"Howard Berkowitz" wrote in message
...

Neurontin (generic name gabapentin) isn't quite a major breakthrough
drug, as in a completely new therapeutic class, but it's an important
improvement both for preventing convulsion and treating pain from nerve
damage. In the present climate of problems in reporting side effects, I
thought I might add one that's been observed by several human physicians
I know, but isn't mentioned in the product literature.

I have no way of knowing if this will occur in cats, but it appears to
cause weight gain in a fair number of humans. In some of these cases,
that may even be beneficial, to a patient that's debilitated from
convulsions or intractable nerve pain. Up to very recently, it was the
best thing we had for diabetic neuropathic pain, although a new and
specific agent has just been approved for that indication. Research I'm
tracking indicate that it's reasonably likely that several new classes
of pain management drugs will be reaching approval soon, but I have no
idea if they can be used in cats.

Please be careful and do a lot of research before using Neurontin. Pfizer
has promoted this drug for at least 11 "off-label" medical conditions,
including pain management (pain management is a multi-billion dollar
market). Here's a link that tells more about their unethical practices:
http://www.citizen.org/ELETTER/ARTICLES/neurontin.htm

From the article:

"A senior marketing executive at Parke-Davis was quoted during a
teleconference as saying to medical liaisons:

Pain management, now that's money. Monotherapy, that's money. We don't want
to share these patients with everybody, we want them on Neurontin only. We
want their whole drug budget, not a quarter, not half, the whole
thing....That's where we need to be holding their hand and whispering in
their ear: 'Neurontin for pain, Neurontin for monotherapy, Neurontin for
everything' ... I don't want to hear that safety crap either, have you tried
Neurontin, every one of you should take one just to see there is nothing
[that the drug is safe], it's a great drug."

It was prescribed to me for my Fibromyalgia and when I had to quit taking it
the withdrawal was devastating - including nausea, feeling electrical
shock-like tingling all over my body, headache, dizziness, swelling limbs,
black-out episodes (quite scary when driving), trembling, feeling increased
pain, and panic attacks.

Hugs,

CatNipped