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Article From February 17, 2003, Los Angeles Times/Health

Gabapentin may offer relief for women suffering from hot flashes

By Dianne Partie Lange

Women troubled with hot flashes and unwilling to take hormones may have

an

alternative in gabapentin, a drug used to treat seizures and shingles

pain.

For 12 weeks, 59 women participating in a University of Rochester study

took either gabapentin, 900 milligrams a day, or a placebo. The

frequency and severity of hot flashes were reduced by 54% in the women

taking gabapentin, compared with a 31% reduction in the women who took a

placebo.

Gabapentin did cause side effects in about half the women, and four

dropped out of the study because of sleepiness, dizziness, rash or leg

swelling. Starting at a low dose and gradually increasing it over two

weeks should minimize the side effects, says J. Guttuso Jr., the

lead author of the study and a neurologist at the University's Strong

Memorial Hospital. How gabapentin works to relieve hot flashes is not

known, but the researchers say it may affect chemical messengers in an

area of the brain that regulates temperature. The study was published in

the February issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology.