Severe memory loss ~2 weeks after stopping gabapentin?
Hi All- First time posting on Reddit.
My mom is 76 years old and has always been physically and mentally active. A few weeks ago, her doctor put her on gabapentin to manage pain from a couple bulging discs. She was on 100mg 3x per day for 15 days. She didn't like how it made her feel (confused, drowsy), so she stopped taking it. I don't have all the information here, but I think she went down to just 100mg for a couple days and then stopped completely, so she did taper but still went off of it pretty abruptly.
She has now been off of the gabapentin for 12 or 13 days. I am trying to figure out if what we are seeing right now could be withdrawal from the gabapentin or something else entirely.
Here's what we're observing:
Over the past couple weeks, mom has gone from totally normal cognitive functioning to now seeming like she has advanced Alzheimer's disease. She is having severe short-term memory impairment (can't remember if she ate anything today, doesn't remember what happened even a few minutes ago), seems to be having trouble retrieving information from her long-term memory (she can't remember what she usually likes to eat, which bedroom is hers, etc.), and she just generally seems spaced out and extremely confused. I can't emphasize enough how severe her cognitive/memory impairments are and how rapidly this has come on.
Other observations:
She can't seem to get started with everyday tasks. It takes her hours to get dressed in the morning and to get ready for bed at night (literally 3 hours apiece). She has always used lists to stay organized, but now she will stare at a list for hours.
In terms of mood, she seems quite calm and content--almost "blissed out." She is always a very positive person but is prone to anxiety, but I'm not seeing any anxiety now.
She is having a little dizziness, and my dad says she is moving extremely slowly and needs help walking down hills because she seems to be feeling unstable. She mentioned noticing that her feet felt like they were falling asleep (so tingling, I guess?).
She also mentioned issues with blurred vision the last couple days. Today, she was too confused to really report on that (when I asked, she just said something vague about how she wasn't sure).
My dad mentioned that she also suddenly got sleepy after having lunch today and started falling asleep at the table. This is a woman who I have literally never seen take a nap in my 41 years of knowing her. (By the way, they live in another state, so I've only been able to talk with my mom over the phone while this has been going on.)
Has anyone experienced or seen something like this?
Based on everything I've read, the gabapentin should have been out of my mom's system within a few days of stopping (well over a week ago now). It's possible (I'm making an inference based on limited research on rodents) that she is still experiencing elevated levels of GABA--As in, the gabapentin caused her own neurons to synthesize more GABA neurotransmitter than they usually do. If that's the case, that could contribute to memory problems, confusion, calmness, etc., BUT that's really speculative... Who knows.
I have considered that this could be the early stages of dementia, but I can't reconcile that with how rapidly this has come on. And she hasn't had hallucinations or mood changes like I believe you usually see in Lewy Body Dementia.
A few more things - My dad took her to the ER, and they did a ct scan and a ton of other tests. They didn't see anything abnormal (so it doesn't look like she has a tumor or has had a stroke). They did note that her B12 level was high (she was taking 1000mcg per day), so they had her quit all supplements cold turkey.
She is scheduled for a cognitive evaluation in a couple weeks and an MRI in about a month. In both cases, this was the earliest they could get her in.
One last piece of information - She was on prednisone for several days (not sure) *before* they put her on gabapentin. I've read a bit about "steroid dementia syndrome," but she's been off of the steroid for 5-6 weeks at this point. So, that doesn't seem like a plausible explanation.
Sorry this is such a mess.
Anyway, I am desperate for information. If you have any personal experience with something like this, know of relevant articles/info I may have missed, or know of anything that might help us figure out what's going on so that we can get my mom some help, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks so much.