Gabapentinoids One big dose or spaced out Gabapentin?

[BK38]

I am rx’d 3 x 300mg gabapentin for nerve pain in my left shoulder. A nerve got squished in my left shoulder when I slept on it for 24 hrs+ (from Valium I am rx’d for and don’t abuse). I am still rx’d 40mg Valium a day.

My whole left arm is atrophying but I have slowly regained most mobility (before I could barely move anything shoulder down). My hand still tremors if I extend my arm out and I can’t raise both arms to the sky.

With that preface over with, I’m wondering if it makes sense to take all my gabapentin at once or space them out every 4 hrs or so as I have been. Is it more bioavailabile/efficacious to take 900mg all at once or should I continue spacing them out?

 

[MsDiz]

Take them as prescribed would be my advice.

Best of luck with rehabbing the shoulder, make sure you're getting physio for it.

 

[Keif' Richards]

I am rx’d 3 x 300mg gabapentin for nerve pain in my left shoulder. A nerve got squished in my left shoulder when I slept on it for 24 hrs+ (from Valium I am rx’d for and don’t abuse). I am still rx’d 40mg Valium a day.

My whole left arm is atrophying but I have slowly regained most mobility (before I could barely move anything shoulder down). My hand still tremors if I extend my arm out and I can’t raise both arms to the sky.

With that preface over with, I’m wondering if it makes sense to take all my gabapentin at once or space them out every 4 hrs or so as I have been. Is it more bioavailabile/efficacious to take 900mg all at once or should I continue spacing them out?

Gabapentin has some pharmacology that makes it pretty unique from a lot of other drugs we talk about on here.

There is only a certain amount of the drug that can be absorbed at a given time from the intestines. The higher the dosage you take at a given time will provide lesser and lesser returns the higher the dosage gets. It's widely believed and 300mg-400mg at a time is best, so you're better off just following your guidelines. You won't get anything more out of taking more at a time.

Also very important, Gabapentin's bioavailability is greatly mediated by stomach content. Eating something before taking each dose can practically double the strength of a given dose. If you're appetite is normal, I would recommend taking your dose after each meal. If you're not really a fixed-meal kinda guy like myself, I like to eat a big spoon of peanut butter and wash the pill down with some milk. This gives you the high-fat environment that Gabapentin prefers without needing to eat a meal before hand. It's always worked for me!

 

[BK38]

Take them as prescribed would be my advice.

Best of luck with rehabbing the shoulder, make sure you're getting physio for it.

I’ve got physio lined up sometime this coming month, thanks for the advice. I’ll continue to take the gabapentin as prescribed. I hope things are going well for you and K.

 

[BK38]

Gabapentin has some pharmacology that makes it pretty unique from a lot of other drugs we talk about on here.

There is only a certain amount of the drug that can be absorbed at a given time from the intestines. The higher the dosage you take at a given time will provide lesser and lesser returns the higher the dosage gets. It's widely believed and 300mg-400mg at a time is best, so you're better off just following your guidelines. You won't get anything more out of taking more at a time.

Also very important, Gabapentin's bioavailability is greatly mediated by stomach content. Eating something before taking each dose can practically double the strength of a given dose. If you're appetite is normal, I would recommend taking your dose after each meal. If you're not really a fixed-meal kinda guy like myself, I like to eat a big spoon of peanut butter and wash the pill down with some milk. This gives you the high-fat environment that Gabapentin prefers without needing to eat a meal before hand. It's always worked for me!

Thanks for the well considered and thoughtful advice. I’ll drink some full fat milk before I take my gabapentin in future.