Gabapentin - being linked to increased risk of dementia

@kimmiesue I have been taking gabapentin 300mg for back and leg pains for a couple of years. It's no longer going it's job and I really don't want to up the dosage because I read about it's side effect could be dementia. I'm going to be 78 and I don't want mine to go haywire. I'm going to wean myself off the drug and go to supplements. My back surgeon recommended Alpha Lipoic Acid, Magnesium and B12 for neuropathy. I already take magnesium and B12. I'm unfortunately not very disciplined in taking the Ala. I've got some good recommendations from Consumer Labs on the brands to take so it's my birthday resolution to take these. I'm very determined too to take myself off Statin. My lipid panel is very good. My triglyceride dropped 40 points on 4 months. I think it's because I found a very good omega 3 and I also eat mackerels. Again, my PCP thinks I should continue but that's another conversation in June. I'm beginning to think my leg pain is due to statin, it started after I took the drug. Well, I'm off the topic, sorry.

@crossette I took Cymbalta too, could tolerate it. No go for me.

I have developed neuropathy from overdoing B12. Yes, you can overdo it contrary to what you read and have been told. Even my pharmacist said "I thought the body just eliminated it??" Well, it does, slowly and over time, but in the meantime it builds up and is stored in your liver, and can be stored for YEARS. I was giving myself B12 injections and not really paying attention to the ingredients in Emergen-C immunity supplement, but also some other oral supplements. My levels were 4x the high end of acceptable (4200 pg/mL where the high end of acceptable is 1000-1500 pg/mL). My nurse practitioner prescribed gabapentin for me. I asked her to start me on the lowest dosage because I'm usually sensitive to medications. Well, she did but it did nothing. So she upped it to 300mg, 3x/day and still nothing. No relief from my neuropathy which comes and goes and is in the form of pins and needles, itching, and burning, sometimes all together, sometimes one or the other. I could eat gabapentin like popcorn, it has little to no effect. I don't feel it to be habit forming for me but I don't have an addictive personality, either. I have quit taking it as of today because I don't feel like it's helping. Like many of you here, I have a family history of Alzheimer's and I certainly don't want to go down that road. I'm 59 and am doing everything I can to keep my faculties.

@mayofeb2020
Good y.
Would you be able to share Consumer Lab Recommendations for R-ALA?
Thanks
Best to you

Their top pick for R -Ala is Life Extension Super R 240 mg per serving. One capsule.
The other approved products are: Natrol ..I like this because it's a combination of R and S giving me 600 mg per serving and it's time released. It contains R ala 336 mg and S 331.
There's also a powder form that's approved but it says it doesn't really dissolve completely and burn the throat because it's an acid so I think I'll pass on that.
GNC and Puritan Pride, Vitacost are all approved but you need to check how much R is in them.
Let me know if you have any questions, I'd be happy to check on any other supplements for you all.
I cannot forward you the results by email because the information is for members only and you won't be able to open it.
Good luck.

@jav part 2: it seems that the Natrol product is out of stock everywhere!

@mayofeb2020 statins definitely caused me leg pain that lasted months after discontinuing them. Also I would not take gabapentin ever again, I was getting memory issues, I would go places I'd been many many times and would be lost , I wouldn't know where I was , it is a bad drug as far as I can tell. Plus the horrible weight gain and swelling.

@19281928 I have read that it could cause dementia. Apart from leg pain, I do not have any memory issues, thank goodness, no weigh gain or swelling but I'm definitely going to have a talk with my doctor about it. How long were you on gabapentin?

@mayofeb2020 I wasn't on it too terribly long . However, I gained 100 lbs and it caused health issues as well so I stopped them . my memory issues were also a big concern. I recently moved and have a new doctor that wanted to prescribe them to me , she did not mention the study about dementia, although they say more studies need to be done to confirm it. I don't want to risk my health . Once you get dementia there's no going back right ? That's good enough for me. I do however find it bothersome that doctors are down playing it. And not saying anything about it . They don't seem to care about what it might do to us .

@19281928 you're right. I'm my doctor would object but it's my body and I want to have a clear mind. I'll try other things. I have been trying acupuncture, and there's a TCM doctor there who gave me some Chinese herbal pills for pain. I'm going to try that. I've never taken a pill until I come to the US. Western medicine does not seem to work for me. Oh well, we all have to be our own advocates! Be well!