Gabapentin May Increase Opioid-Related Deaths
The anticonvulsant gabapentin is sometimes prescribed for chronic pain conditions along with opioids. A 2017 article by researcher Tara Gomes in the journal PLOS Medicine reports that compared to opioid prescriptions alone, co-prescription of gabapentin increases the risk of an opioid-related death by 49%. The risk was increased by 60% for those receiving moderate or high doses of gabapentin (those above 900 mg/day).
The increased risk when the drugs are taken together may be because both gabapentin and opioids depress the respiratory system. Opioids also slow the gastrointestinal system, meaning that more gabapentin is absorbed by the intestines than occurs when gabapentin is prescribed alone.
Gomes and colleagues looked at cases of patients who were prescribed opioids and had opioid-related deaths, and matched these with similar patients who had not died while taking prescription opioids during the same time period. The researchers found that having taken gabapentin in the previous 120 days dramatically increased the risk of death from opioid-related causes.
Gomes and colleagues suggest that caution should be used when prescribing gabapentin and opioid drugs at the same time.
