Question on Gabapentin

So as you guys know, Brooky is on 100mg of Gabapentin twice a day at the moment (so 12 hours apart)...my question is, is the 12 hours an exact measurement? I mean 99% of the time it will be exact (7:30 am & 7:30 pm), but I am just wondering, what if I leave the house a little early? Will 30 minutes or 1 hour off affect the meds a lot?

I am going to ask the neuro, but it is 7pm on Friday, so I will have to wait til Monday and out of curiosity (and how much med experience we all have!), one of you might have an thought.

By the way, I don't remember who suggested it, but honey works a treat to get Brooky to take her meds! There was a thread on med taking a while back and now that we have had to limit her food to venison and kangaroo (for allergy testing), I can't really hide pills like I used to in cheese or meat. But honey worked! Whoever that was, thank you!!

http://www.cavaliertalk.com/forums/showthread.php?38888-Gabapentin&highlight=gabapentin


Have a look at the conversation on the above thread, it is very helpful.

Many thanks Tania. That was a helpful read. It makes sense that Brooklyn is on 100mg twice a day...though I will start to look to see if I notice symptoms get higher or stay the same in the hours leading up to her next dose. We are just starting out on the whole med thing, so it will be a learning curve!

I assume by reading this that you should give it to them on the dot vs. An hour early or something if that ever would happen? Like if I have to leave 30 min before her next dose is due, is it okay to give it at 7 vs. 7:30 for instance? This wont be the case often...but throwing it out as a question for when/if it does.

I think it depends a bit on the individual dog. Some need their gabapentin very regularly because if it is late they start to get uncomfortable. Oliver, on the other hand, is on 3 x 100mg, so roughly every 8 hours, but it doesn't seem to cause any problems if he has them up to an hour either way. Even if he has his midday one dead on 2pm (I try to stick to 6am, 2pm and 10pm but the middle one in particular is a moveable feast!), he sometimes needs an extra one around 5pm if he seems restless. I think you just have to learn to recognise signs of discomfort in your own dog and in consultation with your vet adjust time and level of dosage accordingly. For example, if Brooky regularly appears uncomfortable if you are late giving her her pill, then you may have to stick rigidly to the 12 hour timetable, or perhaps discuss upping her to 3 times a day. Basically, it's working out how long it takes for your particular dog to metabolise gabapentin - 8.5 hours is only the average. I would guess Oliver is around 9.5 - 10 hours, but unfortunately that doesn't fit evenly into a 24-hour day!

Kate, Oliver and Aled

I think it's ok if you can't give it at 12 hours on the dot- just do the best you can. Monitor her to see if she may need to have it 3/day- then you wouldn't have to be quite so rigid with scheduling. There are some days, if my schedule doesn't allow for 3, that I have to give Scarlett 4 Gabapentin a day-- just due to the way it's spaced out and I know she suffers if it wears off when she goes too long between doses (I try never to let that happen).

Holly said:

I think it's ok if you can't give it at 12 hours on the dot- just do the best you can. Monitor her to see if she may need to have it 3/day- then you wouldn't have to be quite so rigid with scheduling. There are some days, if my schedule doesn't allow for 3, that I have to give Scarlett 4 Gabapentin a day-- just due to the way it's spaced out and I know she suffers if it wears off when she goes too long between doses (I try never to let that happen).

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Yes, when Tommy was on gabapentin I would give him an extra one just before I went out if I was not going to be back within a half hour or so of when the next pill was due.
He did need it about every eight hours.


He is now on Lyrica ( Pregablin ) and it does not seem to affect him if the timimg is a little less regular.