Gabapentin is used with other medications to prevent and control seizures. It is also used to relieve nerve pain following shingles (a painful rash due to herpes zoster infection) in adults.
Gabapentin is known as an anticonvulsant or antiepileptic drug.
You may feel sleepy, tired or dizzy when you first start taking gabapentin. This may also happen if your dose has increased.
If this happens to you, do not drive or ride a bike until you feel better.
It’s an offence to drive a car if your ability to drive safely is affected. It’s your responsibility to decide if it’s safe to drive. If you’re in any doubt, do not drive.
If you have epilepsy, you are generally not allowed to drive until:
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- you have not had any seizures (while awake) for 1 year
- you have only had seizures while you’re asleep
If you change your epilepsy medicine, your doctor will tell you whether you need to stop driving and for how long.
What is gabapentin?
Gabapentin is a prescription drug. It comes as an oral capsule, an immediate-release oral tablet, an extended-release oral tablet, and an oral solution.
Gabapentin oral capsule is available as the brand-name drug Neurontin. It’s also available as a generic drug. Generic drugs usually cost less than the brand-name version. In some cases, the brand-name drug and the generic version may be available in different forms and strengths.