Rls and Gabapentin

[Jonyboi21]

Ho does anyone that takes gabapentin find there self havin to take more every so often to cope with there rls i started in 300mg then slowly went upto 900mg now that doesnt seem to be working so thiking of taking it upto 1200mg to calm the rls down will this just keep hapening untill im taking silly amounts

[joepublic]

I am on 900 MG of gaba a day & although it helps the sleeping (4-5 hrs) it doesn't seem to be relieving the augmentation any longer as that was short lived. It has also meant I can't have a sociable drink any more - the slightest bit of alcohol sets off the RLS badly.

[Jonyboi21 in reply to joepublic]

What is augmentation i dnt seem to find alcohol affects my rls but i dnt really drink much anymore anyway but ye i take 900mg at once at night time an then i do sleep well but untill they kick in or i go to sleep i am still geting the horible feelings of rls an need to ahake arms and legs to try releave the feeling/pain

[joepublic in reply to Jonyboi21]

Augmentation is the worsening of the symptoms despite drugs - alcohol just exaggerates them. I take my tablets morning noon & night to spread the effect.

[Jonyboi21 in reply to joepublic]

O ok thanks for that might be worth a trip back to drs then instead of just upping my tabs without there say so

[Joolsg]

Gabapentin takes 3-4 weeks to be fully effective. Taking it in split evening doses can extend its effectiveness. So 300mg at say 9pm and 600mg at 11 pm.

Are you taking anything else? Any dopamine agonists or anti histamines or anti depressants?

[Jonyboi21 in reply to Joolsg]

I think ill give that ago spliting up my dose an seein how that works thanks for the tip no i dont take any antihistamine but i do take co codamol aswell

[Tish72]

I take mine 300x3 times a day and then at nite take Amitryptilline to sleep. It helps my sleep so much. How long have u been on the gabapentin?

[Heatherlss in reply to Tish72]

For how long have you been taking Gabapentin ? I am in a similar situation. I start at a certain dose of pregabalin which works for a month and everything seems alright but then it just stops being effective and I have to again increase the dose.

[Jonyboi21 in reply to Heatherlss]

Iv been taking gabapentin for about a year in now how donyou find pregablin i have herd good things about it but have also heard it is quite adictive

[Heatherlss in reply to Jonyboi21]

It is very effective initially at whatever dose I try. 75mg, 150mg or 225mg. But all of them lose effectiveness after a month. Relatively, I had no issues with dropping the medication though.

[Jonyboi21 in reply to Tish72]

Whats amitryptline ive been on gabpentin solid for about a year now an on an off for about two hears in total

[Tish72]

Amitryptilin is a nerve/sleeping pill. I was switched from Trazadone to this after my RLS got worse. I maybe have 1 RLS episode per month since and I have been on Gabapentin for 10+ yrs and the Amitryptilin for 3 yrs. I also take Tramadol for pain so that also helps.

[Joolsg in reply to Tish72]

You’re one of the lucky 1%. Amitryptiline is a tricyclical anti depressant used off licence for nerve pain & it worsens RLS in 99% of sufferers.

[Tish72 in reply to Joolsg]

That makes sense. I also take Cymbalta and it helps my nerves and pain which doesn't usually work for both on most people either.

[Jonyboi21 in reply to Tish72]

Wow thats along time to be on gabapentin ud think they would hav a cure for it by now considerin how many people suffer from it let alon the people who suffer in silence with it i also take cocodamol aswel but not to keen on taking it to much as it is a opoid and dnt want to be hooked on loads of diff tabs

[Tish72 in reply to Jonyboi21]

I had 3 different ankle surgeries and had to wait 1 & 1/2 yrs to have my first surgery on my broken ankle due to not having insurance so by the time I could finally have the surgery I already had nerve damage and rls.

[Joolsg in reply to Tish72]

That’s terrible. I’m so sad that happens in the world. I’ll never moan about England again.

[LanaCSR in reply to Tish72]

So does a broken ankle cause RLS? I've never heard of that before. Or did I misread what you wrote?

[Tish72 in reply to LanaCSR]

I had broken my talus bone and didn't have insurance to have surgery on the bone. It shifted and totally broke away and was sitting on some nerves. I had to wait a long time to get insurance so I could get it removed and in the process I developed RSD and RLS in my foot.

[LanaCSR in reply to Tish72]

Yikes! So the RLS developed because of the nerves in your foot? I had a bone spur removed in my foot several years ago and am wondering if that could have caused my RLS?

[Hidden in reply to Tish72]

Makes sense if you understand the whole process. People with RLS have plenty of dopamine in their brains, but few and pathetic dopamine receptors, and in general a lousy dopamine transport system. It's that dopamine transport system that takes the dopamine in our brains converts it to a neurotransmitter that bounces down our central nervous system (aka spine) and quiets our peripheral nervous system - meaning our arms & legs and feet :). Any kink along the way, either in our central nervous system or peripheral nervous system (meaning kinks in nerve fibers, not bone or tissue) can result in RLS I would imagine. There's probably a lot of people out there who are on the edge of having RLS, but don't, until they injure their spine or nerves elsewhere. I read an article/study quite awhile ago that indicated 100% of people with traumatic spinal cord injuries (SCI) suffered from RLS. I guess there's a point of no return. If the spinal cord is so badly damaged or severed such that no dopamine can pass then most everyone will end up with RLS.

[Hidden in reply to Tish72]

Here's an article similar to the one I read. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...