Was taking Gabapentin (300 mg x 3) daily and up to 5-6 a day with pain. Two weeks ago (at max dose) I began to have a rash and lots of itching, then mild peeling. Took Benadryl for itching, then Gloria pointed out that it could be side effect and I called my regular doc who told ms since I was symptom free at the moment to wean off to one a day. Finally recorded a call today from nuero (7 phones calls to him since 11/5) who ‘never have heard of having to wean off gabapentin and it wouldn’t matter if I took 1 or 10, if I was having a reaction it would be immediate’. I told him that since I was taking the lower dosage, the rash was all but gone, but he wants to see me tomorrow.
Thoughts?? I think this guy is a whack job!! Perhaps if he had called me back 11 days ago, there would be a rash to show him!!
Frustrated to no end, but thankful I’m not in pain today.
Hi Kristal,
I can’t say what may or may not be the cause of the rash you experienced Kristal, but in the case of anti-seizure meds like these, if you get a rash and are on meds at any dosage, it’s best to be seen by someone right away and an immediate cease of all the applicable meds, preferably it’s seen by the ER. They can reach your doctors faster and get it sorted out. A rash by anti-seizure meds can get serious, I don’t know if Gabapentin is on that list that can cause the rashes (not right now, no brain here at present) but take the rash seriously and go to an ER if you can.
As for your Neuro wanting to see you tomorrow - you may find he wishes to discuss a change in meds now as he will likely assume the rash was caused by gabapentin and want to get you off it and onto something else.
Cheers,
Kerry
Sorry Kristal did you say you were taking 900mg per day or at one dose then up to 6 doses of 900mg each day? To clarify, what is your total daily dose you were taking?
I was taking 300 mg capsules, 3 a day total, then up to 6 a day (for 2 days, 1800 mg total per day), then back to 5, 4, 3, and for the last few days just one per day…sorry, I can see how that was confusing!
The nuero gabapentin could never cause a rash (even tho the pharmacists and my regular doctor disagreed, obviously), and the nuero also said I could take 10 a day and none the next and should have no problems with that.
After a long conversation after hours with my regular doctor’s office, she apologized for the referral and agreed I should not go back to see him. I have the MRI tomorrow, and those results will go back to my family doctor and then I’ll go see another nuero. I can’t wait 11 days for a nuero to call me back, period.