Thoughts on Gabapentin?

[Jeff in Ottawa]

So White is now approaching 12 and his back end is definitely weakening. He has been on Deramaxx (75 mg, once a day) for a while now and we added Tramadol (200 mg, twice a day) last fall. About a week ago his vet recommended we add Gabapentin (600 mg, twice a day). Does anyone have any experience with Gabapentin or using all three of these drugs at once? I'm a little leery of so many medications at once.

 

[ElvisTheNewf]

Elvis was on it while we waited for his TPLO. I know he was also on Rimadyl and Tramadol but not sure about the Deramaxx. He had about a month wait for his surgery and did really well - barely even a limp - so we know he was in hardly any pain.

He was on so many meds and so used to taking pills (wrapped in cheese, of course) that he eventually started responding to the shake of a pill bottle. It was such a pathetic Pavlov response!

 

[Jeannie]

I use all three when Chase's neck starts hurting. Gabapentin is a drug that blocks the nerve pain. It is completely different than Tramadol or Deramaxx. Tramadol is a narcotic pain reliever, deramaxx is a NSAID (non steroidal anti inflammitory) It helps with pain but mostly takes away inflammation.

I said I use all 3 when Chase's neck gets bad. I also add Robaxin a muscle relaxant to the mix.

 

[victoria1140]

Max has gabapentin for his cancer,we tried Tramadol and Metacam but neither gave him any pain relief.

Gabapentin works on nerve pain and for my boy was brilliant,not expensive either.

 

[catseyes]

I would def say give it a go. I cant say i have ever used it in dogs but i take it myself along with tramadol and a concoction of other drugs.

 

[Murphy]

Murphy was on numerous meds including Gabapentin Jeff. Give your baby a kiss from me. You can have one too. In a motherly sort of way.. LOL

 

[NinaA]

My experience with it is personal. I took/take it for shingles. It works well and does not seem to have any side effects. Moonlight takes tramadol for back and/or knee pain with a boost of "gaba" if the tramadol doesn't help right away.

 

[Jeff in Ottawa]

Thank you all for your input. It's been a pretty busy couple of weeks (4 softball games and a 15 km run in less than 24 hours = very tired human!) so I'm sorry for the lack of response. I'm starting to see some improvement in White and I think we will continue with the triple cocktail, especially given the lack of issues reported here.

 

[Jeannie]

15K? I'm running one this summer is preparation for a half marathon I'm running in September. Did you have a good time?

 

[Jeff in Ottawa]

15K? I'm running one this summer is preparation for a half marathon I'm running in September. Did you have a good time?

Did I have fun? Yes. Was my time as fast as I wanted? No. I probably would have been if I hadn't had the four softball games the day before. I was shooting for 1:15 and came in at 1:22 and change. It's the first time since I was 15 that I had to stop in a race. My left calf and shin were completely knotted up. Once I took a couple of minutes to stretch it out and run my thumbs down my shin I was alright. By the time I reached the 5 km mark I felt pretty good.

Right off the start I had a few target people that I could keep up with or beat and of course I lost them when I stopped (I actually stopped twice) but I managed to reel them all back in by the 13 km mark.

Good luck with your half marathon! I ran my first one this spring. The weather was terrible - just a few degrees above freezing and windy on a very uneven road. I'm going to run another one this fall and I'm debating running a full marathon in the spring.