Nupentin (gabepentin)

[sandgrubber]

Jarrah (Labrador) is 14 and showing her age.  Muscle atrophy, arthritis, walking painfully.  I went to the vet to get some meds to make her a bit more comfortable.  The vet prescribed both Carprieve (carprofen) and Nupentin (gabepentin).  I've been giving her the carprofen, which is helping, but am hesitant to give her the gabepentin. I am on gabepentin for arthritis myself, and it mostly seems to make me drowsy and make it easier to get to sleep.  It is definitely habit forming, if not addictive. With the amount of staggering Jarrah does, and her occasional difficulty getting on her feet, seems like the last thing she needs is pills to make her drowsy, and I'm afraid that if I start using it, she will suffer if I take her off. 

Curious.  Has anyone else had gabepentin prescribed for their dog? If so, how has it worked out? 

P. S. I didn't put this in the senior dog section because I don't think anyone reads it.... Plus seems likely that gabepentin is getting prescribed for young dogs as well. 

[Gretel]

My two older Cavs are both on gabapentin. They both have neck pain and one has arthritis too. I’ve not noticed a lot of difference to be honest. The arthritic girl was really struggling last night.

[mackiemad]

Gabapentin really is helpful for nerve (neuropathic) pain so I'm not entirely sure why it's being given out for arthritic pain. Though Gretel, it may indicate that the neck pain is inflammatory rather than neuropathic. 

 

I've been given it to help with restless legs but I don't find it helpful - amitriptyline is more helpful for me, though not sure if it can be given to dogs. Both drugs are originally designed for other issues in different doses, seizures and depression, so both have side effects of drowsiness ime.

[Diva]

My old girl is on Gabapentin. She was licking a front leg and it seemed to be from inflammation in her shoulder and neck. It helps. At her age I don’t care if it is habit forming, I will be fortunate if she lasts another year. 

[Tassie]

No experience with Gabapentin, but just a thought .. do you have access to a vet acupuncturist?  Or a holistic vet with a variety of modalities.  My old girl was limited in what she could take because she already had early stage kidney disease, but she did seem to benefit from acupuncture treatments, as well as from PEMF and massage mat treatments.  She also did have a herbal arthritis pain relief made up by our holistic vet.  (One of his vet techs took it for her rheumatoid arthritis and found it helpful.)  Not sure if that can be taken with Carprofen though.  Oh and she had Rosehip Vital Canine as well.

 

But yes, as they get older, comfort and effectiveness trumps habit forming.    Hard to see them getting older, isn't it.

[Papillon Kisses]

Malcolm has been on gabapentin at higher doses (for anxiety) and low doses (for non-arthritic pain). I don’t think we saw any side effects at a low dose, but he was sick so I can’t say for sure. At a high dose he was hungrier, more playful and not at all sedated. He was however more anxious, so we weaned him off it. So that’s our experience, but I’ve found it best not to be worried about other peoples’/dogs’ experiences as I’ve known dogs who do wonderfully on medications to which mine has had a bad reaction!

 

There are worse things than needing medication to feel better, such as being in chronic pain. Remember too that you’re in control of whether, when and how it’s given, and can slowly wean her off if needed, like we did with Mal. If you can, I think you’d be well served seeing a rehab vet for an exercise program to complement medication.

[westiemum]

Mac was on gabapentin for the last couple of years if his life - and because he was so old I was more concerned with pain control so I wasn't worried about addiction.  And it worked very well - seemed to help Mac enormously.

[ness]

Yep my girl with ortho issues has been on a combination of an anti-inflam (currently meloxicam) and gabapentin. Sometimes I think its not really helping but the few times I have decided to remove it she is definitely worse without it.

[Two Best Dogs!]

This is what we have been given (4.5 year old dog with symptoms of pain, unknown cause for any passerbys). She's on 400mg twice a day in conjunction with loxicom until we run out of the pack. She is definitely affected in a "groggy sleep a lot" kind of way which has faded throughout the day and has returned after her next dose. On plus side, I think I could have a party in the house and she wouldn't care.

 

 

[sandgrubber]

The gabepentin doesn't seem to be helping Jarrah much. .. or at best, it's masking a further downhill slide.  I bought another 20 days worth, but I'm afraid she's heading toward the rainbow bridge .  (don't like the new emoticons... Can't find sad with tears). 

[persephone]

15 hours ago, sandgrubber said:

The gabepentin doesn't seem to be helping Jarrah much. .. or at best, it's masking a further downhill slide.  I bought another 20 days worth, but I'm afraid she's heading toward the rainbow bridge .  (don't like the new emoticons... Can't find sad with tears).