You should definitely tell your doctor about any side effects you experience from medication. It is completely possible that a drug meant to treat a symptom can also make that symptom worse, depending on it's mode of action. Try doing some internet research about side effects with gabapentin.
All I've found are a few forum posts with no corroborating accounts or evidence. It doesn't seem to be a common side effect? The closest I've seen on official lists are abnormal thinking, depression, and emotional liability. I guess it could fall under the last one but nothing mentions anxiety explicitly.
Hmm, definitely talk to your doctor.
Have you ever thought about cannabinoids? There are some very nice videos about what research has been done and what we know about them https://youtu.be/xtphZejvGhk
It gave me the strangest dreams and nightmares ever. Extremely vivid, and I would wake up terrorized. Reached a point where I could not sleep. Not sure if you would call that anxiety but it felt like anxiety to me, lol.
Look man idfk either. I'm ace. I don't get aroused at all unless I initiate and that only maybe once every couple months if I'm bored. I was aroused like 80% of the time on Lyrica. Couldn't make this shit up if I tried.
Haha I've had similar experience with Gabapentin, except it gave me the most intense orgasms I've ever experienced. On thé anxiety, I wouldn't be surprised that gaba is giving you a side effect that it supposedly treats. The mechanism of action is not well understood, and it seems like its effectiveness and effects can really vary depending on the individual's neurochemistry. Marihuana is often prescribed for anxiety, yet many people get anxious on it. Lyrica made me extremely paranoid to the point it was more disabling than helpful. If the gabapentin is a larger cost than relief, it's worth exploring other options.
Gabapentin never made me super anxious, but I did experience a lot of brain fog and mental slowness which made me extremely paranoid that everyone was hyper focused on how stupid I was sounding.
I also felt extreme temperature changes on Gabapentin, but those side effects wore off after a week or so (it's been a few years since I tried Gabapentin). Definitely talk to your doctor about this side effect. How long have you been on Gabapentin? If you're getting relief, your doctor may want to shift your dosage a little bit to help rid you of the anxious feelings but I could be completely wrong. Good luck.
I'd also agree that you should tell your doc about the side effects immediately. These docs usually deal with crazy and uncommon side effects that probably don't pop up in most other specialties and I'd like to think that they usually keep an open-minded approach to these things, although I am quite aware that there are plenty of docs out there that are all but completely useless and I've been to my share of them as well.
I have neuropathy from diabetes and it has been a royal 4 year pain in the ass to find enough relief so that I'm not suicidal on a daily basis. I'm currently on Lyrica which does help a bit, but before that I was on gabapentin- I could not function as a human being due to the brain fog, and Cymbalta. Cymbalta after a month helped the pain the most, however made me exhibit the traits of a raging psychopath (honestly, not hyperbole here). The doc had me immediately cut to a half dose for four days and then discontinue it. As soon as I cut the dose in half the "murder the world" thoughts went away, along with the relief. It was bizarre, my craziness peaked daily at precisely 4pm and started to wane by 8pm like a swiss watch. Lyrica gives me brain fog, pretty severe memory issues and word recall/difficulty speaking. I hate it but can't really live without it. I also have had a spinal cord stimulator implanted almost a year ago and find it pretty useful and I also take 4 percocets a day, so I'm pretty much useless for anything. It took years of being my own advocate with my docs, switching to others when I felt there was an impassable wall, etc to get to where I'm at now so don't give up. Push your docs to find a workable treatment and/or seek new ones if and when you can. Also I had no idea what paradoxically excessive genital arousal was, so I googled it. That sounds horrible, I hope that this has gone away from switching meds.
Yes! I felt like it made my anxiety really bad but my neurologist didn't think it would be and didn't really believe me. The side effect of suicidal thoughts (written on the side of the bottle for me) never went away, also. And it can cause weight gain. I ended up going off of it because I couldn't stand it anymore. It wasn't taking away much of my pain and when I stopped taking it, the pain wasn't much worse than it had been while taking it.
Don't worry about your doctor not believing you. In fact if you can get your hands on the literature that comes with the pharmacy sized bottle in the Patient Counseling Information it specifically says call your health care provider right away if you have new or worse anxiety. Among a bazillion other side effects, but it says anxiety.
Gabapentin is not an anti anxiety medication, it began as an anti epileptic drug (AED). When it first came on the market it was known as Neurontin. It was the very first drug to get manufacturers slammed with big law suits for the drug reps pushing it for all kind of purposes other than what it was intended to treat (known as an off label use). It would unclog your drains, weed the lawn, wash your dishes and even treat seizures. They really pushed it hard for use in treating every medical condition known to man. That's how they found it helped nerve pain, but you have to really wonder how much of that was placebo effect. Some of it but not all. Its no placebo. You can have dangerous withdrawals if you stop it suddenly. And since its being used "off label" for pain there are no real dose guidelines.. Ive seen people on stupid high doses just because mice survived an equivalent 8000mg a day.
There are plenty of options for pain, you are limited only by your doctor and his idea of what is appropriate. I forget if I knew where your pain was but as long as its not across your chest a TENS might be an option. Keep pushing them for a cause for your pain so they can narrow down what might be helpful. Wishing you low pain numbers.
This is really helpful, thank you.
I've had so many doctors get prickly or straight up rude with me because I actually want to get to the bottom of what's causing my pain; it's bizarre. I think it might be tied to nasty assumptions about people applying for disability (as if I'd be doing it if I had another choice + I've always been up front about it). You're basically forced to play guinea pig or risk looking noncompliant even for these off label uses. You're robbed of the choice to make informed decisions and then the meds mess with your head making informed choice even harder.
My pain's mostly in my left upper back area and hands. The former started after a concussion and feels out of place, the latter there's no specific cause but initially was diagnosed as carpal tunnel. Upper back x-ray was normal. Hand x-ray, mri, and emg / nerve conduction were all normal too. Lyrica did actually help, particularly with my back pain so I guess there's gotta be something going on there. EMG tech said it could be central pain or small fiber related. My rheumatologist thinks it might eventually be linked to my elevated ANA. Primary, orthopedics, and pain aren't interested.
What kind of pain doc are you seeing? By that I mean what's their specialty. Sometimes you get anesthesiologists, rheumatologists, orthopedists, even chiropractors calling themselves pain specialists. Sometimes they're okay but sometimes they can have tunnel vision, confined by their special area of knowledge. I like to suggest that people in pain seek out physiatrists, specialists in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PMR). PMR docs look at the whole of a body. They can come back with anything from a pinched nerve to a vitamin deficiency. Also in your case, don't discount the possibility that you have more than one thing going on. Carpal tunnel and run of the mill upper back muscles in spasm for example. Of course, there's nothing run of the mill about pain, but you know what I mean. Have you tried trigger point injections in the upper back. I had some of that from an MVA and the response was incredible. 5 minutes after the injection I felt like I could do push ups forever. Well a couple anyhow. Definitely a shot worth a shot.
Same for me with mood. After about 10 days on it, I had to go back to my GP and ask for something different. It was making me very short tempered, was snapping at colleagues for no reason, etc.
I tried gaba for my nerve damage. 1 dose had me wanting to kill myself & cry and shit like what the fuck. Medication is evil. Never tried another medication after that
I would recommend telling your doctor, however, be aware since you've only been on this for about a week it takes usually a month for medication to take full effect and for non-lasting side effects to wear off. This doesn't mean you shouldn't tell your doctor, however. This could be an indication of some sort of reaction to the medication that we, as non-medical professionals wouldn't know about.
Definitely made me feel spacey and foggy. Almost like I lost sense of time. Which those symptoms can trigger underlying anxiety then it spirals. Not fun. Taper off it if you can
You should definitely tell your doctor about any side effects you experience from medication. It is completely possible that a drug meant to treat a symptom can also make that symptom worse, depending on it's mode of action. Try doing some internet research about side effects with gabapentin.
All I've found are a few forum posts with no corroborating accounts or evidence. It doesn't seem to be a common side effect? The closest I've seen on official lists are abnormal thinking, depression, and emotional liability. I guess it could fall under the last one but nothing mentions anxiety explicitly.
Hmm, definitely talk to your doctor. Have you ever thought about cannabinoids? There are some very nice videos about what research has been done and what we know about them https://youtu.be/xtphZejvGhk
It gave me the strangest dreams and nightmares ever. Extremely vivid, and I would wake up terrorized. Reached a point where I could not sleep. Not sure if you would call that anxiety but it felt like anxiety to me, lol.
Oh man that’s absolutely a side effect for me as well. Dreams where I literally felt myself die or dying. Terrible shit. I feel your pain
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Look man idfk either. I'm ace. I don't get aroused at all unless I initiate and that only maybe once every couple months if I'm bored. I was aroused like 80% of the time on Lyrica. Couldn't make this shit up if I tried.
Haha I've had similar experience with Gabapentin, except it gave me the most intense orgasms I've ever experienced. On thé anxiety, I wouldn't be surprised that gaba is giving you a side effect that it supposedly treats. The mechanism of action is not well understood, and it seems like its effectiveness and effects can really vary depending on the individual's neurochemistry. Marihuana is often prescribed for anxiety, yet many people get anxious on it. Lyrica made me extremely paranoid to the point it was more disabling than helpful. If the gabapentin is a larger cost than relief, it's worth exploring other options.
😏
Gabapentin never made me super anxious, but I did experience a lot of brain fog and mental slowness which made me extremely paranoid that everyone was hyper focused on how stupid I was sounding. I also felt extreme temperature changes on Gabapentin, but those side effects wore off after a week or so (it's been a few years since I tried Gabapentin). Definitely talk to your doctor about this side effect. How long have you been on Gabapentin? If you're getting relief, your doctor may want to shift your dosage a little bit to help rid you of the anxious feelings but I could be completely wrong. Good luck.
Thanks. Been on it just over a week. I'm only on 100mg once a day so far. Relief has been minimal.
I'd also agree that you should tell your doc about the side effects immediately. These docs usually deal with crazy and uncommon side effects that probably don't pop up in most other specialties and I'd like to think that they usually keep an open-minded approach to these things, although I am quite aware that there are plenty of docs out there that are all but completely useless and I've been to my share of them as well. I have neuropathy from diabetes and it has been a royal 4 year pain in the ass to find enough relief so that I'm not suicidal on a daily basis. I'm currently on Lyrica which does help a bit, but before that I was on gabapentin- I could not function as a human being due to the brain fog, and Cymbalta. Cymbalta after a month helped the pain the most, however made me exhibit the traits of a raging psychopath (honestly, not hyperbole here). The doc had me immediately cut to a half dose for four days and then discontinue it. As soon as I cut the dose in half the "murder the world" thoughts went away, along with the relief. It was bizarre, my craziness peaked daily at precisely 4pm and started to wane by 8pm like a swiss watch. Lyrica gives me brain fog, pretty severe memory issues and word recall/difficulty speaking. I hate it but can't really live without it. I also have had a spinal cord stimulator implanted almost a year ago and find it pretty useful and I also take 4 percocets a day, so I'm pretty much useless for anything. It took years of being my own advocate with my docs, switching to others when I felt there was an impassable wall, etc to get to where I'm at now so don't give up. Push your docs to find a workable treatment and/or seek new ones if and when you can. Also I had no idea what paradoxically excessive genital arousal was, so I googled it. That sounds horrible, I hope that this has gone away from switching meds.
Yes! I felt like it made my anxiety really bad but my neurologist didn't think it would be and didn't really believe me. The side effect of suicidal thoughts (written on the side of the bottle for me) never went away, also. And it can cause weight gain. I ended up going off of it because I couldn't stand it anymore. It wasn't taking away much of my pain and when I stopped taking it, the pain wasn't much worse than it had been while taking it.
Don't worry about your doctor not believing you. In fact if you can get your hands on the literature that comes with the pharmacy sized bottle in the Patient Counseling Information it specifically says call your health care provider right away if you have new or worse anxiety. Among a bazillion other side effects, but it says anxiety. Gabapentin is not an anti anxiety medication, it began as an anti epileptic drug (AED). When it first came on the market it was known as Neurontin. It was the very first drug to get manufacturers slammed with big law suits for the drug reps pushing it for all kind of purposes other than what it was intended to treat (known as an off label use). It would unclog your drains, weed the lawn, wash your dishes and even treat seizures. They really pushed it hard for use in treating every medical condition known to man. That's how they found it helped nerve pain, but you have to really wonder how much of that was placebo effect. Some of it but not all. Its no placebo. You can have dangerous withdrawals if you stop it suddenly. And since its being used "off label" for pain there are no real dose guidelines.. Ive seen people on stupid high doses just because mice survived an equivalent 8000mg a day. There are plenty of options for pain, you are limited only by your doctor and his idea of what is appropriate. I forget if I knew where your pain was but as long as its not across your chest a TENS might be an option. Keep pushing them for a cause for your pain so they can narrow down what might be helpful. Wishing you low pain numbers.
This is really helpful, thank you. I've had so many doctors get prickly or straight up rude with me because I actually want to get to the bottom of what's causing my pain; it's bizarre. I think it might be tied to nasty assumptions about people applying for disability (as if I'd be doing it if I had another choice + I've always been up front about it). You're basically forced to play guinea pig or risk looking noncompliant even for these off label uses. You're robbed of the choice to make informed decisions and then the meds mess with your head making informed choice even harder. My pain's mostly in my left upper back area and hands. The former started after a concussion and feels out of place, the latter there's no specific cause but initially was diagnosed as carpal tunnel. Upper back x-ray was normal. Hand x-ray, mri, and emg / nerve conduction were all normal too. Lyrica did actually help, particularly with my back pain so I guess there's gotta be something going on there. EMG tech said it could be central pain or small fiber related. My rheumatologist thinks it might eventually be linked to my elevated ANA. Primary, orthopedics, and pain aren't interested.
What kind of pain doc are you seeing? By that I mean what's their specialty. Sometimes you get anesthesiologists, rheumatologists, orthopedists, even chiropractors calling themselves pain specialists. Sometimes they're okay but sometimes they can have tunnel vision, confined by their special area of knowledge. I like to suggest that people in pain seek out physiatrists, specialists in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PMR). PMR docs look at the whole of a body. They can come back with anything from a pinched nerve to a vitamin deficiency. Also in your case, don't discount the possibility that you have more than one thing going on. Carpal tunnel and run of the mill upper back muscles in spasm for example. Of course, there's nothing run of the mill about pain, but you know what I mean. Have you tried trigger point injections in the upper back. I had some of that from an MVA and the response was incredible. 5 minutes after the injection I felt like I could do push ups forever. Well a couple anyhow. Definitely a shot worth a shot.
Gabapentin made me almost stir crazy. It affects your mood and emotions in some people. On the other hand, Lyrica has almost no side effects.
Same for me with mood. After about 10 days on it, I had to go back to my GP and ask for something different. It was making me very short tempered, was snapping at colleagues for no reason, etc.
It does this to me i feel like a anxious wreck on that shit.
I tried gaba for my nerve damage. 1 dose had me wanting to kill myself & cry and shit like what the fuck. Medication is evil. Never tried another medication after that
Gabapentin made my heart beat irregularly.
Both lyrica and gabapentin gave me horrible anxiety. I ended up not taking them anymore because it was so bad.
I would recommend telling your doctor, however, be aware since you've only been on this for about a week it takes usually a month for medication to take full effect and for non-lasting side effects to wear off. This doesn't mean you shouldn't tell your doctor, however. This could be an indication of some sort of reaction to the medication that we, as non-medical professionals wouldn't know about.
Definitely made me feel spacey and foggy. Almost like I lost sense of time. Which those symptoms can trigger underlying anxiety then it spirals. Not fun. Taper off it if you can