Neurontin and anxiety

I have a disk bulg and was prescribed narcotics, and injections in my lower back at about 6 mo intervals. I have abruptly gone off my medications and went on 2 300mg per day working up to pain relief. I just received injections so pain is levels are tolerable. the neurontin is give nuvaring me sever anxiety, raising blood presser to high levels for me, insomnia, nervousness, How long before these side affects go away? Any one else experience this?

I am switching from Lyrics to Neurontin. I have always had a weight problem and lost 50 lbs.on Weight Watchers and have gained about 10 of it back. I am switching from Lyrics to Neurontin, hoping to stem the weight gain. Opinions and experiences please . . . am I jumping from the frying pan into the fire? I CANNOT ALLOW THIS WEIGHT TO COME BACK ANY FURTHER !!!! HELP !!!!!!

LC - Ohio

Hello everyone..I have many great things to say about Neurontin. It has been a miracle medication for me. I was in a car accident in 2000 as a passenger my face and head hit the windshield at 80mph. my jaw was broke and the back of my teeth were broken.
Little did I know it was extremely traumatic! My MRI's came back fine and I moved on with my life. About 6 months later my life began to change a brown spot covered my eyesight in the left eye. I began falling all the time and having seizures.
I had another MRI's of by brain done it came back negative. Not one Doctor could seem to understand what was wrong with me. I was put on Topamax for bad headaches that seemed to help. I began loosing weight and continued having seizures(Granmal) where you lose ur vision and it began to effect my speech and i would become confused.
My life was like this for 5 long years. Life didn't get better, I began to be soo tired and felt exhausted all the time. One day out of no where , I couldn't raise my head to get out of bed for work, my whole right side was burning and i was in pure agony!!! i will never forget that day. I had to have my Daughter help me up and i could barley walk...I pushed myself to keep going thinking this is all in my mind!! theres nothing wrong with me.. The MRI's are negative. I proceeded with my day in so much pain and limping all day.
It finally went away and I was fine again fo a small amount of time, I started not being able to remember things ....and forgetting from one second to the next and getting lost when I would drive...i began to panic and have anxiety, I felt like my life was out of control. I called my Mom and she said she had noticed a change in me, things I guess I didn't even know. She said I couldn't hold a conversation as before and i would slur my words and I couldn't recall what she would tell me.
My attacks moved to 4-5 times a week sometimes having seizures 2-3 times a day. I ended up having to be taken care of and moving where my Mother was so she could watch over me. I didn't get better. I couldn't work and I couldn't do much of anything.
My Mother took me to a MS specialist and he was the one who noticed there was something wrong! My face and legs would jerk and I couldn't sit still ..I had so much going thru my mind what could be wrong? I had 2 Sets of MRI's this time and it wasn't fine this time...My Spinal Cord was barley attached to my Brain Stem and CV 5-6 in my neck.
I was at the stage of being in a wheelchair not that I hadn't been using one from time to time and needing a cane.
I was sent to ER Surgery and had a stay in the Hospital and really thought I was a lucky Person to have made it for 5yrs without dying. It has been 4years and I still have soo many problems, I'm held together with a steel plate in my neck that holds mt together.
I'm now 41 years old and I wonder what my future holds. I'm not the same girl I used to be and probably never will be. I have to have Neurontin 600mgx4 a day and 1000mg Keppra a day...Without it I would not want to live the pain is unbearable for me! The only negative side affect is my hair falls out and I have severe Insomnia. Neurontin is a Miracle for me!

I wish all of you the BEST! Prayers for all of you.....

i have been on neurontin for nerve pain in my legs due to vasculitis for a few weeks now. i have only noticed a small increase in appetite. my eyesite seems to be out of focus, but its so bad anyway that i have no idea if its the neurontin or just my eyes, and minor headaches i had no pain relief either........absolutely no improvement at all. my doctor just raised my dose from 900 mgs a day to 1200 the other day. still no pain relief but i am now getting a bit dizzy. i guess we will see what happens!

Is a side effects of this drug anxiety or mood swings or temper? I have noticed some impatiens lately but I try to control it. I take 600mg 3 times a day so far and probably need more. I have neuralgia of some kind.

I am 38 and taking it for TN with the 1st and 2nd branches affected. At 600mg I noticed mild hyperactivity. This subsided but was not enough to alleviate the pain. At 900mg I had an increased level of hyperactivity with about 2 weeks of sleepless nights. This also eventually subsided and the pain was gone. This was good for approximately 6 months. Then the 3rd branch started up and I was told to increase the level to 1200mg/day. The hyperactivity was worse. Then came the fits of crying for no reason (I NEVER cry). I gained 10 lbs. and much anxiety. I came close to driving my vehicle off of a bridge but made it to my mom's house where I feel into a crying fit. I couldn't remember where I left anything and this was affecting my work. It got so bad I was having my husband drive to work because I couldn't concentrate and almost had a few accidents. I completely lost my sex drive which was horrible. This all happened within 2 weeks of increasing it. I know it is not good to just quit taking something but I had to. Within 2 days I was getting better. I am now on 700mg which is not enough to help with the pain.

Neurontin has been wonderful for me.

I'm on 900 a day for anxiety/ADHD and some lack of coping issues (previous diagnosis of bi-polar as well but my psych now doesn't agree)

Mood - calmer, more control over my actions and temper.

Anxiety - much lower, inner voice is really quieted down.

ADHD issues - calmer, slowed down my way too fast perception, much less fidgetting, able to focus and I don't feel overwhelmed

Weight - is down. I'm eating much better now, no longer eating crap to self-medicate.

Sex - I'm a married early 30s female and our sex life has gone from good to earthshattering. All of a sudden I feel more aroused and more interested in sex.

I get sleepy at times but it is not a big deal at all. Nothing else in terms of side effects.

I love this drug.

This freaks me out reading all of these...I just expierenced something....

I was in the hospital because they thought I had a stroke. I am only 26 years old. My whole right side when numb and weak and it was my leg, arm, and face, and lips, nose, and eye areas. It then went away after 48 hours. They have no idea what it was. they have done MRI's and ruled out Bells Palsey and tons of stuff. I also see flashing lights so they are starting to lean towards migraines.

The only weird thing is that I went in a while ago for extreme belly pain burning and they found that my liver was enlarged.

Now, someone else above mentioned these stroke like symptoms and the enlarged liver.

I also get strange thoughts. I am on Neurontin 2100 MG for anxiety.

Anyone have any advice?

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I have been taking Neurontin (they said for my anger)for approx. 5 mos. I only take 300 mg even though I should take a lot more. I also take Paxil 40mg for anxiety, OCD and panic attacks. I have been on Paxil for almost 5 years. The reason I say I should take more Neurontin is because it definitely helps my well-being but I still get terrible anger outbursts. I am not inclined to ask for an increased dosage of Neurontin because there are some side effects that I do not like. The little stuff I can deal with but the two issues that are really bothering me are the feelings of lethargy I get and my short term memory loss/concentration. It seems like the higher dosage I take the worse the effects get. I do not believe that it's the Paxil because I have been on it for so long and the only side effects I seem to have are when I try to get off of it. I would also like to mention that I have tried LOTS of medications, I mean LOTS! None of them have worked successfully. Neurontin is the only one that seems to be helping me control my anger but I can stand feeling sluggish and out of it all day. Suggestions from anyone? Does anyone else take Neurontin for an anger problem? Or, does anyone know of any other meds work just as good w/o the side effects? Please let me know. Thanks!

RE: Neurontin and anger-outbursts

This is a follow-up for the side-effect I just posted. The problem of anger-outbursts can usually be traced to low levels of frustration-tolerance, and the good-feeling-feedback one gets from acting-out by doing something our society describes as "anger." This can take the effect of violence in some form or another, which usually gets a person into trouble with societal norms. It FEELS good to act-out and dissipate the frustration which may be described as feeling intolerable or inevitable.

Since Neurontin seems to work by lowering actual nerve-impulses that make muscles twitch, causing pain-signals, or restless-leg syndrome, or epileptic seizures (for example) it makes sense to me that a person suffering from OCD (Obsessional-Compulsive-Disorder)and anxiety would find the "need" to act out on obsessional actions like anger-outbursts -- which drain the buildup of anxiety and compulsion emotions -- helped by a drug that dulls or circumvents the nerve-signals causing emotional distress (Neurontin).

To expect or want a drug, any drug, to teach one how to tolerate frustration and anxiety without side-effects is unrealistic if not impossible. If you were MY client I would work with you to de-sensitize you to small levels of anxiety and frustration, while weaning you off of all meds. That way you would learn that the self-control is in your own hands, and give you the tools to deal with it without the crutch of looking for exactly-the-right drug. It's a matter of learning how to control one's own behavior in acceptable forms, like exercise, that drain-off the emotional charge that "feels uncontrollable" You CAN learn how to control your behavior without terrible emotional distress. Jan S. Kauffman, Neurontin userid, Masters degree in Counselling, alcohol and drug abuse rehab professional.

I have a sexual dysfunction from neurontin (I think). I started taking the drug 3 years ago for anxiety and it worked for the most part however, I just was married. I am unable to enjoy sex and this all began when I started the med. I am 33 and don't think my sex drive is supposed to diminish now. I have been lowering the dosage but I am still having the same problem. Anyone else have the same?

Hi,

I just started Neurontin about a few weeks ago I started at 300mgs a day now just 3 weeks later I am on 1200mgs per day and upping it to 1500mgs tommorow. I am told to up the dose 300mgs every 3 days. If I don't its like I'm just taking candy and nothing happens. It works for a day then it stops.

I am concerned though after reading all this stuff that maybe this isn't the drug for me so far its helping but I'm worried I don't want permanenet Kidney damage and I have just started w/ a small tension headache but it could be stress at work doing that and not the med. I'm taking this for IBS pain/Anxiety my shrink gave it to me said, its not approved by the FDA for anything but seizures. God I hope I don't get blood clots and have a stroke all this info is scaring me reading this stuff you all wrote.

I think I better get off this stuff.