Hi Dr. I'm wondering if you can give me a little advice. I tried a single 100mg gabapentin capsule (for arm/ neck nerve pain) 11 weeks ago. Just one capsule! I felt great somnolence and brain fog the next day. I kept waiting, but the symptoms never went away completely. I know it sounds unusual that only 100 mg would do this, but the symptoms followed the intake of the gabapentin and they have persisted. So far it's been 76 days of somnolence; and though there was some improvement in brain fog and certain brain functions, coinciding with my (fasting, morning-tested) TSH going back to a normal 2.11 on day 60 after testing 4.54 on day 12 (an effect of the GBP, I assume) a substantial % of the somnolence (60-70%) is still with me. Thankfully, other strange effects have subsided: -Anorgasmia till day 41 -Disappearance of bright geometric phosphenes upon pressing my eyes after meditation - until day 67 (suppression of visual cortex?) -increased somnolence instead of neck pain upon flexing my neck forward during the first few weeks (like my brain was interpreting the pain differently). -uncomfortable sensations around the head. I also keep getting slight nausea and headaches here and there. And some dizziness when scrolling fast on a screen, or even looking at a screen for too long sometimes. My doctor has been on maternal leave so on day 33 the PA ordered a battery of blood tests. The only thing that came back abnormal is homocysteine at 17.8. My methylmalonic acid, which is supposed to measure B12 status, was normal (163). This seems to indicate that my B12 is normal and either I'm low on folate (which I find hard to believe with my diet), or the gabapentin disrupted my thyroid (& whatever else) which led to high homocysteine. In any case, since I'm vegan, I was already taking an iodine/B12 supplement, but I have since added a B complex with folate and a sublingual B12. And some creatine too (0.75gr). I do have mild epilepsy resulting from a childhood concussion for which I took tegretol from age 11-14. Every month or two I will have a 20-60min episode of seeing lights/visual disturbances followed by a slight headache. So perhaps that's been a factor. Interestingly, I haven't had any episodes since I took the gabapentin. I don't smoke, drink or take any prescription drugs, and take long walks regularly. I'm a generally healthy 42-year-old male with a normal weight. I tried 1-3 capsules of Ginko Biloba, which is supposed to be some type of mild GABA antagonist, but it didn't really help. Nicotine gum didn't help either. Only coffee helps a bit. Walks also make me feel better, when I have enough energy. Since a number of my symptoms have gotten better, I am hoping everything will return to normal eventually and I just need to wait. But I'm wondering at which point it would be necessary to try some treatment or medication. Thanks for taking the time to read this.... Jonathan
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Hi Dr. I'm wondering if you can give me a little advice. I tried a single 100mg gabapentin capsule (for arm/ neck nerve pain) 11 weeks ago. Just one capsule! I felt great somnolence and brain fog the next day. I kept waiting, but the symptoms never went away completely. I know it sounds unusual that only 100 mg would do this, but the symptoms followed the intake of the gabapentin and they have persisted.
So far it's been 76 days of somnolence; and though there was some improvement in brain fog and certain brain functions, coinciding with my (fasting, morning-tested) TSH going back to a normal 2.11 on day 60 after testing 4.54 on day 12 (an effect of the GBP, I assume) a substantial % of the somnolence (60-70%) is still with me. Thankfully, other strange effects have subsided:
-Anorgasmia till day 41
-Disappearance of bright geometric phosphenes upon pressing my eyes after meditation - until day 67 (suppression of visual cortex?)
-increased somnolence instead of neck pain upon flexing my neck forward during the first few weeks (like my brain was interpreting the pain differently).
-uncomfortable sensations around the head.
I also keep getting slight nausea and headaches here and there. And some dizziness when scrolling fast on a screen, or even looking at a screen for too long sometimes.
My doctor has been on maternal leave so on day 33 the PA ordered a battery of blood tests.
The only thing that came back abnormal is homocysteine at 17.8.
My methylmalonic acid, which is supposed to measure B12 status, was normal (163). This seems to indicate that my B12 is normal and either I'm low on folate (which I find hard to believe with my diet), or the gabapentin disrupted my thyroid (& whatever else) which led to high homocysteine. In any case, since I'm vegan, I was already taking an iodine/B12 supplement, but I have since added a B complex with folate and a sublingual B12. And some creatine too (0.75gr).
I do have mild epilepsy resulting from a childhood concussion for which I took tegretol from age 11-14. Every month or two I will have a 20-60min episode of seeing lights/visual disturbances followed by a slight headache. So perhaps that's been a factor. Interestingly, I haven't had any episodes since I took the gabapentin.
I don't smoke, drink or take any prescription drugs, and take long walks regularly. I'm a generally healthy 42-year-old male with a normal weight.
I tried 1-3 capsules of Ginko Biloba, which is supposed to be some type of mild GABA antagonist, but it didn't really help. Nicotine gum didn't help either. Only coffee helps a bit. Walks also make me feel better, when I have enough energy.
Since a number of my symptoms have gotten better, I am hoping everything will return to normal eventually and I just need to wait. But I'm wondering at which point it would be necessary to try some treatment or medication.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.... Jonathan
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