Posted by vince on March 13, 2001, at 11:12:28
In reply to Neurontin as a mood stabilizer, posted by Chaston on March 12, 2001, at 10:47:29
> Has anyone had any success over a period of time using Neurontin as the sole mood stabilizer, in conjunction with an SSRI, to treat recurrent depression and Bipolar II (?? the one with periodic depressions, mild ups exacerbated by anti-depressants)?
> My P-doc put me on Neurontin almost a year ago. It had a calming effect. I ramped up to 1200 mg (all at bedtime, his recommendation), but felt too stupid (literally) in the morning to go up more. I have not had hypomania since then, but my P-doc put me on Depakote last December (now at 1250 mg/day).
> He says that the consensus seems to be that Depakote is better at mood stabilization. Since I would like to eliminate at least one of these drugs, my P-doc is having me taper off the Neurontin. I wondered if I am elimanting the wrong med.
> Thanks for your input!Chaston,
There is a neurontin thread here where it is claimed that the body cannot metabolize more than 600mg of neurontin at one time.http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010111/msgs/51776.html
Also, the half life of neurontin is very short, as SalArmy4me points out.
So, since you have done well with neurontin, maybe you should try deviding the single nightime dose into three or four smaller doses through out the day before you decide to discontinue it.
Vince
poster:vince
thread:56289
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010310/msgs/56378.html