Posted on 03/28/2006 10:20:46 PM PST by neverdem
A widely used drug that has been mired in controversy for most of its decade-long life may now bring relief to postmenopausal women whose lives have been disrupted by unrelenting hot flashes. The relief may be especially welcome to women who have had breast cancer and cannot take estrogen.
The drug, best known by its trade name, Neurontin, but now prescribed generically as gabapentin, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1994 to treat epileptic seizures. In 2002, it was approved to treat postherpetic neuralgia, horrific pain that sometimes follows shingles.
Aided by the Internet and, the government has said, an illegal marketing campaign by its parent company, Neurontin sales eventually exceeded $2 billion a year before its patent expired and the generic gabapentin entered the market in 2004.
The parent company, Warner-Lambert (since bought by Pfizer), was investigated after a whistle-blower said it had paid doctors to promote Neurontin to their colleagues for a host of additional symptoms not approved by the F.D.A. The whistle-blower also said the company had paid to have research articles prepared claiming benefits of a dubious nature.
Varied Applications
As a result, Neurontin has been used for problems like migraines, social phobia, attention-deficit disorder in children, gastric ulcers, restless leg syndrome, essential tremor, osteoarthritis, backache, insomnia, anxiety, bipolar disorder, panic attacks and withdrawal from cocaine and alcohol — all known as off-label uses.
Its most frequent off-label use is as an adjunct to drugs used to treat pain, especially pain thought to have nerve involvement.
Thus, gabapentin was part of the medication prescribed for my unrelenting pain after a double knee-replacement operation last year. It was prescribed again last fall when I developed debilitating back and leg pain caused by a pinched nerve in my back.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
If it's not really helping you, why bother? Use a search strategy such as (neurontin or gabapentin), adverse effects in PubMed.
ping
Been there, done that, BUMP.
I am no doctor, but this sounds like the severe sciatia my chiropractor had fixed in 10-12 visits.
Pain pills might have masked those symptoms, but they would not have dealt with the problem.
My back and leg were still not completely up to snuff for 6 months or so, and required the occasional visit for adjustment. After that I was fine. Five years later, I put a stripped 390 engine block on the stand by myself with no crane, (not that I'd reccommend doing that for everyone), with no ill effects.
If your doc is an osteopathic physician, i.e. a Doctor of Osteopathy or DO, then you maybe treated by manipulative treatments, prescription drugs or both.
Do you have a fever of unknown origin?
I would be interested to hear what you think of Lyrica. Drs are hesitant to prescribe it for my daughter since it is a "new" drug.
bump
I took Neurontin for a year for restless leg syndrome.....never had a problem with it....no side effects of any kind...
you got fried. that's a whole 'nuther animal from minor motion and posture related injuries. I will not speculate about your condition - electrocution is capable of some really odd lingering effects.
as I stated: "fibromyalgia" is often medicalese for "all in the patient's head" offered as a "diagnosis" by a physician who has not taken the trouble to carefully hunt for the physical root cause. like ADD/ADHD, it is a real condition, but too many doctors use it as a vague panacaea for a host of other problems, and misdiagnose patients who have other (and treatable/curable) conditions.
don't get me started on misdiagnosis of carpal-tunnel syndrome... lots of patients so diagnosed actually have a pinched nerve in the bracchial plexus, and nothing at all wrong south of their elbows!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.