryant Ph.D. He has minimal tolerance for concussion causing symptoms. He destroyed my Work Comp claim against the County of Santa Clara.

My best to you.