Hi all. I'm John & new to the forum. I've been dx since Sept 2012 & am managing reasonably well. Looking forward to learning and sharing experiences with you. I have recently launched a campaign "Free medication for people with Parkinson's" which I will hopefully share with you shortly, that's if you haven't already been bombarded with Facebook posts from me already. Keep smiling.
Good morning John, nice to see you on here. Look forward to reading your posts.
Hi. I have just spent 2 days in hospital having a half knee replacement. I continued to take my normal parkinsons medication. Co-carladopla, Entacapone, Seligiline. However as part of my medication for my knee I have been taken Gabapentin twice a day. Now this appears to have been a mirical. My tremor is normally very prominent, my dexterity poor, I constantly wear off and I have been considering DBS. Since taking the Gabapentin mY sysmtoms have been practically non existant. I normally take Co-carladopla, Entacapone 6 x daily however I am sat here at 1530 having only taken x2 lots and have had no evidence of my symptoms. Has anyone been prescribed this medication? Does anyone know it's background etc? I believe it's primarily used for epilepsy.
One happy bunny at the moment......:-)
Aye aye Bethan
good god AV no seen you in a long time , how are you doing ? Big stranger
Ian from the highlands.
It has been known for years from chance findings like yours, John, that Gabapentin improves tremor and stiffness in Parkinson's, and demonstrated in double blind trials. I have no idea why it is not in the conventional armoury of treatments. It was developed as an anti-epileptic, and found to be very effective in neurogenic pain, particularly by me, but I don't take it anymore. Looks like it fixes everything neurological.
Anybody know the answer?
Hi Island Mike,
The dopamine-producing cells that are lost in Parkinson's also produce other chemical messengers, including GABA. Recent research has suggested that people with Parkinson's may not have enough of this messenger.
Gabapentin increases the amount of GABA in the brain, and you're right there have been some studies of gabapentin in people with Parkinson's. These studies have been relatively small so some more research is needed to know if gabapentin is beneficial, who it benefits the most, and if there are any side-effects.
We know that gabapentin does not interact with the GABA receptors in the brain. Recent research suggest that drugs that mimic the effects of GABA - by interacting with these receptors - may be more effective. We are currently funding a research project that is investigating whether chemicals that mimic the effects of GABA improve movement symptoms in mice.
Hope that helps,
Annie
Parkinson's UK Research Team