What is Gabapentin?
Gabapentin is an anti-epileptic drug, also called an anticonvulsant. It affects chemicals and nerves in the body that are involved in the cause of seizures and some types of pain.
Gabapentin is used together with other medicines to treat partial seizures in adults and children at least 3 years old.
Use only the brand and form of gabapentin your doctor has prescribed. Check your medicine each time you get a refill to make sure you receive the correct form.
The Gralise brand of gabapentin is indicated for the management of neuropathic pain only. It is not used for epilepsy.
Horizant is used to treat nerve pain and restless legs syndrome (RLS).
The Neurontin brand is used to treat seizures in adults and children who are at least 3 years old, in addition to neuropathic pain.
Gabapentin for Restless Legs Syndrome
Compared to placebo, gabapentin was associated with reduced symptoms on all rating scales. In addition, sleep studies showed a significantly reduced periodic leg movements during sleep (PLMS) index and improved sleep architecture (increased total sleep time, sleep efficiency, and slow wave sleep, and decreased stage 1 sleep). Patients whose symptoms included pain benefited most from gabapentin. The mean effective dosage at the end of the 6-week treatment period was 1,855 mg, although therapeutic effects were already observed at the end of week 4 (1,391 mg).
Gabapentin improves sensory and motor symptoms in RLS and also improves sleep architecture and PLMS.
I have suffered with RLS for pretty much my entire life, I’m 55 now. Discovered gabapentin reading blog posts.
I have tried all the other meds. My RLS was getting so bad I was having a lot of episodes during the day and not just at night, but worse at night. I could not sit still to even look at a newspaper or magazine. There were time I actually thought I was going to go completely insane.
Most night I didn’t sleep more than an hour or two.
Even then I was not getting a good deep sleep. When I asked my GP about gabapentin, he had no problem prescribing it for me. He even followed recommendation for the dosage.
I take 100mg in the morning and at lunch. Before bedtime I take 200 mg.. All I can say is that this has been a godsend for me.
One of Gabapentin off-label use is to treat Restless Legs Syndrome. 76% patients think Gabapentin is good for RLS. A lot of doctors also recommend its off-label usage for RLS.
Joge siad: “I have had RLS and insomnia since around age nine. I was 1st prescribed gabapentin after herniating a disc three years ago. Didn’t notice any effect on my RLS, but I was so drugged up, I wouldn’t have. I was prescribed it again as a sleep aid two months ago.
I have been taking lorazepam for sleep for years, and wasn’t thrilled about taking 2mg of a benzo every night. It works great for sleep, but I feel hung over the next day — can’t seem to clear the fog. I ran out of gabapentin and noticed, holy cow, my legs are driving me crazy.
Only then did it occur to me – – I hadn’t had any RLS symptoms since I started taking it. I thought I had made a major discovery. LOL. This is the only drug that has ever touched my RLS.”