Has anyone heard of taking Neurontin (Gabapentin). I saw an article recently in a newspaper about how this drug might now be given to women suffering Hot Flashes!!!!

If anyone has any data on this that they can share I would gladly like to hear about it. Currently on PREMPRO and despite no side effects (so far 6 months) I would like to stop it in October 06 when I go for my yearly and try this new drug.

Neurontin is an anti-seizure med...however, it has been prescribed for quite a few "off label" problems.

They routinely prescribe it for neurogenic pain, and other illnesses.

If you google "off label" and neurontin, you'll find that the pharmaceutical company that makes the drug paid a huge fine for agressively marketing the drug for "off label" usages.

Here's a link to an FDA article with more info:

http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2004/404_wl.html

I can tell you from personal experience. Don't take it!!

My dd was put on this drug,and not for seizures. She was mis-diagnosed as bi-polar and in all their trying to find something that worked,they put her on this one. Since she wasn't bi-polar to begin with, the drug didn't work so they just kept increasing the dosage. I don't remember how much she was taking but it really zoned her out. She sure wasn't the girl I knew.

She was finally correctly diagnosed and it took her weeks of hell to get off this drug! Horrible headaches,leg pain so bad she could barely stand and more that I can't think of right now. Pure hell!!

It makes me so angry when they start using drugs for things they are not intended.

Right now they are pushing Topamax as a weight loss drug. This is another one they tried her on. She lost weight on it alright. She told me that it was like a little voice got into her head, telling her you're losing weight on this and if that's working then maybe if she ate a little less she would lose more. On and on,until she had lost 60 lbs. in a couple of months. She finally realized she wasn't eating much at all and in danger of becoming anorexic! She made the doctor take her off that one too. I can't imagine what this would do to someone who really has an eating disorder!

My suggestion would be, if your doctor wants to give you something and it's not what the drug is intended for, really research it and think twice, if not 3 times,before taking it!!

Yes, I take Gabapentin for chronic pain. I was recently diagnosed with Chiari 1 Malformation, a brain disorder that can cause all kinds o' body pain! When my Dr. prescribed Gabapentin, I did some online research and found that it also gets rid of hot flashes. So I quit taking Menest (HRT) after 14 years...and began taking 900mg's of Gabapentin per day. Before the medication kicked in, I was having hot flashes that were pretty bad....but if I take my meds every night, then I have no problems. But the medication does make me feel like a zombie during the day, so I don't always take it....and to offset the hot flashes, I now use several natural products such as wild yam cream and a herbal liqued...which is kinda working.

Gabapentin can be a life saver if one is suffering chronic pain!
Betz

I took Neurontin for awhile for neurogenic pain (I have MS.)

It is quite effective for that type of pain, but I didn't know it worked for hot flashes.

If you decide to use it, just know this, you have to build up slowly with the dose, and when you first use it, it may make you feel strange (I found it made me more off balance than I usually was and created a sort of brain fog feeling), but for me at least, the side effects of the drug went away.

(of course, as with any good thing, LOL, after I was on it awhile I developed an allergy to it, hives, etc., so I had to discontinue it, but it did what it was supposed to do while I was taking it.)

I was given Gabapentin for a while for siezures and Bipolar disorder. I was huge from an ineffective depakote therapy and starting to experience liver disease as a result of the unnatural pounds.

Gabapentin is another med that has weight gain as a side effect. So this medicine prevented me from returning to my natural weight. My health problems multiplied and the therapy became ineffective. That started to experience 'bleed through' manic episodes and seizures. During one seizure I badly bruised my right rotator cuff. It hasn' been the same since.

I had to be weaned off the Gabapentin and slowly introduced to Topamax to control the seizures. I am on a low dose. It together with a high omega 3 diet seems to be keeping the Bipolar under control. Weight loss at first was steep, but then levelled off. After three years and eating healthy portions, I am at my natural body weight. I still love eating. I just don't eat junk food and candy anymore.