Does Gapepentin work

[alemaprls]

Has anyone tried Gabepentin tablets for rls, my husband has just started them for nerve pain?

[tealsea]

It's gabapentin. I would say a resounding yes it works. As in, it takes the RLS pain away. But I have to be very careful not to take too much. I break up the pills and only take 50mg. and only once in a while if I don't have any obligations the next day.

[alemaprls in reply to tealsea]

That's helpful thankyou. It's quite a low dose you take, my husband is on 300ml twice a day for his nerve pain. I'm getting rls 3 nights a week on average, someone recommended MAGNIlife relaxing leg cream for unpleasant sensations restless legs. Waiting for a delivery from USA, I'm in uk.

[Sand16 in reply to alemaprls]

Hi, I have been prescribed,just this morning,Gabapentin, 100mg before bed. I'l try it tonight. Mine have gotten progressively worse over the years,worse than ever now.As for the cream you're waiting on: Ive been massaging Sweet Bee Organics, Sweet Sleep magnesium butter into my legs right before sleep. It works up to a point,but if you have bad rls I dont think its strong enough. Hopefully your cream will help,and you wont have to resort to prescription drugs.

I will let you know how i get on with the gabapentin.

[alemaprls in reply to Sand16]

I hate taking any tablets, I have to take paracetamol with codeine when my legs start otherwise no sleep. I’ve got Magnesium spray but it stings so I don’t think it agrees with me. What a horrible condition this is. Can’t wait to find out how you get on with Gabapentin this week. X

[Joolsg in reply to alemaprls]

Keep a diary, & get blood tests. 60% of RLS sufferers see a dramatic improvement after having an IV iron infusion of Injectafer.

You may be able to improve it with raising serum ferritin above 100, preferably 250.

[alemaprls in reply to Joolsg]

I had blood tests, my ferritin levels were normal. I decided to take iron supplements to boost it higher but they caused terrible constipation. Magnesium supplements cause me loose bowel movements. Actually just thought I could take them both together and then one would counteract the other.

[Joolsg in reply to alemaprls]

Be aware that you will be told test results are normal if ferritin is above 15 but that is far too low for RLS patients. That’s why we recommend asking for the actual numbers.

Ferrous bisglycinate (gentle iron) taken every other night ( to fool Hepcedin) doesn’t cause constipation & as you say, magnesium loosens bowel movements so can reduce constipation.

Switch to ferrous bisglycinate & take the magnesium citrate at night.

[Sand16 in reply to alemaprls]

I had an itchy leg the other day,and when i came to massage the magnesium cream in, it stung. It does actually say not to apply to broken skin. So not just you 🙂. I recently had an array of blood tests, i might try see if they dud ferritin and get the results. Be good if i could just take iron tablets!

[Joolsg in reply to Sand16]

The average dose of Gabapentin for RLS is 900mg taken at night so you are on a very low dose & may need to ask your GP for an increase.

[Joolsg in reply to alemaprls]

What meds are you on for your RLS? Gabapentin average dose for RLS is 900mg and it helps many sufferers.

[alemaprls in reply to Joolsg]

I’m just taking 2 paracetamol with codein but take an extra paracetamol on top if it still doesn’t get it to settle, I know I shouldn’t.

[Joolsg in reply to alemaprls]

You should get full panel blood tests & first step is to raise serum ferritin above 100, preferably 250. If that doesn’t help you should consider seeing your GP & consider pregabalin ( average dose 150mg at night).

[Hidden in reply to tealsea]

I'm wondering if you mean pregablin rather than gabapentin. Gabapentin comes in capsules, you can't cut them in half!

50mg gabapentin, in addition, is a negligible amount and hardly likely to have any effect. The starting dose is usually 300mg and the average effective dose for RLS is 900mg.

[SueJohnson]

I am taking gabapentin 100 mg before bed and 100 mg in the morning. I am also tapering off from ropinirole and clonazepam. I am not sure how much it helps at night, but it definitely helps make the pain I have in my leg more manageable in the day.

[Hidden in reply to SueJohnson]

As Jools says, 100mg gabapentin is much too little.

Unless you have symptoms during the day, there's no need to take it in the morning.

The average effectkive dose is 900mg, once, at night.

[SueJohnson in reply to Hidden]

I definitely have a lot of pain during the day. And 100 mg is all my doctor has prescribed right now. He said 100 - 200 mg at night, but since I need it during the day, I take 100 at night and 100 in the morning.

[Hidden in reply to SueJohnson]

The prescribing guidelines for gabapentin for pain and for RLS are different, i.e. for pain it's 3 times a day, for RLS on its own, once a day.

200mg a day is below the "starting" dose (of 300mg). At that level it's not going to be much help for either pain or RLS.

After the starting dose, the dose can be built up in steps of 100mg to 300mg, until it's effective.

I used to take 300mg 3 times a day for pain, now I take only 600mg once a day for RLS.

The maximum dose for pain is 3.6g (3600mg) for pain and 2.7g (2700mg) for RLS.

If your doctor will only prescribe 200mg a day, it seems they are quite ignorant.

[SueJohnson in reply to Hidden]

He is (ignorant) - he thinks my pain is a result of joint (knee) pain and wants me to to get a consult on that, because I had an operation on my other knee as a result of a sports injury a number of years ago, which is ridiculous. I think it is a result of the ropinirole so will be interested to see if that is the case when I am finally off it.

[Suhavard]

I take 600mg of gabapentin every night, along with gentle iron and it has been a game changer. Very rarely I’ll have a mild case that usually goes away on its own. If not, I’ll take a tramadol. I started gabapentin when I came off Ropinolol. I had tried many other things - have had RLS over 40 years. I’m 68.

[Hidden]

HI, just to add my bit and summarise some of the responses you've had.

A typical dose of gabapentin for nerve pain is 300mg THREE times daily. For your husband. That is miiligrams (mg) NOT milliters (mL).

An average minimum effective dose of gabapentin for RLS is 900mg, taken once, at night. It can be started at 300mg a day (or 100mg if you're older). It can make you drowsy at first and dizzy. It can also affect walking. That's why it's best taken at night or a lower dose if older. There is a danger of falling.

The dose can then be built up at about 100mg every 2 days or 300mg every 3 days until it begins to be effective. Once an effective dose is reached there is no need to increase it further at that time.

Be aware that it takes some weeks for it to start fully working at which point the initial side effects should diminish.

Gabapentin comes in 100mg or 300mg capsules.

There is an alternative to gabapentin and that is pregabalin. It does the same thing but it comes in pills and the doses are lower. Starting dose 50mg, average effective dose 150mg.

[alemaprls]

One thing I have noticed that seems to cause my rls after doing a diary with food and activities, is standing long periods of time in the day such as doing the ironing or standing to sort paperwork etc.

[intermk]

My doc put me on Gabapentin when it was first available in the U.S. We started with 300 mg and waited for six weeks I think then went up to 600 mg and waited for two months but still nothing. Reluctantly the doc then bumped me to 900 and still no benefit. At that time it wasnt used for RLS so my doc had to get special permission to write me a script. I understand it's mainstream now and that there are many RLS sufferers using the drug. I'm so envious that it's working for others but didn't do a thing for me. hmmmm