Re: Neurontin side effects

[Guest guest]

--- " miriana_1961 " wrote:

>

> Neurontin made me too sleepy although my dr said that's not supposed

to be a common side effect.

Hi Miriana -

Contrary to what your doctor tried to claim, sleepiness (somnolence)

is the No. 2 side effect reported with Neurontin (right behind

dizziness) with over 20 percent of tested patients experiencing it,

with another 11 percent reporting " fatigue " . That's not " uncommon " -

that's a HUGE percentage when talking about side effects. I

personally don't know anyone who's ever taken Neurontin that *hasn't*

experienced exhaustion and sleepiness, at least when they first

started taking the drug or increased the dose, until they because used

to it. I experienced weeks of utter exhaustion and couldn't keep my

eyes open every time I raised the dose on that stuff, and it was one

of the reasons I quit it (combined with completely losing my short-

term memory!)

The drug's own patient information states right up front in the

warnings that patients should be advised to expect somnolence as a

side effect. Also, while it might not be relevant for Miriana's case,

I know lots of us take multiple anti-seizure meds, and Neurontin's

patient information notes that the likelihood of experiencing

sleepiness increases when it is combined with other anti-seizure meds.

I really wonder sometimes why some doctors feel the need to make these

kinds of uninformed pronouncements, when a glance at a PDA or the

printed patient information would answer the question accurately.

Just another example of why we need to be well-informed patients. The

internet is a huge help in that respect. For example, I got all the

info I quoted here right off the product's website -

www.neurontin.com - where the patient info insert is available in PDF

form. And, the chance to talk to and compare notes with and learn from

all our peers in groups like this is a great resource.

Cheryl in AZ

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I have posted this here before, but I quit my neurontin after only one dose.

It was prescribed by my ortho for nerve pain, but it made me extremely tired and

dizzy for over 24 hours.

I took the pill at bedtime and had the worst time attempting to function. When

I went to bed, I was praying that the medication would be out of my system.

I ended up with a terrible headache. I guess that's what a hangover must feel

like!

I tried the Lyrica and the effects, although not as bad as the Neurontin, made

me feel like I was moving in slow motion. I couldn't get it together well

enough to even go out of the house before 1 or 2 in the afternoon, so I only

took the pill at night.

Well, one evening I was really tired and forgot to take the Lyrica. I felt so

clear-headed! It was like the Lyrica had me in a fog.

I also noticed the pain level was no different, so I haven't taken it since. I

go back to the dr. on the 25th, so I can only wonder what we will try next.

Rhonda

[Guest guest]

Hi Rhonda -

Can I ever empathize with you! I had these same sort of problems -

except that Lyrica also made me incredibly dizzy too. I had to take a

week off from work and try to work from home because I couldn't drive

on it. And Neurontin made me lose my mind - my short term memory was

GONE. Talk about not being able to work! I couldn't read a sentence

and retain what the first half of it had said.

Let me say first of all that it is always your prerogative to decide

a med's side effects are not worth the effort. But I notice that you

say that you are eliminating these medications based on just one pill

or just a few days, sometimes not even following the dosing orders.

Because of that, it makes me think you may not be aware that these

side effects often disappear after a few days of consistent dosing,

and that you won't be able to tell the effectiveness of these drugs

at the initial starting dose because you have to titrate up slowly to

a truly effective dose. (If you are aware of this and just didn't

want to go through the hassle, well, maybe this message can help

someone else new to these meds.)

One of the issues we face as CP patients looking for medical relief

is that sometimes we have to " ride out " a drug's initial side effects

to really test it. *Most* drugs do have a period of adjustment where

they create these kinds of effects for a short time - sometimes a

couple of days, sometimes a couple of weeks - and then those effects

go away. The Lyrica dizziness lasted about five days for me and then

disappeared. Not all side effect do go away, but we have to give the

initial effects a chance to dissipate before knowing whether or not

they will continue.

In addition, many drugs we take (including anti-seizure drugs like

Lyrica and Neurontin) are not effective at the starting dosages.

Starting at what would be an effective dose could be dangerous with

these medications, so we have to start at a much lower dose and

slowly work through a period of increasing it until we reach that

effective amount. And these drugs particularly are not like " pain

pills " - they don't work immediately, but must be in our system for a

few days (even at an " effective " dose) before they really start to

work.

So, if we want to give these drugs a fair trial, sometimes we just

have to plan for a week or two of side effects and ride them out

until we can see if they are going to go away. And we also have to

have patience in titrating slowly up to an effective dose, before

deciding whether the drug is appropriate for us or not.

And, obviously not every drug will work for everyone even after that

effort, but we don't have any chance of determining whether or not

they'll work with only a one-pill try, or even a few days on a low

dose.

It's a pain in the butt (when none of us needs more pain!) but this

is the reality of finding meds that work for us. Given that there

isn't a real wide selection of options for many of us, it may be

necessary to go through this pain before eliminating a drug. Again,

any individual certainly has the right to decide they just don't want

to go through it at all, but just be aware that you're significantly

limiting your options if you eliminate potentially helpful drugs on

the basis of a too-quick test.

I hope this is helpful to either you, Rhonda, or to another CPer!

Cheryl in AZ

--- Rhonda Howell wrote:

>

> Hi,

> I have posted this here before, but I quit my neurontin after

only one dose. It was prescribed by my ortho for nerve pain, but it

made me extremely tired and dizzy for over 24 hours.

>