I've been taking gabapentin in brand form, not generic form, for nearly 25 years. For RLS, not for pain. In an amount that I recall is considered to be on the low end of moderate, 1/3 of the maximum daily dosage, but taken all at once at bedtime. The amount I take was increased slightly in the early years to achieve effectiveness but has remained unchanged for 20 years at least. I've experienced no side effects.

Thanks for posting this info. It's an interesting finding and I'll keep an eye out for future developments and more studies.

If I can remember to. ;-) (sorry for the gallows humor)

This is so interesting. At least two adult family members have taken or took gabapentin, and are two of the four who have or had dementia. All are sisters. So, is the dementia genetic, or gabentin-related, even if just exacerbated if not caused by the gabentin? I need to look into family records more.

I had gaba once and it made me very ill. So no more.

I gave it to my cats last week for the 1st time, to calm them while driving to the vets office for annual shots. The mellow cat got MORE mellow, the athletic one with nerves, still got car sick...it seemed to have no effect on his personality. Both had dilated pupils.

DH needed it after heart surgery. He wound up with ulna nerve damage because of the positioning of his arm during that surgery. He needed a very high dose until he did the ulna operation 4 months later.

No side effects.

My mother cannot take any gabapentinoids because she loses all ability to think when she does to the point that she can't even identify her right from her left. I have to list it as an allergy with all her clinicians. She does have dementia now so that is an interesting article. I don't know whether such reactions are genetic, but since there are other options usually, I do avoid gabapentinoids.

I tried it. I could not hold onto a thought. I gave it a good shot, weeks. I could get nothing done.

It did nothing for (?nerve, back) pain. ”Neurontin” was name of it.

Yes, it's Neurontin. That's what I take.

I didn't even realize this was a drug for humans. Two vets have prescribed it for my dog for pain, the first for post tooth extraction and the second was very recently for an emergency visit where my dog wasn't chewing/swallowing food and despite extensive exam under sedation there was no clear cause. She's been struggling with some digestive issues since and I've wondered if it was related to the gabapentin.

A large number of prescription drugs used on animals are drugs that were developed for human use. And I believe are first tested to be safe for companion animals and to provide similar effects.

If your pup became as fuzzy brained impaired as I was on the drug, she wouldn’t be able to express how scrambled she felt on it, even if she spoke and typed perfectly.

I hope pup is truly feeling better, not just muddled and subdued.

Pricklypearcactus, how's your dog doing now? Better, I hope.

This article from The People's Pharmacy was published yesterday. They go into a lot more depth on gabapentin's possible side effects, including a Canadian study that links the drug with exacerbated COPD. They strongly advise against quitting gabapentin abruptly.

https://www.peoplespharmacy.com/articles/gabapentin-side-effects

Gaba has been prescribed willynilly for decades. I can't take it -- too disorienting. I think a lot of this is due to people demanding Something for... Whatever. There just isn't always a Something...and psychiatrists no longer do talk therapy.

Over the past year or two I've seen ads for new prescription drugs for people whose muscle control has been scrambled by the anti-anxiety meds they've been prescribed for decades. They now have TDK. See: Prozac, etc.

my mom has COPD and her previous PCP prescribed Gabapentin for shingles, mama ended up in the hospital with a severe flare up of her COPD.

All meds have side effects at various rates of probability. Some can be quite serious, others, not so much. Not every one experiences them, some may experience no side effects at all from meds that can have a long list of possible undesirable consequences. Drugs whose side effects are found to be too frequent or dangerous get heavy cautions for use and can even be removed from the market.

I don't doubt the reports of side effects. I doubt writers and organizations whose pattern of producing "the sky is falling", doom and gloom pieces that I find to be discrediting. They intentionally provide fodder to audiences they know can be influenced by criticisms of various things they may not like the nature of to begin with.

Elmer, A new-to-him primary physician was nearly hysterical when she saw that he was taking Abilify -- dispite it being prescribed by a psychiatrist and at a lower-than-theraputic dose. He was very upset that she wanted him off it cold turkey. He worked to wean instead. We don't know whether that had any bearing, but later he did develop strong leg spasms at night that no MD could explain -- or fix. He still has these sometimes . (This is NOT 'restless leg', but strong spasms that rock the bed.) He is able to stop them now, years later, by getting up and walking for a couple of minutes.

My brother Mike and I both take gabapentin - mainly for sleep problems, and we do not experience side effects from it - unless I have dementia and am not aware of it. If I do not take it, I have horrible nightmares that prevent me from sleeping more than three or four hours, and Mike is taking it for the same reason. My doctor has also told me that it should help with the nerve damage I have in my feet.