Hot flashes and gabapentin

Hi kcpc,

I am sorry that you are struggling with nasty hot flashes - my mother-in-law described similar hot flashes when she was on Tamoxifen. I will tell you what I have experienced with Gabapentin. I have been taking it for at least five years at a low dose (I didn't like the way that I felt on higher dosage) for prevention of migraines - no cancer yet. Then,  in February, I had unrelenting nerve pain after my bilateral mastectomy, and the surgical nurse increased my dosage significantly (for me . I took 2 pills 3 times a day for a short time. At that time, I started Tamoxifen and Lupron shots to shut down my ovaries (pre-menopausal). I had lots of flashes (like you and my MIL describe) for a few days following the start of each drug, but then went down to just a few flashes a day. As I tapered back to 1 pill at night, the flashes increased in number and intensity. Since I still take my one pill at bedtime, which helps to make me drowsy, I do not wake up hot and sweaty during the night. I feel like my hot flashes increase later in the day. All this suggests to me that Gabapentin does reduce hot flash intensity and number for me. My oncologist indicated that it would as well. She wanted me to take 3X the strength at bedtime... My brother-in-law is prescribed Gabapentin for his hot flashes from prostate cancer treatment (Lupron) as well. He still has a lot of intense hot flashes, but is convinced it helps. I think it is definitely worth a try. It made me a little spacey when I took higher doses. My BIL says that it does not affect him that way. I think that it could really change your life? I hope this helped. Deep sleep changes the entire day - wishing you good nights,

Martha

Hi kcpc. Hot flashes weren't too bad when I was on tamoxifen for a year. Had night sweats though. It all got unbearable when I switched to Aromasin, I was getting hot flashes practically every hour and I couldn't stop them no matter what I did. Night sweats kicked up several notches too and really interfered with my sleep. I was also in terrible pain - legs & hips, feet ankles and the worst carpal tunnel I have ever felt in my life.

I heard about Gabapentin on this site and asked my GP if I could try it. I'm so glad I did it! I do not have hot flashes any more, just get a bit hot sometimes and no more night sweats - blessed sleep:) The pain is at an ok level and the carpal tunnel is gone. Still some pins and needles and numbness in my hands, but I can live with that.

I went from 300mg to 900mg per day gradually. I think this dose is optimum for me.

Have you tried it yet? Or something else?

I took Gabapentin for a couple of years after my BMX.  It did help my hot flushes but it was given to me for nerve pain.  I've been off of it for the past year though because I'm working more now and I need to have my wits about me (I'm a teacher).  I still have very bad hot flushes.  I take a very large dose of Effexor (Venlafaxine) for depression, anxiety and hot flushes.  It doesn't seem to work on the hot flushes, though.  I miss Gabapentin and may try it again.  Why not give it a try?

kcpc- I am taking gabapentin as well for hot flashes as well.  I take 2 Effexor's in the morning and 1 Gabapentin at night to try to stave off the horrible hot flashes.  I have been on Gabapentin for 1 year and have been doing fairly well.  I have my moments like yesterday, when I was shopping I had a damn hot flash for almost 2 hours. By the time I walked out of the store, my entire backside of my shirt was drenched as well as the roots of my hair.  A nasty description huh?  I go back in January to my MO and I'm going to ask her about what else we can try or add on to my Effexor since it's supposed to help for the day time hot flashes.  Boy I hope she can figure something out for me.  I wish you the best of luck with your hot flashes.