Gabapentin side effects?

I am on Seroquel and getting restless and agitated (akathisia) my doctor gave me cogentin (Benztropine) for it I told her I’m not taking a medicine to counteract another one. I’m trying to get off Seroquel. It’s very difficult for me. I just want to be able to be relaxed. I took the Seroquel because I couldn’t relax and now this is happening. I’m miserable.

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Gabapentin works well for some types of pain. I was prescribed it for liver disease and associated pain, and continue on it following my liver transplant on a very low dose. It does help me for this type of pain. I’ve had no side effects, and doesn’t typically have many. Although like all drugs, people react differently. I suggest you research it and make sure it is listed for actually providing pain relief for your illness/symptoms.

Nerve pain is pain that results from damage to a nerve, the spinal cord especially. The pain may not occur where the injury is but in some other part of the body such as the feet, the arms, or hands when the actual damage is someplace on the cervical spine. Other kinds of pain result from direct injury to a body part and the pain is at the site of injury.

I have Axonal Sensory Neuropathy. My Neurologist explained: "Your nervous system is dying. It dies at the small ends near the skin first, then works its way up the thicker stems in your limbs to the main stem in the spine. As it dies, it misfires and works erratically. The nervous system is supposed to notify the brain when something is damaging the body so that the brain can direct the hand or foot or whichever is the right tool, to remove the body from the object causing the damage. The nervous system starts sending faulty messages of pain here and numbness there. Anti-seizure medications, such as gabapentin and lyrica, calm the nervous system so that it stops sending the erroneous messages for hours at a time. We have no medicine that can actually stop the progression of the death of the nervous system, or repair it, at this time." In further conversations with my neurologist and with my pain specialist, I gathered that as the condition progresses, I will need more and more medicine, until I'm at the limit of what doctors are allowed (by politicians) to prescribe. Then, I will have to start using narcotic pain killers. There are some members of this loop who have been on pain killers for awhile. Those meds also have to be increased progressively as the pain worsens with the condition. I wish my nervous system would send me false messages of pleasure instead of telling me that I'm standing in a bonfire with wasps attacking my arms when I see no fire or wasps anywhere around. Peggy

@athenalee Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect, a place to give and get support. You were given gabapentin for pain after your liver transplant and it works successfully for you. Members like @iceblue @vklittle61@wsh66 have discussed this topic in the past and the group may be able to benefit from your knowledge.

May I ask how long ago you had transplant surgery?

I think that sounds pretty miserable and I send much sympathy for what you must be tolerating. As someone who used narcotics over a period of approx. ten years, I will just say that for the right patient in the right dose, they can work wonders. Don’t be afraid of them. Now the biggest problem is getting them prescribed, though at least you have a definitive diagnosis. That should help you in obtaining prescriptions when the time comes.

@wisco50 I have been taking narcotics for about 10 years also. I just found out I have fatty liver. I haven't seen the specialist yet, but I am concerned about the long term use of the narcotic. Has anyone else taking opiods been diagnosed with fatty liver.

Are you thinking there’s a link between the two? I’ve not heard that. I am pretty sure my fatty liver came about because of my high blood lipids. I’m on a hefty? dose of a statin drug - switched from simvastatin to atorvastatin now 80mg per day, if I recall correctly.