Posted by fluffykitty on September 6, 2001, at 14:09:40
Ive been reading various posts now for a couple weeks including a number on Neurontin. I started taking Neurontin a few weeks ago and wanted to share my experiences with it. I know that chemicals and drugs affect people differently so this is just FYI, your mileage may vary. I also wanted to talk about a few side topics related to it. Im not posting my email address for confidentiality however if someone wants to talk about this off-board then Ill be happy to, just let me know and we'll figure something out.
I am only on Neurontin, no other SSRI or depression meds. However I do know people, have friends who are on SSRI's. I have used Xanax however it was fine for specific incidents or sleep problems but for long term use made me tired. So after I was falling deeper down a hole, like being on the verge of a nervous breakdown if not already in one, my pdoc got me on Neurontin.
I did some research about Neurontin on the web. Very interesting. I found a really good site on it: http://web.tampabay.rr.com/lymecfs/
My dosage was to be 300mg per night for 3 nights, then increasing by 300 for 3 days, then 3 nights, etc until I reached 1800mg which I just got on now.
The first day after taking it at night I was able to get out of bed fine, no problem as usual. I felt a surge in energy, had more energy, could remember things I had been forgetting for a long time. Coffee increased this affect. I went to work and was totally focused on doing everything I had to do that hadnt been getting done. The next day I felt tired. In fact although my energy level and mood were up and my mind was functioning better, over the next few days I was somewhat tired and at times a little dizzy and foggy and spacey. However over a week this too had passed. Now I may feel a little tired or odd however I have found (as I think someone else had mentioned) that if I eat protein in the morning when taking it (as opposed to cereal or oatmeal although one/I can eat that too) I was not tired or dizzy or much less so.
The web site I mentioned above says that Neurontin makes you retain water and may experience constipation. I found this more true in the first few days however now not as much. I made sure to drink a lot of extra water and eat as much fiber as possible. I tried to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day, eat fruits and veggies, and I also like the high fiber Kashi Go Lean bars. Kashi also makes a very high fiber cereal. I also use Evening Primrose Oil which helps soften things up. I take 3 to 4 (500mg) in the am and same in the evening. If youre going to use them then you need to take them every day not just when you need it to get an effect. If all else fails I used Philips MoM Cherry flavor. :) But so far only twice. I find I lost a lot of fluid excersizing in the summer heat and that didnt help that either.
As for weight gain, so far I have gained maybe a lb or two however I think it may be due to not being disciplined enough with not eating high fat foods. I find that my appetite has increased some at times however I feel I just need to eat no more than I usually would, get some excersize, and eat those Kashi bars!!! We'll see.
As for sex drive I had an interesting result. As my mood and energy improved, so did my sexual desire. I had a desire and energy to make love with my spouse like I had not in a few years. It was great! I still do now. Its crazy. :) But good!
So to sum up, in general, energy level and mood up, very few lasting side affects so far. At this point I think Ill have to stay on this drug for the rest of my life in order to function. I guess we'll see!
fluffykitty
^..^
ps - Given the high traffic on this site/board I would like to suggest to Dr. Bob that he switch to a better board and/or one which uses PHP/mySQL. I have recently done research on them and can recommend a few if he wants to look into it.
poster:fluffykitty
thread:78031
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010902/msgs/78031.html