# Pregabalin and Gabapentin



## tsmed

Does anyone know anything about the drugsregabalin and GabapentinI have an appointment with my doctor and am wanting some information on these two drugs regarding treatment of pain, anxiety and epilepsy.


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## Ian

tsmed,I've been looking up these drugs on the net recently, due to a couple of articles I came across suggesting Gabapentin could be prescribed to treat a variety of medical disorders including 'the particularly difficult-to-treat spontaneous pains that are due to neuropathy, the defective functioning of the sensory nerves'.The article goes on to suggest it could be used for a variety of intractable chronic pain syndromes eg post-shingles neuralgia.Galapentin was originally developed for treatment of epilepsy although its other uses are only now becoming apparent and published.Gabapentin was originally synthesised in the early 1980s as a compound that closely resembled the brain neurotransmitter GABA, which passes messages from one nerve to another.It turned out that this compound worked in an unexpected way, by interfering with the insulating sheath around the nerve.Nevertheless, it served to damp down electrical seizures in the brain and was therefore promoted for treatment of epilepsy (although at the time there were also several effective, cheaper, drugs available).Its real value emerged when American pain specialists, aware that anti-epileptic drugs can control the symptoms of neuropathy by interfering with the mechanism by which the brain perceives pain, prescribed it for pateients with seemingly intractable pain syndromes with very successful results.I don't know what studies have been done on its direct relationship to anxiety but would be very interested to hear what your interest in this medication is, how you think it might help and what your doctor's response is.Ian


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