neurontin with baclofen?

[Tapdancer]

I have just been prescribed Neurontin, 300 mg. at night time.
I am wondering whether my neuro might have overlooked the fact that I have been taking Baclofen 10 mg. at night. Been taking this for years to be able to sleep through the night without leg spasms. Not sure how effective it is. anyway, I just checked drug interactions, and the warning is against taking the two drugs together. Is it safe to do so? I have been reading that some of you take the two together. Does Neurontin help with spasticity as well as pain? Does it take weeks to work? Is it conceivable that taking Neurontin would make the baclofen unnecessary?

[hunterd]

I believe that neurontin is mostly for nerve pain common in MS. It does not have any interaction with baclofen (IM on a baclofen pump and I took it for years without any issues). you can check here, Medication Interaction Checker http://reference.medscape.com/drug-interactionchecker

[Tapdancer]

thanks so much for this hunterd. So far, I really don't like the stuff. I expected to be zonked last night, but certainly not today. Going to look up the half life. Do the side effects receed in time? how long, generally speaking?

[Kimba22]

Hi Tapdancer,

Neurontin can have an effect on both nerve pain and pain from spasticity.

Gabapentin is an anti-epileptic used to control some types of seizures in epilepsy. It is used in multiple sclerosis to control dysesthesias (pain caused by MS lesions) and the pain caused by spasticity. http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Tre...ions/Neurontin

There are other meds that work much better on spasticity, though. http://www.nationalmssociety.org/Sym...oms/Spasticity

If your spasticity isn't being controlled very well, talk to your neurologist about increasing your Baclofen or possibly trying a different medication, like Tizanadine.

Everyone's experience will be different as to if or how quickly their body adjusts to a medication. I've taken Neurontin for many years, so don't even remember exactly how long it took me to adjust to it. It did take several months, but my dosage kept being titrating upward, too. (Probably didn't help I started taking Baclofen at the same time, and that dose was titrated upward as well.). There are some people who never do adjust to it. Neurontin is also a med that works better once it's built up in your system. Sorry, I couldn't give you a better answer.

Good luck ,

[Tapdancer]

Actually, Kimba, that was an excellent answer. I'd say you covered all the bases. thanks so much