Monday, June 11, Arnold, M. Patients taking gabapentin also reported significantly better sleep and less fatigue. For the majority of participants, the drug was well tolerated. The most common side effects included dizziness and sedation, which were mild to moderate in severity in most cases. Fibromyalgia is a debilitating condition for which current treatments are only modestly effective, so a study such as this is potentially good news for people with this common, painful condition.
Fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder characterized by chronic, widespread muscle pain and tenderness, and is frequently accompanied by fatigue, insomnia, depression, and anxiety.
Anti-seizure drugs, such as gabapentin, are often used to treat chronic pain. Pregabalin Lyrica , a drug similar to gabapentin, was the first medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration FDA to treat fibromyalgia.
While gabapentin hasn't been approved by the FDA for the treatment of fibromyalgia, some doctors may prescribe it off-label for such use. Gabapentin and pregabalin were originally approved to treat certain types of epilepsy and nerve pain. Both drugs work by limiting the release of pain-communicating chemicals by nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. The most common side effects of both drugs are dizziness and drowsiness.
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Our Housecall e-newsletter will keep you up-to-date on the latest health information. Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Low levels of neurotransmitters may be a factor in fibromyalgia, and it's believed that increasing their levels may ease the widespread pain associated with the condition. There are different types of antidepressants. The choice of medicine largely depends on the severity of your symptoms and any side effects the medicine may cause.
A medication called pramipexole, which is not an antidepressant but also affects the levels of neurotransmitters, is sometimes used as well. For information on the side effects of your particular medication, check the patient information leaflet that comes with it. They may recommend an over-the-counter remedy, or prescribe a short course of a stronger medication. Read more about treating insomnia for information on good sleeping techniques and medicines to help you sleep.
If you have muscle stiffness or spasms when the muscles contract painfully as a result of fibromyalgia, your GP may prescribe a short course of a muscle relaxant, such as diazepam. These medicines may also help you sleep better because they can have a sedative sleep-inducing effect. You may also be prescribed an anticonvulsant anti-seizure medicine, as these can be effective for those with fibromyalgia.
These are normally used to treat epilepsy , but research has shown they can improve the pain associated with fibromyalgia in some people. Antipsychotic medicines, also called neuroleptics, are sometimes used to help relieve long-term pain. Studies have shown that these medications may help conditions like fibromyalgia, but further research is needed to confirm this. As well as medication, there are other treatment options that can be used to help cope with the pain of fibromyalgia.
See self-help for fibromyalgia for more information about exercise and relaxation techniques. But some people find certain treatments help them relax and feel less stressed, allowing them to cope with their condition better. The gabapentin patients reported dizziness, sedation, lightheadedness, and weight gain significantly more often that did the placebo-treated patients.
Notably, the researchers said, there was no significant difference in weight change in the two groups as measured in the clinic, although edema may have explained some of the patients' perceptions. Most treatment adverse events, they reported, were mild to moderate in severity. The pathophysiology of fibromyagia is unknown, but evidence suggests that it is associated with aberrant central nervous system pain processing, the researchers said.
The drug appears to be effective in reducing abnormal hypersensitivity induced by inflammatory responses or nerve injury. Yet unlike many other pain syndromes, there is no physical evidence of inflammation or CNS damage.
One possible explanation, Dr.
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