What is gabapentin?

Gabapentin is prescribed to treat certain types of long-lasting pain caused by damage to nerves. This type of pain, called neuropathic pain, can be caused by a number of different diseases. These include diabetes and shingles.

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https://patient.info/medicine/gabapentin-neurontin

You can use the following tools to help discuss with your pharmacist or other health professional how likely this medicine is to help you.

How likely is it that gabapentin will reduce my pain?

Numbers and words

More than one  randomised controlled trial  has shown that gabapentin can achieve at least a 30% reduction in pain in  some patients with pain caused by nerve damage.

One  trial showed that 1 in 7 people with pain resulting from shingles, diabetes or other forms of nerve damage gained  a reduction of 30%  or more in their pain  from using gabapentin

It is not possible to tell what will happen to you as an individual.

Notes:

Need to enter duration of treatment and effect. 

The doses of gabapentin in this study were at least 1200 mg per day.

You can read more about this research at:

SIGN Guideline: https://www.sign.ac.uk/media/2097/sign136_2019.pdf

Moore RA, Wiffen PJ, Derry S, McQuay HJ. Gabapentin for chronicneuropathic pain and fibromyalgia in adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2011, Issue 3.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD007938.pub2/abstract

How likely is it that Gabapentin will reduce pain related to shingles, diabetes or other forms of nerve damage?

Key

  • This grey face represents the number of people in the survey group.
  • This green face represents the one person in the survey group that the medicine has helped.

It is not possible to tell what will happen to you as an individual.

You can read more about this research at: 

SIGN Guideline: https://www.sign.ac.uk/media/2097/sign136_2019.pdf

Moore RA, Wiffen PJ, Derry S, McQuay HJ. Gabapentin for chronicneuropathic pain and fibromyalgia in adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2011, Issue 3. 

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD007938.pub2/abstract

What are the possible risks of gabapentin?

You can discuss with your pharmacist or other health professional  the possible side effects and other risks this medicine might have.

These common side effects may happen in more than 1 in 100 people. They are usually mild and go away by themselves. Keep taking the medicine but tell your pharmacist or other health professional if they bother you or don't go away:

  • Feeling sleepy, tired, unsteady or dizzy; blurred vision and other eyesight problems.
  • Headache
  • Feeling or being sick, indigestion, stomach ache.
  • Diarrhoea
  • Constipation
  • Dry mouth

Discuss with your pharmacist or other health professional whether there is a risk of this medicine interacting with any other medicines you are taking.

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What other issues might you consider about gabapentin?

You can discuss any other issues with your pharmacist or other health professional.

Find out more: 

https://patient.info/medicine/gabapentin-neurontin