COPD and Gabapentin use.

nan1953 - Good morning, it's nice to meet you. I have lung cancer and COPD. I have had several foot operations which made it necessary for me to take Gabapentin at night. I never felt more out of breath when I took it. I have no idea what percentage of people who take it develop shortness of breath but I sure was glad that I could take it.

Insurance companies have made demands on the pharmaceutical community to make warnings for all sorts of weird possible side effects if you take medications. Sometimes it's ridiculous. They are warnings only. I'm sure that your doctor wouldn't recommend it if he thought that there was a high chance of this happening to you. But! If you do experience it, call 911, and make sure that you are inhaling your Oxygen and that it is on the correct dose.

Are you having pain when you are breathing?

I take 2-600mg tablets of Gabapentin every night for neck, sciatic and hand pain. I have level 4 COPD and have had it for several years. I use a bi-pap machine with oxygen while sleeping or napping. I haven't noticed any adverse side effects while using Gabapentin with Tizanidine.
I had the COPD long afor I started taking Gabapentin and dont feel that it increased the succession levels of this terrible disease..
if you are uncomfortable with Gabapentin maybe check with your Dr. for a lower dose or an alternative. It is important to be comfortable with your meds as COPD is alone enough to be concerned about. Might I suggest the mindful breathing techniques from the Mayo clinic if you haven't already . A great help in a time at need.

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I have copd and emphysema no oxygen needed. I take Gabapentin and it helps me a lot with intercostal nerve pain and abdominal pain. Never an issue with gabapentin. Been on it for years.

Thank you so much everyone for the replies. I've been suffering with this nerve pain and dystonia in my toes for almost a year to afraid to take the Gabapentin . It helps in easing my fear of taking the Gab. knowing that other people who have COPD are taking it with no issues. The list of side effects has me scared to death of it. Pain Dr. did recommend Cymbalta if I'm afraid of the Gab. but family Dr. said Gab. has less side effects. Maybe thanks to your replies I'll get up the courage to take the Gab.

I used to take it for RLS (Restless leg syndrome) but I now use prampexole
For the RLS and I don’t notice any difference in my COPD.

I used to take Gabapentin, but got switched to Pramiipexole which originally was give to me for RLS ( restless leg syndrome). I believe they both wor,k basically the same. You might make the switch if your doctor approves.

I did for awhile, without any problems for RLS, without any problems, but changed over to Prampexole same principal but works better
No bad effects, but it does play some tricks on your mind. Go to Mayo Clinic and check it out.
Keep in mind that all drug warnings scare all of us. That’s just the way it is now.
Good luck.

I too have COPD and I take 4 x a day 600 mg for nerves in back pain I haven’t heard that gabapentin would hurt my breathing my lung Dr knows I take it and he’s not told me any different

I was surfing the web for side effects of Gabapentin and came across this thread and realized I had posted it over a year ago. The neuropathy has got really bad, very painful. I've been to 2 neurologists and 2 pain specialists as well as my family Dr. and no matter what med they prescribe I'm so afraid of the side effects. But after reading the posts from those of you on here who have COPD and take Gabapenin I feel more confortable about trying it. I just wanted to post this to thank everyone again who took the time to reply to my post. Isn't it something how over a year later this post with your replys shows up in my search and has helped me to decide to try the Gabapentin. Sorrry about my spelling. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that these forums do help people, and that you never know just how much your reply to a post that asks for help or info can be of help and sometimes reassurance and confort to someone, even a year later. Thank you all again. Nan

I took Gabapentin (900mmg/day) for about 2 months after my lung surgery in May. I have now tapered off of it. I already had shortness of breath but did not notice any worsening with Gabapentin. And it certainly did help my nerve pain.