Gabapentin

My gabapentin was finally refilled today.

Gabapentin, an anti-convulsant available in the U.S. for four years, not only significantly reduced pain from chronic neuropathy (due to damaged nerves) but also reduced sleep disturbances, improved mood and enhanced patients’ quality of life.


The findings are reported in the current edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association.


Neuropathy, or nerve damage, is the most common complication of diabetes: up to 45 percent of diabetic patients develop neuropathy in the course of the disease. While some patients report a numbness or tingling sensation, others experience neuropathic pain as a very distressing pins and needles sensation or one similar to receiving a series of electric shocks. Diabetic neuropathy pain most often affects the feet and ankles and to a lesser extent the legs above the knees and the arms. Poor control of blood sugar leads to nerve damage, which in turn may prompt the development of neuropathy.


“This is the first study in more than 10 years to show there’s another promising agent for treatment of nerve pain from diabetes,” said principal investigator Dr. Miroslav Backonja, associate professor of neurology at University of Wisconsin Medical School and a pain specialist at UW Hospital and Clinics. “Gabapentin is a very welcome addition to our options for pain control. It is well-tolerated by most patients and stands apart from other drugs in that it doesn’t interfere with other medications.”


In the study, 165 diabetic patients at 20 medical centres were randomly assigned to either an experimental group, which received gabapentin, or the control group, which received a placebo. All of the patients had a one- to five-year history of pain attributed to diabetic neuropathy. The study was double-blind, meaning neither the patients nor the researchers knew who was taking which agent.


At the end of the eight-week study period, patients turned in daily diaries they had kept to monitor pain and sleep interference and also completed an assessment of their overall well-being. Researchers independently completed their own clinical assessment of change.


Approximately 60 percent of the patients on gabapentin reported at least moderate improvement in their pain, while only 33 percent of placebo patients did. In addition, the medication proved to be well-tolerated; two-thirds of the gabapentin patients were able to take the highest dosage tested in the study. The most common side effects were dizziness and sleepiness, although they typically were of mild or moderate intensity.


Gabapentin not only helps the neurontin but helps the fibromyalgia. Without it the worst pain of my fibromyalgia is on my left side, my chest around my left breast, my shoulder joint, and around my shoulder blade in the back, the outline. I get this terrible muscle cramp that feels like a charley horse that you get in your leg. I take 1800 mg of gabapentin a day. I hsve already had that today and am feeling so much better. Normal for me. Hopefully once I get some sleep I will wake up not so stiff and not so sick feeling. I know I am still going to hurt but I'll be able to move my left arm. So I am very excited about that.
Man it's 5 am and I have to be up in 3 hours to go to the thyroid doctor. Why can't they just call and say these are the results of your blood test and call in the meds to the pharmacy. Why do I have to go in, spend my time and pay money I don't have?

My friend Stacey has some fabulous blogs on Fibro:

http://fibroandi.blogspot.com/

http://mylifewithfibromyalgiaandmore.blogspot.com/

enjoy!!! chele