I hope you can help. I have Asperger's Syndrome in my bag of tricks along with Bipolar 1, with rapid cycling and mized features. I am also terribly weird when it comes to medicines.Paradoxical reactions often happen, which is typical for my type of brain, i.e, sleeping pills make me manic. Anyway, presently I am on lithium only, and due to side effects take a very low dose leading to 0.4 levels. It is not containing my hypomanic/manic symptoms. They don't seem concerned--my health care team, I mean. So I have got my own gabapentin from a legal source and find it helps soothe my edges somewhat (still not good enough but better than self-medicating with a sweet wine). My big fat question (everything is fat about me these days!) is: I read on the RxList that gabapentin can "infrequently" cause Breast Cancer. Now to me that is one hec of a BIG side effect. I need to know more! Surely it should not be given to anyone if it can cause Breast Cancer---not "rarely" after al  l, but like 1 in 1000, right???? Should I go get a mammograpy now? How long do you have to take it before you are at risk? It would relieve my anxiety a lot to know. My own search has revealed nothing.

Thank you, Dr Phelps.


Dear Leah --
(I've gotten behind on letters; pardon the brevity of this reply)
Searching "gabapentin breast cancer" on Google and PUB MED yielded only articles about the use of gabapentin as a treatment for chemotherapy-induced nausea. Otherwise I'm not aware of any such connection nor could I find one.

Dr. Phelps

Published October, 2003