My doctor prescribed gabapentin to help with sleep difficulties about a month after my concussion. After my first dose of only 300 mg, I woke up feeling worse than any time I've ever been intoxicated on alcohol. I was stumbling, I was dizzy, and my tongue was not working right. I had to stay home from work, obviously. Eventually, I felt better. I told my doctor how I reacted, and he thought it was odd, as some people take more than that dose during the day.

After a few weeks, he wanted me to try it again. I was worried about possible tardive dyskinesia, but he told me it shouldn't happen. He wanted me to pour out about 2/3 of the capsule and try it again before bedtime. Reluctantly, I did. I had nearly as strong of a reaction the 2nd time, but this time, the tongue reaction stayed. That was about a year ago. It is not noticeable to everyone else, but when I am extra tired or stressed, I have a bit of a lisp because my tongue is affected. I have to work extra hard to speak normally.

I was not someone who was med-sensitive before my concussion. But after that, and a rather strong reaction to a general anesthetic for an out-patient surgery after my concussion, I am very wary of trying new meds. What I'm finding out is that very few studies are done on how common meds affect persons with concussion or other acquired brain injury.

On top of that, a couple of months later, I saw a rather sensationalist-looking headline about neurontin (gabapentin) and Lyrica (related to neurontin) being a 'death sentence' for new synapses. Not something I want post-TBI! I followed the trail to the original study, and basically, yes, that's what it's saying. That's a good thing for preventing formation of synapses related to epilepsy (gabapentin is an anti-epileptic). Not a good thing elsewhere, IMO. I just don't want to take any chances.

I tried to post the links to the study and another article on gabapentin and presynaptic plasticity, but my post count isn't high enough. They are free on PubMed, so here are the titles:

Gabapentin receptor alpha2delta-1 is a neuronal thrombospondin receptor responsible for excitatory CNS synaptogenesis. Cell. 2009 Oct 16;139(2):380-92

Astrocyte-derived thrombospondins mediate the development of hippocampal presynaptic plasticity in vitro. J Neurosci. 2012 Sep 19;32(38)

I wish you responded earlier with this information. Im currently at 1200 mg/day. I'm looking to taper down. Can anyone help me? I'm afraid of seizures.

I've been on 600 mgs of gabapentin for 14 years. Was at 1200 mgs for the first few. I read the literature. The negatives are not at bad as they sound. First, they were only observed in rats. Second, the reduction in synapse genesis was just a reduction, not a stoppage. Third, the vast majority of synapse genesis happens in the first 5 years of life. There is very little happening in adults.

You will likely suffer much greater damage from seizures than from a reduced synapse genesis.

*administrative edit* There have been similar postings about SSRI's and just about every other med. There are negatives about Tylenol/acetaminophen, one of the most trusted meds on the planet. .

I will get back on here tomorrow (which is really today, ) I can't keep my open to write like normal. I keep messing Up.

I take 3600mg.


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Alma,

I had some out patient surgery at 6 months post head injury (unrelated).

You talk about a bad reaction! Oh my. I woke up from anesthesia a very different person than who walked in the hospital. One night my wife went shopping and when she came home I was frozen with terror. She was on her Ipad trying to find out info about the surgery. I was so convinced she was telling a boyfriend she couldn't come over...I fought for all I was worth to keep from choking her. Meds can be powerful stuff.

I found that until just recently I did not react to meds or supplements well during injury recovery ....some have had an opposite effect on me than intended.

Bud

I have not had any seizures to my knowledge and am not epileptic so I don't see any reason to be taking this medication. I wish I had known about its relative dangers before starting it. I want to discontinue it but I seem to be having withdrawal symptoms. Trying to hold steady at 1200mg/day and then taper down to 900.

Why do doctors insist on prescribing medications without explaining the downsides? I specifically asked my neuro before taking it if gabapentin was habit forming and he told me no.

Another failure of the United States medical system. I am going to write a book about this pathetic display eventually.

DannyT,

I don't think you should be concerned. The research does not say gabapentin is dangerous. The warnings that came from the research pertain to infants and young children. *administrative edit*
The "Death Sentence" headline was not supported by the research. It is just alarmist hyperbole used to get people to read an article. We can't live our lives based on alarmist headlines. We must dig deeper if the headline is a concern.

As I have said before, I have been taking gabapentin for almost 15 years. I don't plan on changing. Without it, my body twitches when I sleep.

I totally agree Mark but I have been experiencing withdrawal symptoms between doses. With a half life of 5-8 hours this means I wake up every day over anxious and sore. I just want to limit my use of a drug that has little value to me at this point, now that I know a little more about it.

How likely do you think a seizure is from starting a taper or even cold turkeying it?

I've involuntarily cold-turkeyed for 7 days without a problem. Are you taking 1200 mgs once a day or splitting the dose ?

Some meds can cause symptoms when there is a change, both increasing and decreasing the dose after a steady state has been maintained for an extended period.

If you are going to wean off completely, please let your doctor know. Some people struggle with depression from changes.

The likelihood of a seizure is entirely dependent on your brain's condition. I don't think anybody can predict.

This is what I put my thumbs up to. I see a failure in the medical system when it comes to communication and patient education. Pharmacists are the ones who know, or SHOULD know the most about the medicines you're taking. After all, they are DOCTORS of pharmacy and went to school for the same if not longer length of time than a medical doctor. That's why their license, most of them in a hospital, and now changing in current retail settings too, say PharmD! They are Doctors of Pharmacy. There are MANY YEARS and THESIS writings behind that title badge. It's not all about just counting pills people.

And for the LOVE of GOD!! Stay at the same DAMN pharmacy!! Don't be bouncing around from pharmacy A to pharmacy B to pharmacy C because this makes it a hell of a lot harder to keep track of drug interactions!

I personally think Gabapentin is an excellent drug to use and have seen a lot patients do well with it. Before you ask, yes, pharmacy used to be my job. I was a CPhT for 20+ years. Not anymore since my crash I worked awhile after, but just can't. Anyway, back to it. So Gabapentin is an excellent drug for a lot of people, but every drug out there affects people differently. What works great for me, may not work for you, and vice versa.

I started off on the lower dose range on Gaba, but I don't recall what it was. Hence what part of what's part of my problem now , and I can lol about it. I am now on the max dose, which is 3600mg a day. I take 1200mg: three times a day.

I thought a mention or two in here was about epilepsy or lack of. I do not have "true epilepsy" either. Least I don't think so? However, I do have seizures. They are not your typical seizures that everybody thinks of when people "hear" the word seizures. Seizures do not AUTOMATICALLY classify them as Grand Mal seizures, which ARE the Tonic-Clonic generalized ones. Muscle shaking, falling down, foaming at the mouth, very scary to see, etc.

There ARE several other types of seizures. I happen to suffer from another type. Courtesy of my severe TBI which I sustained in my crash. Yeah me. I just happen to be in the record books for coming back so good for having such horrific things happen to me. Called never give up. Although lately things catching up now

In the end here? Each individual is just that, an INDIVIDUAL


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