Does Gabapentin Intake Cause Lethargy,fatigue And Excessive Sleep?

Posted on Sat, 8 Mar 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sat, 8 Mar 2014 Answered on

Thu, 27 Mar 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : Father-in-law is taking 2 100mg of gabapentin at night (since December). Past couple of days he has become a little lethargic, fatigued and is sleeping quite a bit. Could gabapentin be causing this? Would these symptoms suddenly occur? He is 90 years old. He's had a couple of passing out episodes as well, but last only a few seconds. Normally, he's up, alert, moving around, talking...being normal for a 90 year old! Should we be concerned?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Shruti Rijhwani (46 minutes later)

Brief Answer: this can be caused by gabapentin Detailed Answer: Dear Sir, Thank you for posting your query on HCM. Well looking into your problem I would like to tell you that this can be caused by gabapentin . Gabapentin's side effects are most common in adult patients specially elderly and include dizziness, fatigue, drowsiness etc . Thats why dose needs to be adjusted accordingly . So, I will advise you to contact your treating physician so that he may consider reducing the dose or switching to some other drug . Take care. Dr. Shruti

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Shanthi.E