Associations between gabapentinoids and suicidal behaviour, unintentional overdoses, injuries, road traffic incidents, etc., 2019, Molero et al.

Associations between gabapentinoids and suicidal behaviour, unintentional overdoses, injuries, road traffic incidents, and violent crime: population based cohort study in Sweden

Yasmina Molero, postdoctoral researcher,1,2,3 Henrik Larsson, professor,2,4 Brian M D’Onofrio, professor,2,5 David J Sharp, professor, honorary consultant neurologist,6 and Seena Fazel, professor, honorary consultant forensic psychiatrist1

Objective

To examine associations between gabapentinoids and adverse outcomes related to coordination disturbances (head or body injuries, or both and road traffic incidents or offences), mental health (suicidal behaviour, unintentional overdoses), and criminality.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6559335/

 

"When the drugs were examined separately, pregabalin was associated with increased hazards of all outcomes, whereas gabapentin was associated with decreased or no statistically significant hazards. When stratifying on age, increased hazards of all outcomes were associated with participants aged 15 to 24 years."

 

Interesting re age profile.

When I queried the use of amitriptyline in children ( can be as young as 10 to my knowledge) and asked for evidence re impact on developing brain and efficacy with paediatrician there was an awkward pause.

I suspect a lot of the drug interventions for those under 18 may be based on clinical practise and not clinical trials.
I would love to be proved wrong.

 

I find this topic fascinating and equally disturbing. I already wrote about my strange experiences with pregagablin, i thought it was on this forum but maybe it was at the other place as i can’t find it. Was hoping to find it to save explaining again

I wasn’t in the worst age range. I was roughly 32 so within the next band.

But it altered my consciousness. It was fantastic for neuro pain and daily migraines. The only way i can vaguely and incorrectly describe it is it flipped a switch in my brain and switched me from a level of consciousness that experienced the migraines (since 4 years old) to that of a different plain... that didn’t.

I had increased energy to the point of being hyper and not stop talking; after roughly 13 years of never having the strength to speak. The increased energy was a curse though as i was doing more, thinking more, talking more but still paying the price with a cumulative effect of PEM with the ME but even then I felt almost forced into ‘doing’ despite the crashes. It made me hungry/ravenous 24/7 and I put on weight for the first time in my life after being stick thin from childhood.

After around 3-4 weeks. The strangeness started. I was standing at the top of the stairs (upstairs flat) and luckily was holding onto the the bannister as an invisible hand pushed me with a quick force in the center of my back to push me down the stairs.

I still remember it clearly years later as it disturbed me greatly. I could almost feel the imprint/shape of the hand/fingers on my back.

Then maybe a few days later, i was out with partner, waiting to cross the road. A foot from the road edge. Everything normal, then just as a double decker bus was about to pass by, that hand pushed me again in my back. If partner hadn’t been linking me at the time, i may have gone under the bus as I lurched forwards with the force.

That was all i needed to come off those tablets straight away. It frightened me. I made a point of telling people at the time that i was in no way suicidal, so if anything happened to me, i promise it was not suicide.

This was the only drug that had a big impact on my migraines, GP discussed lowering the dose but I lived alone and was genuinely concerned about my safety so I stopped taking it.

But I could have very easily added to that suicide or road traffic/accident statistic. Either found at the bottom of the stairs or under a bus and based on my dire living circumstances, severe illness and poverty at the time, people could have easily believed it.

 

@Hell..hath..no..fury... That's frightening. I can fully understand what you experienced. I hate to think what might have happened if I had continued with it.

My GP assured me pregabalin was very safe and effective and when I said I had read about awful side effects, she didn't know what I was talking about. I was started off with the smallest dose (25mg) and, knowing my sensitivity to that type of drug, I cut it in half. For a couple of days that very tiny amount had no effect on my burning feet and lower legs but I felt very relaxed. It was extremely pleasant!! If this is why people now abuse it, I can understand why.

When I took the whole 25mg tablet I felt as though a switch had flipped and the calm, agreeable feeling turned into unbearable anxiety which got worse over the next few days. I was reduced to pacing the floor day and night.

After a few days of that I went back to half a tablet but the pleasant feeling never returned.

It's not as convenient as popping a pill, to say the least, but I'm lucky a bucket of cold water to cool my feet and legs works wonders for a few hours.

 

Other drugs, like amitriptyline, can have a similar effect, too: you get a nice warm glow the first couple of nights, which passes once your body seems to adjust to the tweaked neurotransmitters.

My sleep and pain was the best that first night, and it's never been quite as useful ever since.

 

The difficult part is establishing the relationship between cause and effect. Certain underlying risk factors may predispose for the outcomes above as well as doctors prescribing behaviour...

 

@Snow Leopard - Could you explain what underlying risk factors there might be to explain these outcomes. Thanks

 

Mine was exactly the same, only after the fact. Even after explaining what happened to me she didn’t really believe me.

Mine prescribed 50mg from the start.

That sounds really horrible I’m sorry you experienced that. Even on 50mg i never experienced anxiety. I really liked the almost manic effects on me as it was such a novelty having so much energy and no migraine agony.

Too high a price to pay if its going to throw me under a bus though