Crap.
Crap. I mean, it's a precursor to GHB, which has been a drug of abuse for some time, so it's not a surprise that a central acting neurology med could be abused, but this is legitimately prescribed for certain kinds of nerve pain. We can't make everything a restricted medication because we have public health and social problems we won't address properly.
https://apnews.com/70e49b15a082431db4938c5a324df677/Drug-epidemic-ensnares-25-year-old-pill-for-nerve-pain
https://apnews.com/70e49b15a082431db4938c5a324df677/Drug-epidemic-ensnares-25-year-old-pill-for-nerve-pain
https://apnews.com/70e49b15a082431db4938c5a324df677/Drug-epidemic-ensnares-25-year-old-pill-for-nerve-pain
https://apnews.com/70e49b15a082431db4938c5a324df677/Drug-epidemic-ensnares-25-year-old-pill-for-nerve-pain
Gabapentin is also one of the safer medical ways to increase slow wave sleep. Lack of slow wave sleep in older adults (especially men) is suspected in a wide range of health problems. This is sad news indeed.
ReplyDeleteI hated morontin Gabapentin when I was on it. It actively made my pain worse and every night I rolled a D20 to see what side effect I’d get. That’s how we discovered that I’m a really nasty drunk. So I understand where the abuse concerns stem from.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, it works for a LOT of chronic pain patients and it’s punishing the majority for bad actions of a minority. We are human as well, and we deserve to have our pain concerns listened to and actioned on instead of ignored because someone is abusing it somewhere else. You can get treatment programs together for them without punishing us.
I was prescribed this after my neck surgery and holy mother of god did it make me anxious, unable to brain, and generally turned me into a basket case. I think I made it through 4 days before I realized it was this med and quit taking it.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's weird. Before it came out, there were no good pills for several things, especially some types of nerve pain, including shingles and post-herpetic neuralgia. For some people, it was nigh miraculous. Many are the people, though, who have had hideous side effects and said nope, don't even with the build up to a therapeutic dose business.
ReplyDeleteF-L Silver I adore my nortriptyline. I’m told it’s not a good depression medication (it’s original use); however, it’s great for controlling IBS. An added side benefit is that it also works for fibromyalgia & sciatica type pains. I would literally be on narcotics and unable to work if this wasn’t available. These types of medications are crucial for the chronic pain community.
ReplyDelete