This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

Hey All,

Today I woke up hurting worse than I have since starting Neurontin, and in fact I think worse than I have in quite some time.

I have no weed (my normal response to random pain) I have taken 600MG of Neurontin and 600mg of ibuprphin already. I have tylenol and asprin available as well as Bacclofin. I think that's all in the house, but I've yet to hear back from my GF if she has anything in the house. Other than that I have alchohol, and icepads ready (I don't for some reason think drinking is a good idea, somehow I made my wisdom check on that one)

Any ideas? Note: one way or the other I am out the door in about 40 minutes, whether I feel better or not (my gf is out of town and my dog's needs are his needs)

edit: oh I didn't describe it did I? basically my entire body hurts, I'm having major twitches in my leg and arm muscles, cramps on and off up and down my sides, and a headache that's almost a migraine, but I had no aurals (I typically get visuals before migraines although I did wake up this way so who knows)

hi bender do you currently supplement magnesium? if you supplement anything at all, what would those be? i could look to see if any of your meds deplete nutrients that would lead to your current sitch but one thing after another in your list shout magnesium to me.

I'm currently on:
Neurontin (600mg 3x daily)
copaxone
Atacand HTC (Hydroclorothiazide with a beta blocker iirc)
2000 IUD's of Vitamin D (although it seems to be worse on the days I take this)
Xanax (typically .5 or 1 Mg at bedtime. nothing signifigant)
and most days I take 1200-1800 mg's of Ibuprofen a day.


The day before yesterday I noticed that there's a note on the side of the neurontin not to take antacid's within 2 hours of it, and I may have for a couple days before that as I've had heartburn at night. I ended up caving and ordering take out (sotospeak) which helped tremendously almost immediately. It's always funny to me when I smoke then feel energized and sharp.

anyway, does that stuff say magnesium to you? I tend to eat quite a bit of greens on a pretty regular basis ( probably 6-8 times a week overall, Broccoli Rab, collard greens, even sometimes kale) not even for health reasons, I'm just a foodie and like contrasted bitters.

hi bender,

if you get worse taking D3 then i'm even more suspicious that your magnesium is down.

D3 will use up some of whatever dietary magnesium you get, in order to absorb properly. if your dietary intake of mag is low to start, and you supplement D3 without a balanced mineral supplement, then you can throw things out of whack.

as for neurontin it's a bit of a nutrient drain:
http://www.thisisms.com/ftopicp-50052.html#50052
nutrients depleted by gabapentin
-vitamin b6
-vitamin b9(folic)
-vitamin b12
-vitamin d
-vitamin e
-vitamin k
-biotin
-calcium
-L-carnitine

if it's used to relax muscles, there are two major constituents of many antacids which also affect muscle contraction and relaxation. calcium helps muscles contract, while gabapentin depletes calcium, so if you mixed those two you'd be canceling out the calcium reduction. magnesium is another ingredient in antacids and this would help muscles relax, so maybe if you took magnesium with gabapentin it would work too well. not just because magnesium helps relaxes muscles but also has links to GABA release. your body is supposed to release GABA on its own and there are links to ATP.. specifically magnesium-dependent Mg-ATP.

wikipedia: "Gabapentin (brand name Neurontin) is a pharmaceutical drug, specifically a GABA analogue."

this next bit is not properly referenced but it's worth a read. i took a couple stabs at locating some abstract links, to back these statements up, but i don't have all night so this is it for now

"Magnesium is a critical element in 325+ biochemical reactions in the human body.

Recent research, in France and several other European countries, gives a clue concerning the role of magnesium plays in the transmission of hormones (such as insulin, thyroid, estrogen, testosterone, DHEA, etc.), neurotransmitters (such as dopamine, catecholamines, serotonin, GABA, etc.), and minerals and mineral electrolytes.

This research concludes that it is magnesium status that controls cell membrane potential and through this means controls uptake and release of many hormones, nutrients and neurotransmitters. It is magnesium that controls the fate of potassium and calcium in the body. If magnesium is insufficient potassium and calcium will be lost in the urine and calcium will be deposited in the soft tissues (kidneys, arteries, joints, brain, etc.).

Magnesium protects the cell from aluminum, mercury, lead, cadmium, beryllium and nickel. Evidence is mounting that low levels of magnesium contribute to the heavy metal deposition in the brain that precedes Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's. It is probable that low total body magnesium contributes to heavy metal toxicity in children and is a participant in the etiology of learning disorders."

i'm a greens lover too! but i still have to supplement magnesium and a few other things, in large part due to the d3 supplement.

hope that helps!

jimmylegs