Does
gabapentin work in patients with fibromyalgia?
Wow,
this is a difficult subject. Patients with fibromyalgia are complex and have
many comorbid disorders including a terrible personality; they are always blaming
everyone else for their medical problems and are extremely negative. They are
some of the most difficult patients to treat and I avoid them-chiefly cause I
am a surgeon and have little interest in non-surgical disorders.
However I have
post graduate training in pharmacology and know a fair bit about medications. As
far as gabapentin is concerned, it is a widely used drug to treat neuropathy.
It does work in some diabetics and in patients with shingles and post herpetic
neuralgia. As far as fibromyalgia is concerned, the drug does not always work.
The evidence to support its use in fibromyalgia is weak. However, some patients
with fibromyalgia have found the drug useful. The only way to know if
gabapentin will work in fibromyalgia is to try it out for at least 2-3 weeks.
Beware the drug has many adverse effects including weight gain, sedation and swelling
of the extremities.
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