Gabapentin - being linked to increased risk of dementia

@lindasrk11 I was first prescribed gabapentin when I first experienced calf/leg pain. The pain starts when I get up in the morning till I go to bed at night. Walking, standing and even sitting hurts . It's just lingering . At least I can sleep at night. I've tried all kinds of pain meds, can't tolerate any form of opioids. I'm very sensitive to meds. I really hoped that the back surgery would correct whatever issues I had with my spine, but it did not. Prior to that I had at least 5 years of this pain, and surgery was the last resort. I really want to wean off gabapentin. Did the spine surgery fix your sciatica problem?

@mayofeb2020 My fusion was L-4 to L-5 and L-5 to S-1. Those are the levels that primarily affect your legs. The pain radiated from my back, through my glutes to my thighs but only to my knees. It did not affect the knee or below. (Nothing but epidurals gave me any relief, and I can't tolerate opioids or some muscle relaxants so I was in the same boat.) The fusion DID fix my sciatica. My spine doctor did a cervical fusion for me in 2016, so I'd been seeing him for 10 years. He'd been keeping an eye on my lumbar spine since i see him every year for my neck anyway. He knew my exercise schedule (every day) and told me to keep it up until the sciatica showed up. He gave me the epidurals and that's the first time surgery even came up. Even though I know him well, I still got a second opinion. Then I made him show me the scans and walk me through them. I also have stenosis in L-3, which he widened during the surgery but it continues to deteriorate. My spine issues are caused by arthritis, not osteoporosis or any other conditions. Have they looked at your lower lumbar spine? I assume they've ruled out blood flow issues like PAD and they've done MRI's on your calves to make sure you don't have muscle injury. You may also want to explore amitriptyline (Elavil). or other anti-depressants with your doctor. They gave me amitriptyline for my vertigo to calm the nerves in my neck and amazingly it worked. I'm totally spit-balling here but I did a lot of research on why the amitriptyline worked for my vertigo. All that reading proved to me that the medical and scientific community still don't fully understand brain chemicals. This is a lot to digest and I am not qualified to be giving any advice--it's just my own experience. In the meantime I would try the TENS unit. If an over-the-counter TENS unit helps even a little, even that will tell your doctor something (there are stronger TENS therapies.) I really hope one of these works for you.

@lindasrk11 yes, I had ultra sound on my legs and I have good blood flow so no PAD. I did not have any MRI on my calves. I've talked to people with sciatica that have surgery very great success. My Ortho doctor said I have degenerated discs and my bones are very "soft". I also have arthritis too. I have also gleaned from Consumer Labs that there was a controlled study on people using Benfotamine for neuropathy with some success. I may just try that. I had the surgery with the hope that it would fix my calf pain but I'm really disappointed. Well, I guess there's no guarantee to anything. He was highly recommended. A neighbor's son was having so much trouble with walking
Kaiser told him there's nothing they can do , he'll have to be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He went to my surgeon and he is now walking around! I'll try anything at this point.

I am really worried after reading this as i take 3200 mg per day along with many other meds for my pain as well as meds to help me wee

@allrounder It’s about quality of life for me!

First of all, being 72 I’ve seen lots of studies change back and forth and in between!

Coffee is bad. Coffee is good. Eggs are bad. Eggs are good. I take these articles with a grain of salt.

Secondly, my choice is stop taking gabapentin and live whatever life I have left in severe pain only to ‘possibly’ reduce my ‘chances’ of dementia, which a person can get without gabapentin.

I have an uncle I am 27 days older than and he is not on gabapentin and has dementia so severe he has been living for a couple of years now without knowing ANYONE, in his own world, unable to communicate whatsoever!

Or I make the choice I’ve made to be pain free and take the chance that I get dementia which I’m taking anyway the older I get!

I’ll take the quality of life decision!!

I am a strong Christ Follower who knows my eternity in The Kingdom is secure and after doing a deep dive into prophecy, since being retired, I realize I have a shot at the rapture which I’m hoping happens today!!!

COME JESUS COME!

@leehop71
I have taken seizure medications for 60 years including Gabapentin and if I want to remain conscious I have to take them regardless of how much I test them. First, there is currently no definitive proof that gabapentin causes dementia. They have been saying other seizure medication's having an association with dementia as well. Seizure meds cause cognitive problems in most people who take then and the studies talk about cognitive issues. I've had cognitive issues from seizure medication for 60 years. How are the scientists differentiating the difference between cognitive effects that seizure medication's cause. Not all cognitive issues are caused by dementia.
Jake

@jakedduck1

Thank you Jake!

WHO RAH!!!

I have heard that Gabapentin will give you brain fog. I took 2 pills after a pickle ball lesson and I fainted in my friends arms. It is dangerous and very addictive. I rarely take a pill. I know it helps with nerve pain but I would rather take a muscle relaxer.

I'm 84. I got peripheral neuropathy from chemo for brain cancer at 79. I take gabapentin 2 to 3 times a day. I take 300 mg. each time. It actually gives me a little high. I recently had my yearly check up. My BP was 98/60. My EEG showed no skips at all. I can run if I have to in an emergency. My brain seems fine. I've had no problems with taking gabapentin.