Use of Gabapentin for Conversion Disorder: Three Case Reports

Abstract

Conversion disorder is an illness that often manifest after a stressful life event, trauma, or psychological distress. It persists for many years in majority of cases and in some cases, the prognosis is very poor. Conversion disorder causes clinically significant impairment in occupational, social, or other important areas of functioning and the healthcare cost associated with it can be very high, yet there is no specific pharmacological therapy for its management in clinical settings. The aim of this article is to present three cases of middle-aged women with conversion disorder treated with Gabapentin. The use of Gabapentin has not been studied in controlled trials for the treatment of conversion symptoms, particularly in the absence of epileptic seizures. Most studies have focussed on use of antidepressants, particularly Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) in the treatment of conversion disorder. Previous studies have also linked anticonvulsant with pseudoseizures. However, in these three cases, Gabapentin was well tolerated and health improvement was observed following the administration of Gabapentin 300mg oral twice daily, and in one of the cases, the conversion symptoms vanished completely after optimized to 600mg oral twice daily. The conclusion is that