Gabapentin
Known brand names include Neurontin.
An anticonvulsant taken by mouth. It eases nerve pain after shingles (postherpetic neuralgia) and is added to other seizure medicines for partial onset seizures.
Known brand names include Neurontin.
An anticonvulsant taken by mouth. It eases nerve pain after shingles (postherpetic neuralgia) and is added to other seizure medicines for partial onset seizures.
Exactly how gabapentin eases nerve pain and seizures is not known. It is built like GABA, a chemical messenger in the brain, but it does not change how GABA binds, is taken up, or is broken down. It does attach tightly to one part of the calcium channels on nerve cells, though how this links to its benefits is unclear. It is thought to calm abnormal excitement in the brain and to change the way the body senses pain.
The body does not break it down, and the kidneys clear it unchanged, so it is cleared more slowly in older adults and people with weak kidneys. It often causes sleepiness and dizziness, which can make driving unsafe until the person knows how it affects them. Taken with opioids or other drugs that slow the brain, or by people with breathing problems, it can dangerously slow breathing. Stopping it suddenly can bring on withdrawal symptoms and, in people with epilepsy, more seizures.
Gabapentin relieves postherpetic neuralgia, the burning, stabbing nerve pain that can last for months or years after shingles. It also helps control partial onset seizures in people with epilepsy, which are seizures that begin in one area of the brain. It is used whether or not those seizures go on to spread more widely.
For nerve pain after shingles it is used only in adults, and for seizures it is used in adults and children 3 and older. It is taken by mouth as capsules, tablets, or a liquid. For seizures, it is taken along with other seizure medicines. It helps control these conditions but does not cure them.
Dizziness and sleepiness are what people notice most, along with unsteadiness, tiredness, jerky eye movements, swelling, and weight gain. Children may have mood and behavior changes. The label treats slowed breathing as dangerous, especially with opioids or other sedating drugs or lung disease. It also warns about a serious whole-body allergic reaction, swelling of the face or throat, suicidal thoughts, and seizures or withdrawal after stopping suddenly.