Gabapentin help!

[Andyroo66]

Hi day 4 of 300mg Gabapentin at nite and Im feeling sick and shakey and my bowels hurt, also it feels very stimulating and my legs feel nervy and painful

I can cope with a little gidiness but this is not nice

Is this usual, I think i should swithc to the pregabalin??

[Jelbea]

I found gabapentin a bad drug which started migraine auras for me in my sixties. Never had migraine before! I was seeing a neurologist about another smatter and told him about this. He said gabapentin was thought to be a great drug when first used but he had stopped prescribing it at all because of the severe side effects. You could try Pregabalin. I know from this forum some people find it very good whilst others have issues with it, but it sounds as if gaba is doing more harm than good. I see nobody else has replied to you as probably your case is a little different. I would say I am no expert to be giving advice but I just wanted to respond to your post. I hope you can get this sorted. It is miserable for you. Keep in touch and let us know how you are progressing.

[Joolsg]

I also had many side effects on Gabapentin. Really bad diarrhoea, dizziness and double vision.

I switched to pregabalin. The diarrhoea stopped straight away but I initially had increased hunger, leg swelling and still had double vision.

I had read that side effects usually settled after 3 months and they all went away after that time except the double vision which still lasts for about 10/15 minutes after I wake.

It seems that pregabalin generally has fewer side effects and is absorbed better so I would switch.

But bear in mind some people don’t get any side effects from Gabapentin so as pregabalin is a similar drug ( alpha2delta ligand) you may also get side effects to pregabalin.

[Andyroo66 in reply to Joolsg]

Thanks for the replies. I dropped to 200mg and it's improved but I do have internal tremors/buzing in the legs which is actually something I've had without gaba. Think I will switch though as the pregabalin is better tolerated. My neurologist didn't seem at all suprised when I asked to change . He's suggesting 50mg and titrate up.

[Joolsg in reply to Andyroo66]

It’s always sensible to titrate up slowly and monitor results. Hope it helps.