Gabapentin guidance

[maxs_mommy]

Max has had some issues with the clinical trial drug, his mouth tumor has swelled and become painful and he's nauseated which made getting pain and normal pills and eating a struggle . The trial vet put him on 25mg of Deramaxx daily for inflammation but he wasn't eating and was yelping when I grazed his lip to wipe away the thick strings of drool he had going on. It was really sad.

Friday morning I called our vet and she was kind enough to make space to see him on short notice. He had some neck spots out of place so a chiro adjustment helped and my vet put him on 100 mg of Gabapentin 3x daily. It seems to have helped markedly. I can now get pills down him, he's eating food that's been slurried with babyfood and yogurt and will take pills in applesauce again, so it's a win. But I've also heard that there are side effects when/if we go off it among other things. My vet didn't really explain the whole cycle because we don't know how long he'll be on this. What do I need to know?

[MaisyPancakes]

To me, Gabapentin seems like the "safest" longer term option for dogs who can't up the NSAIDs any more than they're on/can't get on; it's a super great adjunct for reducing NSAIDs dosage and will help it kick more ass. It was extra fitting for MP because it also can raise seizure thresholds, too—so it served a double seizure/owie purpose. I think it's mainly people who have issues going on/off Gabapentin (pain flares back up), although I'm inclined to think similar things will be expected with dogs, too. I'm pleasantly surprised how well and how quickly it kicked in for Max!! It took about 2 weeks for MP (common wait time), and a period of grogginess until she got used to it.

I'm so sorry he had a tough time with the clinical trial drug—so glad to hear that he felt better on Gabapentin.

[connie]

My vet is a huge advocate of gaba in conjunction with an NSAID for pain relief -- and he won't use Tramadol at all anymore, he says it's been shown to be ineffective.

This is a pretty good primer on gaba for dogs:
https://www.petmd.com/dog/care/gabapent ... -need-know

And this one:
https://dogtime.com/dog-health/53089-ga ... de-effects

As far as going off it, I know you taper off, as with Pred.

[Aubergine]

Nutmeg is on gabapentin (100 mg twice a day) and it really does make a difference - by which I mean, when she WASN'T on it, she was markedly worse, but it's hard to tell when she IS on it, because it's quite subtle ... if that makes sense? She takes it for mysterious pain/nerve damage/who knows what that causes her to slip and stumble. She also seems less stiff somehow. My vet recommended it over metacam because it's easier on her kidneys.

[Bari]

Deramaxxn killed my brother's dog Baxter. I think it's a unsafe drug to use.

Hope Max is on the mend. I take Gabapentin too for neuropathy.

[emmas_mom]

Hmmm, I thought I responded to this - must have been just in my head. I take gaba for fibromyalgia. A while back, I simply forgot to take it for a couple of days, and woke up the second or third night feeling like I was being eaten alive by fire ants! It was horrible! As soon as I realized what I'd done, I took a double dose (safe for me to do when needed) and it calmed down right away. I have no idea if the same response would be true for dogs, but certainly tapering off is the way to go to be on the safe side. When we were finding the lowest possible dose for me, many years ago, we had started high and slowly tapered down until we found the right dose. I had no reactions at that time.