psycom.netdepression.central.gabapentin.htmlOpen ↗
FAQ: Gabapentin for Depression, Mania and Anxiety.
NOTE: Gabapentin is only approved in the USA for the
treatment of people with seizures. There are few
systematic studies that establish the safety or
efficacy of gabapentin as a treat- ment for people
with mood disorders, anxiety or tardive
dyskinesia. While such studies are in the
progress, what is currently known about the use of
gabapentin for the control of mood and anxiety
disorders and tardive dyskinesia comes mostly from
uncontrolled case reports.
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1.What is gabapentin (Neurontin)? Gabapentin is an
anticonvulsant that is chemically unrelated to any other
anticonvulsant or mood regulating medication.
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2. When was gabapentin approved for marketing in the USA and
for what indications may it be promoted? Gabapentin
received final approval for marketing in the USA on 30
December 1993 and is labeled only for use as an
anticonvulsant. It is also widely used to treat
individuals suffering from many kinds of pain problems,
tremors, restless legs syndrome, hot flashes associated
with menopause, and various psychiatric disorders.
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3. Is a generic version of gabapentin available? There is no
generic gabapentin as the manufacturer has patent
protection.
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4. How does gabapentin differ from other mood stabilizing
drugs? Gabapentin differs from other mood stabilizing
drugs in two major ways:
5. Gabapentin is sometimes effectiveness for patients who
have failed to respond to antidepressants or mood
stabilizers;
6. Gabapentin's relatively benign side-effect profile.
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7. What, if anything, uniquely distinguishes gabapentin from
carbamazepine and valproate? Gabapentin has had been
successful in controlling rapid cycling and mixed bipolar
states in a few people who have not received adequate
relief from carbamazepine and/or valproate. It also
appears that gabapentin has significantly more
antianxiety and antiagitation potency than either
carbamazepine or valproate. Gabapentin also may be useful
as a treatoent for people with antipsychotic-induced
tardive dyskinesia.
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8. People with what sorts of mood and/or anxiety disorders
are candidates for treatment with gabapentin? It is too
early to be very specific about which mood disorders are
most likely to respond to treatment with gabapentin.
There are very few published reports on gabapentin's use
in psychiatry. Patients with hard-to-treat bipolar
syndromes seem to have been treated more often than
patients with "treatment-resistant" unipolar disorders,
although a few people with such hard to treat unipolar
depressions have been treated with good results. It is
possible that gabapentin will prove to be a useful
treatment for people with other mood disorders.
Gabapentin also seems to have significant activity as a way
of controlling various anxiety disorders.
--
Peter Bowditch The Millenium Project
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