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Neurology (Expert Forum)
Benign fasics and neurontin
This forum is for questions and support regarding neurology issues such as: Alzheimer's Disease, ALS, Autism, Brain Cancer, Cerebral Palsy, Chronic Pain, Epilepsy, Fibromyalgia, Headaches, MS, Neuralgia, Neuropathy, Parkinson's Disease, RSD, Sleep Disorders, Stroke, Traumatic Brain Injury
Benign fasics and neurontin
by ARTB, Dec 06, 1999 12:00AM
I have been dx with benign fasics after emg, mri and the normal neuro tests came back normal. My symptoms started in June with buzzing and twitching but gradually the buzzing stopped and the twitching got worse. Eventually the pain and cramping started promarily in my calves. I feel reasonably good besides these neurological symtoms. About a month ago my neuro perscribed neurontin when it seemed as if these problems were not going away any time soon. I noticed almost an immediate reduction in pain and about a 50% reduction in fasics. My question is neurontin a long term solution to this problem? Are there long term side effects to this drug? Can neurontin mask possibly more serious problems such as MS? Are there any other avevues I should be looking down? My physical condition seems good. Strength is good but I seem more shakey during and after exersion. Thank you for your time!
Doctor's Answer
by CCF Neuro[P] MD, RPS, Dec 08, 1999 12:00AM
Dear Richard:
Sorry to hear about your fasciculations. Neurontin can help but if the disorder is bengin fasciculations then they will eventually go away on their own. Each person is variable in the length of time that the fasciculations will persist. We do not understand what causes the majority of these (30% seem to be related to a viral infection). MS gives muscle weakness that is episodic and also can give parasthesias. Fasciculations can occur but this is late in the disease, usually. Since the symptoms are usually distinct, neurontin would not mask the muscle weakness and therefore would not hinder the diagnosis of MS, if you indeed begin to express the disorder.
Sincerely,
CCF Neuro MD
Sorry to hear about your fasciculations. Neurontin can help but if the disorder is bengin fasciculations then they will eventually go away on their own. Each person is variable in the length of time that the fasciculations will persist. We do not understand what causes the majority of these (30% seem to be related to a viral infection). MS gives muscle weakness that is episodic and also can give parasthesias. Fasciculations can occur but this is late in the disease, usually. Since the symptoms are usually distinct, neurontin would not mask the muscle weakness and therefore would not hinder the diagnosis of MS, if you indeed begin to express the disorder.
Sincerely,
CCF Neuro MD
You asked about Neurontin... and I'm here to inform you that it is a perpetual work-horse. I say this because I've been on it since 1995. Long-term usage is what the drug was designed for. Actually, it's an anti-seizure medication built to perform on all forms of nerve seizure. Most people don't usually put two-and-two together when it comes to "pain". Pain is a seizure form. Plain and simple. Like Epilepsy is a seizure form.
Be thankful that it's doing the job that you and your neuo hired it to do. If it didn't work, you could have "canned" it and hired something else. But then, that something else might house really horrid side-effects not associated with the Neurontin. Side effects with Neurontin usually disappear fairly quick. One of them is the "shakies" as you described. Just take it easy and things will eventually return to near-normal. I currently take 2700 mgs of it per day. No shakies, just pain reduction. There was a time when I was maxed-out at 3600 mgs per day before my craniotomy. Hence, the perpetual work-horse label. It can be pushed to meet the problem and reduced in recovery.
Have I answered your question? Hope so! Have a good one and rest easy knowing that it is for your long-term dilemna.
Sincerely,
C Jenkins
good question.
cats
I wish I could survive on 300 mgs per day. I take 3 - 300 mg caps 3 times a day. Based on the level of pain you've described, a slight "push" would definitely serve to reduce... and probably make life a bit easier. Let's all face it, chronic pain is virtual Hell and normalcy for us is in a page of past history. But, with the help of decent meds like Neurontin (and there are precious few) we can at least enjoy ourselves in a world we did not choose but somehow managed to secure. So, "push" the pain aside and say "no" to the depression game which usually follows pain around like a puppy dog. Talk to your neuro about it and have a good one.
Sincerely,
C Jenkins
cats
A type of Herpes virus, the chicken pox virus is the etiology of shingles. It can cause parasthesias, can be painful, but not fasciculations per se. However, about 30% of people who have benign fasciculations reported a viral illness within one or two weeks. There might be a connection, but nothing is definite. As your symptoms fit the category of benign fasciculation I would think that yours were not shingles related. You do not describe the usual outbreak of vesicles associated with zooster.
Sincerely,
CCF Neuro MD
Hey Doc RPS... How are you? I didn't mean to undermine your expertise. Lord knows you have more than enough of that to share with the world. Sometimes you just can't get around to everything and everybody. More questions are asked in an hour than a wise man can answer in 7 years. "The pain of the mind is worse than the pain