What does Neurontin do?

grannynurse FNP student · Dec 20, 2005

My mom was just prescribed Neurontin because she has carpel tunnel syndrome in her hands. I was just wondering what exactly does it do ? Her hands hurt her alot, often preventing any use of them. Her hands also fall asleep alot. Does anyone know if these are all symptoms of CTS? I am wondering if her doctor is really doing all he can for her. Thanks for your input.

CTS symptoms include the sensation of falling a sleep in the affected extremity, as well as pain. Splinting is another of the treatments offered, as well as steroid injections into the affected area is another. The initial treatment is generally non-surgical. A more definitive diagnosis can be made with an EMG study, by a neurologist. Neurontin is an anti-seizure medication. It is frequently prescribed for pain caused by chronic situations, such as CTS, as well as nerve root compression. I would advise your mother have a complete work up by a neurologist.

Granynurse:balloons:

selulion · Dec 20, 2005

Thank you so much! I will let her know.:)

Bipley · Dec 20, 2005

My mom was just prescribed Neurontin because she has carpel tunnel syndrome in her hands. I was just wondering what exactly does it do ? Her hands hurt her alot, often preventing any use of them. Her hands also fall asleep alot. Does anyone know if these are all symptoms of CTS? I am wondering if her doctor is really doing all he can for her. Thanks for your input.

I had bilateral CT Release a couple of years ago. Best thing I ever did. From the moment you are taken to the recovery room it is an instant cure.

Speaking as a patient and not a nurse, I fully disagree with Neurontin for CTS. I can see NSAIDs but if the problem is severe enough for Neurontin then the actual problem needs to be corrected instead of stopping pain traveling along the nerves.

BTW, there are several different procedures. I had the cool one, a tiny hole was cut in my wrist and a tiny hole in the palm of my hand. A 4mm camera/knife was inserted in one hole and down to the other. Then the band in question is cut. No sutures, no general, just twilight sleep.

Getting it fixed is the best thing I ever did.

rnmom3153 · Dec 20, 2005

Neurontin is used quite successfully in chronic pain management. It's also used for mood stablization and seems to be quite effective. It's primary use is as an antisiezure med.

rnmom :)

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Dec 20, 2005

one of the uses of neurontin is for neuropathic pain which is a fancy way of saying you get pain because a nerve is being physically irritated for one reason or another and that is how it is reacting--by your brain perceiving pain. i like to think of neurontin being used this way as a kind of tranquilizer for the nerve.

my own history with it, however, is that i had a lot of finger and muscle twitching as they increased my dose of neurontin. it was affecting my ability to hold a pen or pencil and write. i took it for a pinched nerve in my back that causes muscle spasms. since, i have been switched to zonegran, gabatril and now to topamax. these are all anti-epileptic drugs, but they affect the nerves by tranquilizing or soothing them. hard to explain this concept. anyway, i like the topamax a lot. it has greatly reduced by muscle spasms which are the real cause of the pain and my finger twitching is practically nil.

the conservative treatment for cts, as another poster mentioned, is to wear wrist splints. the splints keep the arm, wrist and hand in a neutral position that minimizes irritation to the radial vein which is the culprit here. they can be purchased at any drug store where they have the first aid supplied, like ace wraps. the pain in your mom's hands as well as the sensation of them "falling asleep" which is called paresthesia is due to the radial nerve being pinched where is passes through a hole in the bone of the wrist called the carpal tunnel. there is a progression of symptoms that occur when a nerve is squeezed like that. it includes tingling, numbness, and pain. the amount of squeezing (or compression) of the nerve that is going on determines the extent of these symptoms a person will have.

here are links to information about carpal tunnel syndrome:

http://www.eatonhand.com/hw/hw006.htm

http://familydoctor.org/023.xml

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/carpal_tunnel/carpal_tunnel.htm

http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/brochure/thr_report.cfm?thread_id=5&topcategory=hand

these are links to information about neurontin. i'll admit that it is very hard to find information as to why neurontin works for neuropathic pain:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a694007.html

http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/pharmclips2.cgi?keyword=%20neurontin%ae