Gabapentin may boost functional recovery after a stroke (Very cheap drug, given for “six weeks after a stroke restored fine motor functions”)

Medical Xpress / The Ohio State University / Brain / Journal of Clinical Investigation ^ | May 23, 2022 | Andrea Tedeschi et al / Wenjing Sun et al

[ConservativeMind]

The drug gabapentin, currently prescribed to control seizures and reduce nerve pain, may enhance recovery of movement after a stroke by helping neurons on the undamaged side of the brain take up the signaling work of lost cells.

Results showed that daily gabapentin treatment for six weeks after a stroke restored fine motor functions in the animals' upper extremities. Functional recovery also continued after treatment was stopped, the researchers found.

The team previously found that gabapentin blocks activity of a protein that, when expressed at elevated levels after an injury to the brain or spinal cord, hinders re-growth of axons, the long, slender extensions of nerve cell bodies that transmit messages.

The primary treatment focus after an ischemic stroke is re-establishing blood flow in the brain as quickly as possible, but this research suggests that gabapentin has no role at that acute stage: The recovery results were similar whether the treatment started one hour or one day after the stroke.

Instead, the drug's effects are evident in specific motor neurons whose axons carry signals from the central nervous system to the body that tell muscles to move.

After the stroke in study mice, neurons on the undamaged, or contralateral, side of the brain began sprouting axons that restored signals for upper extremity voluntary movement that had been silenced by neuron death after the stroke. This is an example of plasticity, the central nervous system's ability to fix damaged structures, connections and signals.

Compared to control mice that did not receive the drug, mice that received six weeks of daily gabapentin treatment regained fine motor function in their forelimbs. Two weeks after treatment was stopped, researchers observed, functional improvements persisted.

Gabapentin also appeared to have an effect in the stroke-affected brain on non-neuron cells that influence the timing of message transmission.

[NWFree]

I take a couple each night for a sleep aid - super relaxing 🤪

[NWFree]

And cheap too - about 10 dollars for 90 days @ 2 per day 300 mg yellows

[V K Lee]

It made me extremely drowsy as well as a change in moods and
personality. Stopped them in spite of the doctors warning of another seizure (10 years ago). Fortunately, no seizure as yet and able to function on a daily basis.

[Carriage Hill]

I also have heart disease, with 5 stents, from July 2018. The Gabapentin helps a little, as does Tylenol Extra Strength 500mg, or Tramadol 50mg.

Rx Meds:
Eplerenone 50 Mg Tablet
Lisinopril 5 Mg Tablet
Prednisolone Acetate 1 % Eye Drops,suspension
Pacerone 100 Mg Tablet
Metformin 1,000mg
Nitroglycerin 0.4 Mg Sublingual Tablet
Furosemide 40 Mg Tablet
Amlodipine Basylate 10mg
Doxycycline Hyclate 100 Mg Capsule
Lorazepam 1 Mg Tablet
Valium 10mg
Ondansetron 4 Mg Disintegrating Tablet
Zolpidem ER 12.5 Mg Tablet, Extended Release
Finasteride 5 Mg Tablet
Cyclobenzaprine 10 Mg Tablet
Metoprolol Succinate Er 50 Mg Tablet,extended Release 24 Hr
Pantoprazole 40 Mg Tablet 2x/day
Combivent Respimat 20 Mcg-100 Mcg/actuation Solution For Inhalation
Meloxicam 15 Mg Tablet
Tamsulosin 0.4 Mg Capsule
Tramadol 50mg
Nystatin 100,000 Unit/ml Oral Suspension
Furosemide 20 Mg Tablet
Methylprednisolone 4 Mg Tablets In A Dose Pack
Cholecalciferol (vit D3) 1,000 Unit-vitamin K2 (mk4) 100 Mcg Tablet
Lantus Solostar Insulin 100 Unit/ml (3 Ml) Subcutaneous Pen
Gabapentin 300mg (Peripheral Neuropathy in feet)
Atorvastatin 80 Mg Tablet
Entresto 97/103mg, 2x/day
Jardiance 25mg
Carvedillol 25mg

OTC Meds:
Aspirin Coated 81mg
Centrum Silver Multi-Vitamin
Phillips Probiotic
Zinc 50mg
Vitamin D3 5,000units
Vitamin B-1 100mg
Prevagen
Presser Eye Vitamins
Nicoderm Cq 14 Mg/24 Hr Daily Transdermal Patch
Vitamin C 1,000mg
Magnesium 500mg
COQ10 100mg
Quercetin 500mg
Solomon’s Seal 1,000mg
Camu Supreme 2,650mg
Grape Seed Extract 300mg
Fish Oil 1,000mg

Co-morbidities:
1) Heart left ventricle (pumping at 55-60%; up from 20-25%),
2) Heart bundle blockage (5 stents),
3) Diabetes (Type 2, down from Type 1),
4) Hypertension (under control w/ Rx),
5) Weight (down from 265 to 165lbs),
6) COPD (under control w/ emergency inhaler),
7) Stage 2 Mild Kidney Disease (medication & diet controlled).

Sucks to be me...

[j.argese]

I just weaned off 24 years on Neurontin and 35 years on Dilantin. Now I’m on Briviact and couldn’t be happier. It’s like stepping out of cloud.

[ConservativeMind]

You both appear to be talking about a completely different item, called “GABA.”

This article has nothing to do with that supplement.

[CrimsonTidegirl]

I take it for seizures and nerve pain.

It has helped me a lot.

[Jane Long]

Our pup has to take it a couple of times/year, for a pinched back nerve.

[nicollo]

One of my dogs was on Gabapentin for years for brain/ spinal condition. It kept her comfortable for years.

I always did wonder about the warning on the bottle not to stop taking it abruptly or risk suicidal feelings. I didn’t test the theory, but we used to laugh about how she’d do that: run under the postal truck? surrender to the cat?

We lost her this past season to something else, and I credit Gabapentin and acupuncture for keeping her from suffering from her neurological condition.

[NWFree]

I don’t take a ‘supplement’ - I take 2 300mg gabapentin per night available only by prescription 🤪

[Magnatron]

It’s a good drug.

I was prescribed it for arm numbness from pinched nerves. I got to wondering if they had given me a placebo as it didn't seem to do anything.

Anything, that is, until I stopped taking it. It took me a week to feel back to normal and get to sleep. It does seem to have a dependency effect.

[ConservativeMind]

Interesting! I take it other sleep medicines didn’t help?

[NWFree]

It helps anxiety in my legs when I go horizontal and no after effects like sleep meds. I sleep like a baby.

[SunkenCiv]

Best way to stop this is to have President Trump mention what a great breakthrough it is.

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• Gout medicine may also help fight heart failure (Cheap colchicine "Very impressive…will have quite a significant impact on clinical care in heart failure" — 98% Survival Rate) [05/23/2022]

[Does so]

“I also take it daily. And I feel it when I forget to”.

Yup. Me too—for TEN+ years.

Stopped peripheral neurophy “cold” AND Restless Leg Syndrome”, which would keep me from falling asleep.

Now, there’s NO problem. (Except for STAYING asleep).

[Does so]

“I take a couple each night for a sleep aid - super relaxing 🤪.”

Dosage-timing is supposed to be key. Dr told me NOT to consider it a sleep aid.

Hasn’t helped my tinnitus, which develops into a ROAR after evening dinner.

[Does so]

"just weaned off 24 years on Neurontin and 35 years on Dilantin. Now I’m on Briviact and couldn’t be happier. It’s like stepping out of cloud."

Neurotin IS Gabapentin, for the uninitiated...

[Does so]

Male or female?

[EnquiringMind]

My husband took his first dose last night. He has peripheral artery disease and suffers from terrible restless leg syndrome. Hoping this medication works for him, RLS has been very detrimental to his sleep.

[NetAddicted]

BOOKMARKED!