Gabapentin Dosage

[greytluck]

What is a good starting dose for gabapentin. My vet prescribed 300mg ×2 daily. I only ask because she said she was giving a two week supply but only gave enough for one week. I asked at reception but they said the vet is out of the office for a few days. I just am worried to over dose him if it was only supposed to be given once daily.

thanks in advance.

[o_rooly]

I don't recall whether he started on a lower dose (I don't think so, though), but 300mg 2x daily was Aston's maintenance dose for a very long time. If I recall correctly from older GT threads, there is a huge dosing range for gabapentin, and the 300mg 2x daily is in the middle of the range somewhere (and I'm clearly a vet ).

Scritchies to Wally

[greysmom]

Not that I am an expert - especially when there are actual experts on GT! - but that's a higher end milligram dose, but low end on the frequency. Dr Couto recommends dosing every 6-8 hours since greyhounds seem to metabolize gabapentin faster than other breeds (another one of their medical quirks). My Toni takes 300mg 3 times a day to stay ahead of her nerve pain, but Dude only took 100mgs twice a day for his osteo. So the dosage as prescribed by your vet is absolutely fine as long as it works, but you may need to adjust it up or down as time goes on. You *may* see some lethargy starting off on a high mg dose though chances are you won't see any side effects. Watch at about 6 hours after his doses to see if he's having any bleed-through of pain symptoms. Twelve hours might be fine to begin with for him.

[Guest budsmom]

I don't remember the exact dosage, but I know it's pretty much impossible to overdo Gabapentin. As someone said, it has a huge dosage range. I think Twiz was taking 600 mg 4 times a day for osteo at the end.

[greytluck]

Ok thank you everyone. I was really worried they wrote the instructions wrong on the bottle. The vets office actually just called and said it was an error they only gave one weeks worth.

[TwiggysMom]

That sounds like a mid-to-high range as a starting dose to me, but I'm definitely no expert.

 

Twiggy has been on as much as 100 3x/day, but has been on 100 2x for a couple years.

 

If I understand correctly, the very high dosages are prescribed when there is an imminently terminal illness, but I could be entirely wrong about that. If I am, I hope someone corrects me.

 

I am definitely not saying that I think the dosage is too high though! It appears to be a moderate dosage, especially since my reference range is for a 53lb tripod!

 

The one thing I will repeat as said above, is that in greyhounds it may be beneficial to dose more frequently. So instead of giving 3 100 mg capsules twice a day, you could consider doing 2 100 mg capsules 3x/day, if that is something that could fit in your schedule.

 

When Twiggy was taking 100 mg 3x/day, I tried to get cute with it and put her mid day dosage in a timed cat feeder. I came to find out that she just mauled the thing open the minute I left the house, lol. Someone else's hound may or may not be more patient!

[mom2four]

Remembering back 4 years to Jamey's days on Gabapentin, he started off on a lower dose (100 mg 2-3 x per day) and near the end of his battle with osteo (27 months later!!) he was at 1-2 x 300 mg three times per day as needed??? This is going from memory!!

 

Just an aside! I was put on some gabapentin in December for some nerve problems and I got bad tinnitus (ringing in the ears) which is a known side effect. I weaned off it quickly.

[XTRAWLD]

I THINK I originally had Kasey at 600mg a day, but I felt it was TOO much so we scaled it back (he was also on pred). So I started to try 100mg 2x a day, and moved him up to 3x a day. 200 3 times a day I felt was too much and I realized even he was most comfortable was 150mg 3x a day for a long while. I actually had them make up 150mg capsules since that really worked best. He got a bit of the shakes that was a side effect of the gaba as he was coming off it, so I tried to keep his dosages low and consistent and 150mg was his magic number. I'm assuming Wally was diagnosed with LS?

[3greytjoys]

Our Greyhounds' vet prefers to start our 70 pound (+/-) hounds on a lower dose of 100 mg., and observe their reactions.

If pain is not controlled with lower dose, with vet's approval, it can be increased by 100 mg.

Their high end dose of 300 mg. every 8 hours is only used for extremely serious disease pain.

 

Our eldest hounds have become more sensitive to medications as they've aged.

(Not sure if that's unique to our 13 and 14 year old hounds.)

 

Considering Wally's leg issues, it may help to be aware that ataxia is a side effect of gabapentin, and should be mentioned to your vet if noticed.

 

Link below provides overdose symptoms:

http://www.wedgewoodpetrx.com/learning-center/professional-monographs/gabapentin-for-veterinary-use.html

[greyhead]

An internist (who didn't really know greyhounds) started Spencer on 300 mg. twice a day, and it made him stumble and sway right away. We took him down to 100 mg. 2-3 times a day, and he was fine with that. He was a big guy, but I think it just depends on the dog.