Gabapentin and memory loss

[dahon]

I am now on gabapentine after coming off ropinerole, my doctor started me on 300mg at night that I have been taking for the last four weeks but I felt that I needed a stronger dose so I doubled up the dosage to 600mg at night. My RLS symptoms were greatly reduced and after a medical review today he has put me on 600mg gabapentin. He said not to increase the dose above 600mg as this causes memory loss! This not something I was aware of and could not see any mention of this on the NICE info regarding gabapentin for RLS. Has anyone come accross this before?

[SueJohnson]

A rare side effect of gabapentin is memory loss, but it should not be any more likely at a higher dose and since it is rare I wouldn't let it stop you from taking a higher dose. Refer your doctor to the Mayo Clinic Updated Algorithm on RLS at Https://mayoclinicproceedings.org/a... If he won't read it or still refuses to increase your dose, change doctors or have him refer you to a neurologist or sleep doctor.

[dahon in reply to SueJohnson]

Many thanks for your advice. I will continue on taking the two 300mg capsules at late evening for now and see how it goes with that dose. I still have a little bit of RLS but maybe it's ropinerole withdrawal as only into third week of taking gabapentin.

[ookla]

Not memory loss per se, but when I was taking 900 mg three times a day, I frequently had trouble completing sentences (I would forget what I was trying to say and/or have trouble remembering what words to use). This inability to reliably communicate effectively, and weight gain, led me to discontinue using it. Those side effects went away within a week of my last gabapentin dose.

[restlessinlondon in reply to ookla]

Hi ookla, I've recently started taking Gabapentin - with your weight gain, was that because you wanted to eat more, or did your weight just rise?

[ookla in reply to restlessinlondon]

That's a great question. I had a voracious appetite on gabapentin - there was an empty pit in my stomach that ached all the time and constantly demanded food, but was never satisfied (I assume it's like what people describe as "the munchies" from marijuana). And eating has never been a problem for me. I have a fast metabolism. I can usually eat all the junk food I want, as much as I want, as often as I want, and my weight only fluctuates within a pound or two (the most I've gained is 5 pounds, usually in the winter and then it's gone again for spring). I heard about weight gain being a possible problem, so I was making sure to not eat bad stuff - so putting on 10 pounds was pretty alarming to me. When it creeped up to 15 pounds, that was a wrap for me. The brain fog went away within a week, but the weight gain hung around for about a month. As a side note: at the time, my main beverage was orange pop - if I had switched to drinking just water, maybe the results would have been different.

[restlessinlondon in reply to ookla]

Thank you, that's helpful - I will keep a watch for increased appetite.

[ookla in reply to restlessinlondon]

Glad I could help. Please let us know how it goes, there are lots of people here curious about taking gabapentin and it helps to get as many user experiences as possible.

[Carlettejaque]

I am on 800mg 3 times a day for a neurologic problem. It can cause short term memory problems, balance problems and speech impairment. It works by disconnecting certain parts of the neural network to stop pain and seizures. Unfortunately, it also disconnects other networks responsible for memory, the construction of conversation and recalling words. Having said that I wouldn't want to come off it as it does a good job of controlling neuropathic pain and certain conditions like RLS. If it works for you dont let the side effects put you off.