Mom started intermittent long term memory loss after being put on gralise/gabapentin/neurontin for pain in her foot. Could it be related? After my dad died my mother had severe, intractable pain. A neurologist put her on Gralise of gabapentin, also known as neurontin to treat the pain which he said was neuropathy. A year later another doctor diagnosed her as not having neuropathy and said her nerve conduction test showed normal nerve function for her age but with a problem from her back which was consistent with a disk problem. He was able to pull up her CT scans and the disk damage was exactly what he had told us he expected to find. He was ok with leaving her on Gralise. Now 2.5 years have passed, she's had two hip replacements, one failed and a revision. Memory worse immediately after surgery, then after a year improved. I've forgotten almost what my mom was like before the Gralise. Has anyone heard of this drug and its variants causing memory issues? The neurologist joked that Gralise would make him stupid but it was better than pain. I'm afraid of the pain coming back, but losing your mind is a rough side effect. Anyone with experience with this drug/side effect issue who could comment on their experience would be helpful.
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Surely there is some other pain relief medication that could be used for your mom's condition. There's a point to what the doctor said when there is intractable pain, but in my opinion he hasn't tried enough for an alternative drug that could give her pain relief but not mess up her mind. I'd go for a second opinion. No reasonable doctor should resent a second opinion.
Good luck with this. Please update us when you can.
Carol
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It was the pharmacist who caught that my mother was having fainting/falling down issues on Ultram, which is not uncommon in the elderly--but her dr kept prescribing them...and she kept falling.
All the best, hugs, Hope
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