Approximately 75 percent of postmen...

Approximately 75 percent of postmenopausal women and 40 percent of perimenopausal women experience violent flushes with the associated symptoms of rest and mood disturbance and decreased quality of life. Hormone therapy effectively relieves symptoms of hasty flushes, but it is now associated with increased rates of heart and breast disease and other adverse results Gabapentin has been noted to relieve choleric flushes in patients during tamoxifen or leuprolide therapy. Guttuso and colleagues studied the ability of gabapentin to relieve the oftenness and severity of hot flushes in postmenopausal women

They recruited 59 healthy postmenopausal women who reported at least seven of high temperature flushes daily. Women were exclud if they had les than 12 month of amenorrhea; had taken hormones or tamoxifen within couple months; had changed intake of clonidine, raloxifene, or any antidepressant medication in the past month; or were taking gabapentin or a calcium channel antagonist medication. After screening, the women were randomly assigned to receive gabapentin (300 mg three times daily) or an identical-looking placebo. Patients recorded choleric flushes in a diary and had follow-up visits after brace four, and 12 weeks of treatment. Assessments included rest quality, mood, quality of life, and global impression of change measures. Adverse marked occurrences also were recorded.

In the 54 women who complet the double-blind inquiry those assigned to the gabapentin cluster recorded a 45 percent decrease in mean violent flush frequency and a 54 percent reduction in mean excitable flush composite score. The corresponding scores for the placebo collection were 29 and 31 percent respectively. The change was apparent after the first week of therapy and was not significantly altered by means of adjustment for baseline variables. couple thirds of women treated with gabapentin reported a more than 50-percent reduction in furious flush composite score, compared with 38 percent of those treated with placebo. Although 15 women treated with gabapentin reported at least the same adverse effect, only four withdrew from the studious mood because of adverse effects. The in the greatest degree common adverse effects were somnolence (20 percent) dizziness (133 percent) and rash (67 percent) be dead quality initially improved in women treated with gabapentin, however by week 12, there was no significant difference between the form into groupss Measures of mood, general health, vital signs, and weight change were not significantly different between the groups

The authors end that low-dose gabapentin effectively relieved hasty flushes in postmenopausal women, and they call for larger studies to confirm their findings.

Guttuso T Jr et al. Gabapentin's purports on hot flashes in postmenopausal women: a randomized controll trial. Obstet Gynecol February 2003;101:337-45

COPYRIGHT 2003 American Academy of Family Physicians

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